My Take | Alleged Chinese interference divides Canadian politicians
- While major parties clash over how to respond, probes show the country’s elections are rather robust against outside influence
Sometimes, the deeper you dig, the murkier it gets.
Early this month, a long-awaited national security and intelligence report was released investigating foreign interference into Canada’s elections. However, only the redacted version has been made available. The few top leaders of major political parties who were granted access to the full uncensored report have come up with diametrically opposed responses.
The rancour with which the big parties have been treating each other over the report is an object lesson in democratic infighting.
The report singled out China and India as the main culprits, but said there were other countries, though unnamed. That was, however, something everyone already knew from a prior official inquiry, which also ended in controversy and acrimony.
What is new is that several former or current members of the Canadian parliament have been implicated in the report, though their identities have not been made public. So far, there has been more heat than light from top politicians who have read the full report.
