The Foreign Interference Commission investigating Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence in the last two federal elections will resume on Monday in Ottawa.The commission released its witness list for the upcoming stage of the inquiry, which includes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, MPs and representatives from each party and cabinet ministers. The commission completed preliminary hearings on national security confidentiality February 2 and the first stage of its fact-finding phase hearings April 12, which focused on election interference by the CCP, Russia and other foreign agents and election integrity in the 2019 and 2021 federal contests and examined communications to and actions of senior federal managers from the time periods during and after the elections. Commissioner Justice Marie-Josée Hogue’s initial report was released on May 3. The second stage of factual hearings is scheduled through to October 16 and will focus on Canadian democratic institutions and the experiences of diaspora communities that have been impacted by foreign interference. It will examine “the capacity of federal departments, agencies, institutional structures, and governance processes to permit the Government of Canada to detect, deter and counter such interference,” wrote the commission on its website. Monday the commissioner and counsels will make their opening remarks and presentations, with witnesses scheduled to testify in subsequent days. Conservative MP Garnett Genuis, Liberal MP John McKay and the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections will testify Tuesday. On Wednesday, Conservative MP Michael Chong, NDP MP Jenny Kwan and former Tory leader Erin O’Toole will testify. On Thursday, September 19, the commission will hear from Green Party accountant Jon Irwin, Green Party regional organizer Robin Marty, Bloc Québécois general director Mathieu Desquilbet and NDP senior executive Lucy Watson. Tory executive director Mike Crase and Liberal national director Azam Ishmael will testify on September 20. Representatives from the House of Commons, Elections Canada, the Media Ecosystem Observatory, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Communications Security Establishment Canada, the RCMP, Global Affairs Canada, the Privy Council Office, Public Safety Canada, Canadian Heritage, the Department of Justice Canada, the Prime Minister’s Office and Trudeau himself, as well as unspecified cabinet members, will testify in the following three weeks. Policy consultation hearings will then run for five days, from October 21, where Hogue will hold round-table discussions to assist her in developing “recommendations related to all aspects of the commission’s mandate.”“These policy consultations will include participation by numerous experts in subjects relevant to the commission's mandate,” wrote the commission on its website. The commission is required to submit its final report by December 31, 2024.
