No comfort, few answers from report

There are lessons out of David Johnston's recent report, but none of them are comforting or enlightening for Canadians wondering if China interfered in Canadian elections and how much and when the Trudeau government knew about it.

In March, the former governor general (GG) was appointed special rapporteur by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and given a mandate to investigate reports that Chinese agents worked to influence the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

In the end, Johnston concludes that while foreign actors did try to meddle with recent Canadian elections, they were not successful; that there is no evidence the prime minister or any MPs ignored intelligence about the attempted interference; and that there is no need for a public inquiry.

Johnston tells us he has reviewed everything that could possibly be revealed in a costly inquiry, and average Canadians can’t know the details anyway, since the information involves high levels of national security.

Just so we don’t think the Stephen Harperappointed former GG and Trudeau “ski buddy” (as Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre refers to Johnston) is hiding anything, the rapporteur does offer to hold a series of public hearings into Canada’s ability to counter foreign interference and to share a secret annex of the report with parliamentarians of all political parties who have the necessary security clearance, as well as with experts in national security.

So, what have we learned from this exercise? The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is a “particularly active” foreign interference actor in Canada who wishes for candidates sympathetic to the PRC to be elected and those who are not to be defeated. The republic is not above using coercion, bribery or threats in these attempts, including targeting candidates’ extended family members who live in China.

The evidence of political interference is only one factor in Chinese-Canadian relations. Johnston refers to the deteriorating relationship a number of times, noting the detention and poor treatment of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in 2018; China’s obstruction in attempts to investigate COVID-19 origins; and its withdrawal from western alliances. More recently, we’ve become aware of allegations of Chinese surveillance attempts through everything from TikTok to spy balloons.

This while trade between China and Canada reached record levels in 2022, including more than $1 billion in Canadian fish and seafood exports.

That China is a lucrative but volatile trading partner is not news to Atlantic Canadian producers and manufacturers, however knowing that the PRC is actively attempting election rigging provides yet another reason to consider other markets.

Johnston’s next report is due by the end of October and he has committed to holding those (as yet unscheduled) public hearings. There is no reason to believe this process will provide Canadians with any more answers. Without having the security clearance to view the evidence, we have to decide for ourselves whether we trust Johnston’s assurances that government acted appropriately.