Democracy Watch wants the Commissioner of Canada Elections to investigate China-sponsored potential interference in the 2019 or 2021 federal elections and declare whether penalties or prosecution should ensue..The request to Commissioner Caroline Simard was made Tuesday in a four-page letter by Democracy Watch board member and co-founder Duff Conacher..“Enough evidence of China-government sponsored election interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections has been reported to make it clear that the Commissioner needs to do a full investigation and issue a public report of what the investigation reveals concerning violations of Canada’s election law,” said Conacher in a press release..According to sources cited by Global News, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) told the federal government that during the 2019 election at least 11 Liberal and Conservative candidates received funds and support from a network of third-party interest groups and individuals based in Canada, and China’s government was the source of the funds..CSIS reportedly also said that a network of groups and individuals received a total of about $250,000 from a Toronto-based organization coordinated by a Toronto businessman, and China’s government Consulate in Toronto was the source of the funds and directed the distribution of the funds. In this regardd a Liberal election candidate and a former Ontario Liberal MPP and cabinet minister were part of the network..According to the Globe and Mail, sources claim that CSIS gave the federal government information about the 11 candidates but not about funding being transferred to them, and about the former Ontario Liberal MPP and Cabinet minister, and also about China-sponsored interference also in the 2021 election in support of the Liberals and against the Conservatives, including funnelling donations and candidates reimbursing donors the amount not covered by the donation tax credit..The letter said these allegations constitute six violations of the Canada Elections Act..Conacher prefers Simard’s intervention to a public inquiry..“A public inquiry would delay the enactment of clearly needed changes, and will only be needed if the Commissioner, the House Committee and the national security committee of parliamentarians fail to investigate China’s election interference fully, fail to reveal key information about what happened, or fail to issue public, comprehensive reports recommending all the key changes needed to stop future interference,” he said..Democracy Watch believes Liberal safeguards on election integrity are flawed..“The Liberal’s Bill C-76 in 2018 was much too weak to stop foreign interference, and it actually weakened rules prohibiting false claims and excessive election spending by wealthy individuals and interest groups, and the Prime Minister essentially controls the monitoring and disclosure of foreign interference in our elections,” said Conacher..“The Liberal government’s election integrity plan…focused on the twin charades of educating citizens to recognize misinformation (which is impossible unless you are an expert in everything) and cooperating with social media companies that continue largely ineffective efforts.”.A repeated complaint of Democracy Watch is that all accountability measures revolve around the prime minister and his cabinet..“The Liberal government’s so-called “independent” Critical Election Incident Public Protocol Panel is not independent at all, as it is made up of public servants who were chosen by, and serve at the pleasure of, Prime Minister Trudeau, and the Cabinet Directive for the Protocol has several flaws,” said the organization’s press release..“The Section 9.0 assessment is done by whomever the ruling party Cabinet chooses, so the assessor is not independent in any way. Trudeau’s Cabinet chose Morris Rosenberg, former head of the Trudeau Foundation when the Foundation received a $200,000 donation donation from two China-connected businessmen, to do the assessment for the 2021 election. Mr. Rosenberg’s contract terms have not been disclosed in the federal government contract registry,” Democracy Watch stated in their release..Simard was appointed to her ten-year term in 2022. Simard, who was appointed to the bar as a lawyer in 1994, was also a Liberal Member of the National Assembly in Quebec. In 2014, she defeated Parti Quebecois Premier Pauline Marois in the riding of Charlevoix–Côte-de-Beaupré and served one term.
