The Peoples’ Party of Canada (PPC) has disputed claims made by then Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leader Erin O’Toole that Russian “trolls” interfered with the 2021 federal election. O’Toole blamed Russian “troll farms” promoting anti-mandate content for losing votes to Maxime Bernier’s PPC at the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference last week. The inquiry heard there was a special Global Affairs Canada unit employed to monitor foreign meddling. “The Peoples’ Party of Canada is disputing claims that Russian interference sank Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives during the 2021 election,” wrote Bernier on Twitter (“X”) over the weekend. “O’Toole suggested Russian ‘troll farms’ helped the PPC by promoting anti-vaccine & anti-lockdown content.”.Federal officials said there were “Russian-friendly accounts” amplifying PPC messaging content during the 2021 federal election.“Russia-friendly accounts continued to amplify Peoples Party of Canada-related content,” said a September 23, 2021 report from Global Affairs Canada’s (CAG) Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) unit, per Press Progress. “In the final days of the election, the CPC saw its projected seat count drop,” O’Toole’s witness statement to the inquiry reads, attributing “much of this drop to the COVID-19 vaccine issue and vote gains by the People’s Party of Canada.”“The CPC data suggested that one-third to one-half of PPC voters would have voted for the CPC in the absence of a PPC candidate.”O’Toole was ousted from Conservative leadership mere months after the election, during the 2022 Freedom Convoy in Ottawa due to his un-Conservative approach to COVID-19-era mandates. O’Toole told the inquiry he had personally witnessed Russian trolls giving the PPC a boost, and said his outspokenness on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 prompted Russian president Vladimir Putin to put a target on his head. “There was always a fear that some of the troll farms and some of the Russian influence was boosting some of the messages from the PPC both on anti-(sexual minority) messaging,” O’Toole said. “When COVID happened, the restriction/vaccine issue I believe was amplified by those channels.”“I have a lot of concerns of PPC and some of the far-right narratives in the United States, particularly with respect to funding the war in Ukraine, being very influenced by Russian propaganda and social media manipulation. I’ve seen it in Canada as well and I’ve spoken out against it.”“I do think Mr. Bernier tries to harness some of these forces, whether accidentally or whether it’s coordinated, I can’t speak to.”The RRM made one single reference to Russian foreign interference during the election, to do with an AI firm CAG contracted called Yonder. Officials mention one or two Russian state-sponsored accounts had retweeted a couple of PPC candidates.RRM Canada said that “the scale is very small,” with “approximately 1-2 likes/retweets.”The PPC says this example demonstrates how O’Toole is exaggerating the impact of foreign interference.“We’re talking about 1-2 Russian state-sponsored accounts liking and retweeting two PPC candidates,” PPC spokesperson Martin Masse told Press Progress. “It’s a complete nothingburger.”“The fact that O’Toole mentions this supposed interference and claims to have been concerned about how it amplified our messaging is laughable.”“O’Toole lost that election not because the PPC somehow got help by a few Russian Twitter accounts, but because he has the personality of a wet noodle, is a fake Conservative who flip-flopped on key issues such as the carbon tax and who supported Trudeau’s tyrannical and costly vaccine mandates.”The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) never contacted the PPC about potential Russian interference, nor did any other federal officials. “We of course disavow all kinds of foreign interference in Canada’s democratic process,” said Masse. “Although foreign interference is certainly a very concerning issue, our small team had much bigger problems to deal with as a small party.”Masse added the PPC suspects Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives have launched a “gigantic army of CPC trolls and bots whose only purpose is to constantly attack us.”CSIS reports tabled during the inquiry cite Russia making attempts to “undermine public confidence in political systems and democratic processes,” while noting Russia is “likely not currently a significant foreign interference actor in relation to Canadian federal elections.”“At the moment, Russia does not see Canada as a priority for (foreign interference) activities as it does not perceive us to be an existential threat,” said one CSIS report.The RCMP and the Canadian Security Establishment joined CSIS in its assessment and told the inquiry they had seen no evidence Russian agents targetted Canada’s federal elections in with 2019 or 2021.
