As much as we wish it was otherwise, most problems won’t solve themselves if we ignore them. The odd noise your car is making is likely warning you of a bigger problem to come, and the leaking pipe in the basement won’t seal itself. The same rule applies politically. Canada has a serious issue coming to light with its electoral integrity, and no matter how much Prime Minister Trudeau hopes it will go away, the problem is only going to fester and get worse.
The Liberal Party of Canada is typically a savvy political player. Usually, they don’t let budding issues get out of their grasp. But in this case they appear to be uncharacteristically caught flatfooted and have lost the narrative on the budding Chinese Communist Party electoral interference controversy. If the Liberals don’t take action and control this issue soon, it could very well bring the government down.
It appears a public inquiry into the CCP attempts to influence Canadian politics is going to be inevitable, or at least it should be. The opposition parties are lined up and signalling they are prepared to force the issue. With the Liberals being in a minority government, there is little they can do to stop it. They could make it a confidence issue in the House of Commons, but it would be political suicide to force Canadians into an election just to avoid holding a public inquiry on an issue citizens are concerned about.
Senior bureaucrats have been reporting to a Liberal-dominated committee in the House of Commons that the CCP interference didn’t impact the outcome of the elections in 2019 and 2021. They have been citing a report compiled by Morris Rosenberg as evidence. Rosenberg headed the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation during a period when it received large donations from individuals tied to the CCP. Are people really expected to take that seriously?
Polling indicates they aren’t.
Even if the election outcome as a whole wasn’t changed by the CCP’s meddling, it is looking likely that a number of individual MPs may have been compromised. Leaked CSIS documents indicate Liberal MP Han Dong was complicit in receiving aid from the CCP in winning his party nomination. The documents also state that as many as 10 other MPs in the Toronto area alone could be compromised.
The role of a member of Parliament goes beyond just representing their party in the House of Commons. They are supposed to serve as a conduit between citizens and the federal government at times of need. It is an important and ostensibly non-partisan role.
If a person is having problems with immigration issues or even a passport renewal, the remedy is often to take the case to their local MP’s office to seek help. Now, imagine being a new Canadian who came from China or Taiwan to get away from CCP authoritarianism needing help from their local MP only to find the MP is suspected of being beholden to the Communist Party of China? Talk about a breach of trust.
The vast majority of Canadian MPs are not compromised by CCP interference. The seeds of doubt have been sown now, however, and only a vigorous and thorough public inquiry into the matter can clear them. To leave this issue unsettled is to invite the rot of public distrust of Canadian institutions to entrench itself even deeper. We know the CCP has tried to interfere in Canada. That’s not news. It’s what that regime does. Until we know the depth of the interference though, faith in the Canadian system will erode.
The Trudeau Liberals could still take control of this issue. If they strike an unbiased public inquiry, they can position themselves as crusaders for the electoral integrity of Canada. Yes, such an inquiry made lead to the downfall of some of their own elected officials. But the Liberals could claim victimhood in that case and point to the inquiry as a demonstration of their sincerity in trying to clean their own ranks from CCP interference. It may or may not sell, but it would look better than if they are dragged kicking and screaming into an inquiry.
The Canadian Parliament is set to resume sitting next week. This is a do-or-die moment for the prime minister. Will he show leadership and take the reins in the unfolding scandal? Or will he continue to pretend the matter is settled while opposition parties take control of the issue?
If Trudeau chooses the latter option, it could lead to the end of his prime ministership.
