The issue of foreign interference in Canadian democracy surfaced on the campaign trail on March 25, with Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre facing questions.
Carney criticized Poilievre for not obtaining a security clearance, while Poilievre accused Carney of having financial ties to Beijing through his former company.
The information from the source, said to have a top-secret security clearance, reportedly came from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). The source added CSIS had no evidence that Poilievre or his inner circle were aware of the meddling, and that the information was not shared with Poilievre because he does not have a security clearance, as opposed to other party leaders.
The Liberals last year asked all party leaders to obtain a security clearance to read an unredacted version of intelligence documents about parliamentarians who may be acting inappropriately when it comes to foreign interference, but Poilievre has refused, saying it would in effect gag him from criticizing the government.
The report from the committee, composed of security-cleared parliamentarian members of each political party, also said India is the “second-most significant foreign interference threat” after the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
During a campaign stop in Halifax, Carney was asked by reporters about the Globe and Mail article and about the recent disqualification of Liberal candidate Chandra Arya.
Carney said he finds it “beyond baffling” and “down right irresponsible” that Poileivre has not sought to obtain a security clearance to be able to receive information about foreign interference threats.
“He particularly has to answer for that given the reporting that I understand you and your colleagues did today, and the lack of integrity in the Conservative leadership race,” he said.
Carney said the Liberal Party had taken every effort to ensure its recent leadership race was protected, using an “onerous” system to verify voters’ identities and locations. The system led to a number of registered Liberals not being able to vote. The party said it had signed 400,000 people to vote, but in the end just under 152,000 cast a ballot.
The party changed its registration rules before the race to prevent foreign nationals from taking part, as it previously allowed anyone “ordinarily” residing in Canada to register. The Liberals kept the registration free of charge.
Regarding the disqualification of Arya, who had served as an MP since 2015 and was also prevented to run in the leadership race, Carney said that certain information he is not privy to had “come to light.”
“I can assure you that information that we have—I’m saying broadly as a party, not me personally, because I don’t have this specific information—is shared with the relevant authorities,” he said. “We take this incredibly seriously.”
Poilievre Responds
Poilievre has been asked by the governing Liberals to obtain a security clearance for months but he has rejected the idea, saying it would prevent him from criticizing the government freely on matters of foreign interference. He says he has obtained a clearance in the past as a minister of the Crown, and that his current chief of staff has a security clearance.He noted during the 2022 leadership race until today, Poilievre “hasn’t been informed of any foreign interference targeting his leadership campaign.” Chong said that’s because the Liberal government “refuses to brief Mr. Poilievre on this threat. Gov’t sources will tell the Globe, but not Mr. Poilievre.”
During a campaign stop in the Toronto area on March 25, Poilievre addressed the Globe and Mail report and said he had won the 2022 leadership race “fair and square.” He also noted how CSIS said candidates were not aware of the alleged meddling efforts by India.
Poilievre then said he had questions for Carney regarding his past dealings with China’s central bank.
“I’m glad that the Liberals put this attack out today, really glad, because there’s something that’s really been worrying me after Justin Trudeau named Mark Carney his economic advisor, giving him massive power over public policy in Canada,” Poilievre said.
Carney had begun advising the Liberal government at least from 2020 during COVID-19, and he was appointed as special advisor to then-Liberal leader Trudeau in September 2024.
Poilievre said that after Carney was put in that role, he travelled to Beijing in October to hold talks with the deputy governor of China’s central bank, and that “two weeks later, Brookfield got a quarter billion dollar loan.”
“What did they talk about?” said Poilievre.
Carney left his roles on corporate boards when he entered the Liberal leadership race and said he has now placed his assets in a blind trust. He has not divulged his assets but said he has set up conflict-of-interest screens with the ethics commissioner related to his past roles with Brookfield and payment processor Stripe.
Conservatives have for weeks urged Carney to disclose his assets and Poilievre said he now has “massive financial interests” in Brookfield, which owes a loan to a Chinese state-owned bank.
“How is he ever going to stand up to foreign interference when he is so financially compromised,” said Poilievre, who noted China in recent days has executed four Canadian citizens and previously took Canadians “hostage,” in an apparent reference to Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. The two were detained for over a thousand days in relation to the Meng Wanzhou affair, a Huawei executive arrested in Canada over a U.S. extradition warrant for fraud.
The Epoch Times reached out to the Liberal Party for comment but didn’t hear back by publication time.
Foreign interference concerns raised by Carney and Poilievre came a day after federal officials highlighted measures put in place to counter the threat in the election.
CSIS Deputy Director of Operation Vanessa Lloyd, who chairs the election security task force, provided the task force’s assessment on threat actors who could meddle in the election.
The CSIS number-two also identified India, Russia, and Pakistan as countries who could interfere in the election.
Canadians are going to the polls on April 28.
