Poilievre says he won Tory leadership ‘fair and square’ after India report

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has refuted a media report alleging India organized support for his successful Conservative leadership bid in 2022.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has refuted a media report alleging India organized support for his successful Tory leadership bid in 2022, saying he won the contest “fair and square.”

The Globe and Mail reported on Tuesday that Indian agents and their proxies allegedly interfered in Poilievre’s election to become the Conservative Party leader in 2022.

“Let’s be honest, I won the leadership fair and square, even my political competitors like Mr. Patrick Brown have publicly testified under oath that that was the case,” Poilievre said during an election campaign stop in Vaughan, Ont., on Tuesday.

The Globe report cited an anonymous source, who it said had top-secret clearance, as saying that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) became aware of Indian agents being involved in raising campaign funds and organizing within the South Asian community for Poilievre during the leadership race.

However, CSIS did not share the information with Poilievre, the report said, since he does not have the required security clearance to access intelligence documents on foreign interference in Canada.

In response to a reporter’s question about the allegation, Poilievre quoted a line from the Globe article, which read: “CSIS also did not have evidence that Mr. Poilievre or members of his inner circle were aware of the alleged actions.”

Poilievre also referenced the foreign interference inquiry commission led by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue that heard testimony from CSIS witnesses noting they had no reason to believe the impacted Conservative candidates would have been aware of alleged support from the Indian government.

The Hogue report that was released earlier this year concluded that while foreign interference remains a threat, a few isolated incidents did not compromise the integrity of the two recent federal elections.