Canada needs an inquiry into Chinese election interference: ex-spymaster
Global News
Richard Fadden, former head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said he 'can't see any compelling reason not to' hold a public inquiry into election meddling by China.
Canada needs a public inquiry into allegations of Chinese election interference, Canada former spymaster says.
Speaking in an interview with The West Block‘s Mercedes Stephenson, airing Sunday, Richard Fadden, the former head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and former national security advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said he “can’t see any compelling reason not to” hold a public inquiry.
“I think in this case, the allegations are so serious they need to be looked into,” Fadden told Stephenson.
“I think a public inquiry is really the route to go.”
His comments come after a recent Globe and Mail article saying China deployed a “sophisticated strategy” in the 2021 election to defeat Conservative candidates and attempt to support the federal Liberals towards a minority government, citing national security memos.
The report followed months of exclusive reporting by Global News into allegations of attempted Chinese interference, starting with a Nov. 7, 2022, report that Canadian intelligence officials had warned Trudeau that China had allegedly been targeting Canada. The vast campaign of foreign interference allegedly included funding a clandestine network of at least 11 federal candidates running in the 2019 election, according to Global News sources.
On Dec. 21, 2022, Global News reported that an unredacted 2020 national security document alleged that Beijing used an extensive network of community groups to conceal the flow of funds between Chinese officials and Canadian members of an election interference network, all in an effort to advance its own political agenda in the 2019 federal contest.
And on Feb. 8, 2023, Global News reported that national security officials drafted a warning for Trudeau and his office more than a year before the 2019 federal election, alleging that Chinese agents were “assisting Canadian candidates running for political offices,” according to a Privy Council Office document reviewed by Global News.
