There are some simple steps the government could take to defend Canada. Why haven’t they done so?
Democracy is under threat in myriad ways.
There is the threat of rising authoritarianism, with politicians of various political stripes feeling empowered to abuse state power against their opponents, confident in the backing of their partisan allies.
That is the internal threat.
There is also the external threat.
Anti-democratic countries like China and Russia are keen on exacerbating political divisions and taking advantage of the relative openness of democratic nations to try and influence political figures to get their desired policy outcomes.
Here in Canada, we face a significant threat from China’s subversion efforts.
As reported by Sam Cooper of Global, “Canadian intelligence officials have warned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that China has allegedly been targeting Canada with a vast campaign of foreign interference, which includes funding a clandestine network of at least 11 federal candidates running in the 2019 election, according to Global News sources.
Delivered to the prime minister and several cabinet members in a series of briefings and memos first presented in January, the allegations included other detailed examples of Beijing’s efforts to further its influence and, in turn, subvert Canada’s democratic process, sources said.”
In one instance, Conservative MP Kenny Chiu proposed the creation of foreign agent registry – similar to what both the US and Australia have in place – that would ensure Canada knew who within our country was acting in the interests of a foreign power.
Chiu was subsequently subjected to attacks from United Front organizations operating within Canada but directed by the Chinese Communist Party, and was defeated in the 2021 election.
Efforts to buy Canadian officials have also been directed by the Chinese Consulate in Toronto, according to the report.
Since then, the Liberals have still refused to implement a foreign agent registry.
In response to the report, Trudeau said the following:
“We have taken significant measures to strengthen the integrity of our elections processes and our systems, and will continue to invest in the fight against election interference, against foreign interference of our democracies and institutions,” Mr Trudeau told reporters on Monday.
“Unfortunately, we’re seeing countries, state actors from around the world, whether it’s China or others, are continuing to play aggressive games with our institutions, with our democracies,” he added.”
Trudeau’s words here are fine, but action is missing.
Canada needs a foreign agent registry, and anything short of that represents tacit approval of China’s subversion efforts.
So far, despite the ample warnings, and despite clear evidence of interference in our democracy, the Trudeau Liberals are failing to take action.
Perhaps they feel they benefit politically from the interference.
Perhaps Justin Trudeau still can’t get over his admiration for China’s “basic dictatorship.”
But whatever the case may be, the fact is that Canadian democracy is under attack, and the Trudeau government is failing to defend our nation.
So, while we must all work to oppose the internal threat to democracy of rising authoritarian sentiment, we must also hold the Liberal government accountable for their failure to protect Canada, and we must push all political leaders to stand up in defence of our country.
Spencer Fernando
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