Advocacy Groups Disappointed With Final Foreign Interference Inquiry Report

The final report from Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, commissioner of the Foreign Interference Inquiry, is seen in Ottawa on Jan. 28, 2025. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Advocacy groups expressed disappointment as the Foreign Interference Commission released its final report on Jan. 28, saying it fails to provide proper recommendations on key issues to safeguard Canada’s democracy from hostile regimes.

In a Jan. 28 press release, Democracy Watch criticized the inquiry’s final report, published earlier the same day, calling its recommendations “incomplete” and “too weak” to prevent foreign interference. The Ottawa-based group said the report fails to address key loopholes, such as the use of multiple proxies by foreign governments, businesses, and other entities to obscure their involvement in interference activities.

Additionally, the group raised concerns about the report’s conclusion that foreign interference activities have had “minimal impact” on Canadian democratic processes, saying that such a claim is impossible to verify, as many of the influence activities are conducted in secret.

Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue’s report noted that while there are “a very small number of isolated cases where foreign interference may have had some impact on the outcome of a nomination contest or the result of an election in a given riding,” there is “no evidence” suggesting that Canadian institutions have been seriously affected by such interference or that any parliamentarians were elected due to foreign entities’ involvement.

“While any attempted interference is troubling, I am reassured by the minimal impact such efforts have had to date,” Hogue wrote in a summary of the seven-volume report.

Hogue also expressed confidence that there are no “traitors” in Parliament. While a few cases involving attempts to curry favour with parliamentarians came to light, she called the phenomenon “marginal and largely ineffective.” She also said that she is “not aware of any federal legislation, regulations or policies that have been enacted or repealed on account of foreign interference.”

Among party leaders, the term “traitors” was first used by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh after reading a separate intelligence report warning about some parliamentarians’ potential involvement in interference efforts. The June 2024 Special Report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) raised concerns that some Canadian parliamentarians may be “semi-witting or witting” participants in foreign interference activities.

‘No Deterrence’

While the NSICOP report didn’t identify the parliamentarians allegedly involved in foreign interference, the revelations in that report are “more powerful” than the conclusions of the Hogue report, said Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP).

“That’s bombshell. And here in this [Hogue] report, it didn’t even come close to that finding,” he told The Epoch Times, calling the interference inquiry’s final report a “disappointment and blindness” to foreign interference, infiltration, and influence.

“The commissioner said our democracy is resilient and robust, and even if there is interference, nothing happens in Canada, so we don’t need to do anything about it. In that case, the message to Canadians may be, ‘We have a strong democracy,’ but for foreign actors, there is no deterrence,” Tohti said.

“If there’s no defence, there’s no measures to combat against [foreign interference]; if there’s no measure to stop them, it is an indirect green light” to foreign actors to continue those activities, he added.

Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project executive director Mehmet Tohti speaks during a news conference in Ottawa on Feb. 1, 2023. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

The URAP, which advocates for the rights of Uyghurs and Turkic Muslims, particularly those oppressed by the Chinese Communist Party, previously withdrew from the commission, citing concerns over the commissioner’s decision to allow politicians accused of links to the Chinese regime to question witnesses. The group resumed participation in the process after commission council agreed to address some of its concerns, Tohti said.

Recommendations

The inquiry was launched in September 2023 after extensive media reporting about China’s interference in Canadian elections and other institutions.

The Liberal government initially resisted pressure from opposition parties to hold the inquiry. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instead appointed Special Rapporteur David Johnston to investigate foreign interference, but Johnston stepped down amid criticism from opposition parties on conflict-of-interest issues given that he is a family friend of Trudeau. The government then decided to launch the inquiry, and also introduced legislation to bolster the country' defence against foreign interference.

Tohti said the inquiry turned out to be a “huge disappointment” for him given the extensive period spent on the investigation process and what he called the limited results. While acknowledging the limitations set out by the Hogue commission’s mandate, he said the commissioner should have at least offered “stronger recommendations,” such as bolstering the use of an anti-interference legislation the government passed last year.

The legislation establishes a foreign influence registry and introduces stronger penalties for foreign interference activities. The law also allows intelligence agencies to share sensitive information with parties outside the federal government.

Tohti expressed disappointment in the report’s lack of focus on foreign interference at the provincial and municipal levels, describing them as “blind spots” in Canada’s democratic institutions. The inquiry’s mandate was limited to federal democratic institutions and processes.

“Still, the evidence is clear that foreign interference can potentially target all levels of government, including provincial, territorial, Indigenous and municipal,” the report said.

Commissioner Justice Marie-Josée Hogue listens during the Foreign Interference Commission in Ottawa on Sept. 18, 2024. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Democracy Watch noted the report’s call for key changes to be made before the next federal election, and urged all parties to quickly pass a bill implementing these and other necessary changes once Parliament resumes.

The report highlighted vulnerabilities in political parties to foreign interference, suggesting that parties should take steps to receive and act on classified information. It also recommended that all political parties represented in the House of Commons designate at least two security-cleared individuals to liaise with government security and intelligence agencies.

Additionally, the report recommended adopting key changes from the chief electoral officer, including limiting eligibility to vote in nomination and leadership contests to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.