Ottawa –
An assessment of the work done by the panel tasked with flagging cases of foreign interference during the 2021 federal elections is now complete and has been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office and the National Security and Intelligence Committee of the Members of Parliament. The Privy Council Secretariat confirmed.
The Critical Election Incident Disclosure Protocol, created to monitor and report threats during the 2019 and 2021 elections, should publish post-election assessments of its work.
The 2019 assessment came about seven months after that year’s campaign, but the 2021 report is still not available, more than a year after Canadians went to vote.
The latest information from the Privy Council is the first report on the situation.
The Privy Council Office says an unclassified public version of the report is being finalized and will be available soon, but no specific timeline has been given.
In the summer of 2022, former senior civil servant Morris Rosenberg will be chosen to prepare the independent report.
According to a statement from the Privy Council, “Mr Rosenberg’s comprehensive assessment is based on multiple sources, including interviews with various stakeholders, as well as reviews of government documents and publications from foreign governments and non-governmental organizations. I’m here.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government is facing pressure over allegations of election interference by China, said last week he was looking forward to seeing the report when it was completed.
The Conservative Party of Canada has resumed its call for Katie Telford, Prime Minister Trudeau’s chief of staff, to testify before the House committee investigating election interference.
Global News reported Friday night that liberal lawmaker Han Dong was rescued by a Chinese consulate while running in the Toronto district’s Don Valley North during the 2019 election.
Global Report claimed that CSIS had urged Liberal Party officials to withdraw his nomination, but that Trudeau had endorsed his candidacy. Don was re-elected in 2021.
Following that report, the Conservatives renewed their call for Telford to testify before the next Commission.
Conservative MP Michael Cooper released a statement saying Trudeau and his government “cannot hide any longer”.
“It would be outrageous for our country’s prime minister to be informed that one of the Liberal Party candidates was endangered by the Chinese Communist Party and wholly refused to do the right thing,” he said. And knowing what his government knew when was crucial to trust in democracy.”
A 2019 evaluation report for the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol found its use successful and ready to warn Canadians of foreign interference if necessary.
However, panel members who were supposed to work with national security agencies under the department’s mandate made no announcements about foreign interference during the 2019 or 2021 elections.
This report by the Canadian Press was first published on February 26, 2023.
