The shocking thing for me with this is how it’s written. Plain language providing examples via case studies. It’s as if they want voters to read this, and understand the problems with Canadian democracy. And we should.
The report is wide-ranging, looking at every single aspect of the democratic process from the candidate nominations right through the election, and beyond. It does not stop at the federal level either, looking at provincial and municipal elections. It goes through criteria of how they find, and cultivate proxies. How Foreign countries influence voting preferences. The use of media, misinformation, and disinformation. It’s not limited by party, although my early suspicion is that the Liberals, and Conservatives might have different yet equally bad problems. With the Liberals the People’s Republic of China is front and centre, and India’s interference being secondary. With Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) it may be in reverse order.
Nominations
Choosing a candidate might the most inside baseball, pointy-headed part of our democracy. I’d imagine if you weren’t involved either as a staffer, candidate, supporter or media member covering them, your eyes would glaze over. But coincidentally, it’s also the part of the process most susceptible to foreign interference.
Candidates themselves are subjected to a series of requirements that include fundraising a set amount, being an active participant in the party for a set period of time. for the CPC, “a nomination contestant must be “forthcoming about any past or current activities that might negatively affect the ability to be a credible candidate for election, or by-election.” The party has faced some resignations over the integrity of their nomination races, while leader Pierre Poilievre continues the trend of parachuting candidates into different ridings. The Liberals meanwhile require potential candidates to be “greenlit” by a national committee. I’ve reported on a few Liberal Party nominations. One year I asked if a candidate had been greenlit- the answer was “anyone can say their greenlit.”
Voting on nominations is also up to the respective parties. The Liberals restrict theirs by age, and geographic location; you must be a resident in the area you live in. The Conservatives favour a ranked ballot system for candidate nominations, including leadership races.
According to paragraph 69, CSIS considers a nomination race a soft target. Because no rules. means there’s no penalty. Foreign interference can occur, while avoiding detection. The report uses Han Dong as a case study for a “safe riding” ie: a riding that the Liberals won’t lose.
Pakistan, and India are alleged to have interfered with nominations in both federal, and Ontario provincial politics. Paragraph 62 talks about how Pakistan supported one candidate’s preferred election, and worked to mobilize voters as well as fundraise. If I were to speculate further, I’d suggest it was probably a GTA-based candidate. Perhaps even in the 905.
I remember covering a provincial nomination in 2017. I had people coming up to me, telling me they felt intimidated on their way into the building. There was one incident early on where one voter tried telling another how to vote. Even a bus full of supporters showed up to the nomination venue. In hindsight, all the hallmarks of interference were there, even in 2017,
There’s been chatter of Elections Canada or Ontario taking over nominations the last few years. Maybe this is what it takes to make that change?
The Conservative Party 2022 Leadership Race
From the outside looking in, it looked like the race moved too fast for a party that takes over a year to pick their leaders. One minute Erin O’Toole was meeting convoy supporters, which, many Conservative MP’s including Pierre Poilievre did. The next they were calling for O’Toole’s resignation, and it seemed almost everyone including the interim leader supported Poilievre.
Paragraph 72 confirms both China, and India interfered with the leadership contest. CBC reporting dated June 3, 2024 backs this up. CPC spokesperson Sarah Fischer insisted the party, nor Pierre Poilievre knew anything about that . That’s hard to believe, considering there was a Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force looking into cyber threats during the 2021 election dealing with misinformation. It’s described as a coordinated attack designed to discourage Canadians from voting Conservative. An allegation that may have cost the party seats.
Another note on the leadership: Independent Media reporting from Jungfateh Singh, through BAAZ, a Substack dedicated to South Asian news in December of 2023 indicates that “representatives of an Indian Consulate in Canada” asked an MP to pull their support from Patrick Brown’s leadership race. Brown was kicked out of the race in July, 2022 after mysterious anonymous allegations. He claimed in a statement that there was no due process, and his team was not shown any evidence relating to the allegations. O’Toole, and MP Michael Chong were the targets.
The CBC reports that O’Toole was advised by someone within the Chinese community, as well as a journalist that someone within the party had unusual ties to the People’s Party of Canada.
Poilievre and his Clearance
When this first started popping up I laughed it off as petty partisan bickering. He has one from where he was in cabinet under Prime Minister Stephen Harper. But his lack of top-secret clearance is turning out to be a weakness for him.
As the leader of the official opposition Poilievre is ideally placed to act as a mature adult in a minority Parliament. The Conservatives signed on to Democratic Reform legislation, meaning getting rid of an MP would take a caucus vote. So even if he knows the names, and if there are members of the Conservative Party, he couldn’t do anything unilaterally. Reading the Report would be relatively low-risk.
The fact CSIS has identified threats against the leadership race in which he won, as well as his continued refusal to get a clearance raises questions. How legitimate is his authority given it came from a compromised leadership race? And Why is he refusing to get his clearance? I know Tom Mulcair has said he’d do the same if he was still NDP Leader because it would tie his hands as to what to do. But, Poilievre’s hands are already tied by Democratic Reform legislation. The longer he goes without the clearance, the more suggestions, and rumours swirl around him.
What’s disillusioning about this report is that most Canadians thought we were safe. We thought this level of manipulation by foreign powers would never occur here. But it has, and it’s threatening our democracy’s foundations.
Up next: A Government responds. In the meantime, share, like, comment, and donate.