Whatever the ultimate truth of President Donald Trump’s allegations of Chinese meddling in American elections, Canadians have no excuse for the kind of reflexive dismissal in which the CBC indulged Friday. Despite their ruling class's attempts to hush up and smooth over what they had allowed to happen, Canadians nevertheless know from what limited government admissions were made exactly what Beijing is capable of. Whether what Trump said is the exact or entire truth, or timed to influence the midterms, is not the point. This side of the border, we know the Chinese have tried to influence our elections. (Full disclosure, I suspect Trump is broadly right: if the Chinese thought Ottawa worth the effort, Washington certainly would be….)Trump’s speech (here unedited) highlighted Chinese efforts to compromise U.S. voter data and influence outcomes.Here’s the Canadian story, documented in the Hogue Commission’s final report (January 2025) and repeated in CSIS assessments. These documents paint a clear picture of systemic Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interference in our federal elections.Justice Marie-Josée Hogue wrote that China was the “most active perpetrator” (Page 39) of foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions in 2019 and 2021. Her report describes how Beijing deployed proxies, diaspora networks, disinformation on WeChat and other platforms, and even suspected fund transfers to support “pro-PRC” or neutral candidates while undermining perceived adversaries.CSIS documented clandestine efforts to leverage community leaders, exclude “anti-China” voices from events, and exert control over Chinese-Canadian communities. Later reports confirm these tactics evolved but persist with mass recruitment via fake job ads, transnational repression, and influence operations viewed by Beijing as “low-risk, high-reward.”.The Hogue report rightly (and it must be said, eagerly) noted that overall election results were not overturned... It is a fundamental principle of Liberal government in Canada that one does not need to deal with problems that one can plausibly deny exist.Indeed, perhaps the Chinese were not the problem anyway: Hogue wrote in her report (Page 5) that though “foreign states targeting parliamentarians has garnered much attention, the greater threat to Canadian democracy is the spread of misinformation and disinformation in the media and on social networks.”So, don’t worry about the Chinese. If you want to worry, worry about Canadians with unacceptable opinions. In fact, let's use this to grab control of public discourse… Never let a crisis go to waste, and all that..HANNAFORD: Ottawa’s six stealth attacks on your freedom of speech.Our institutions proved resilient enough. But Hogue's report also described foreign meddling as a “stain” that eroded public trust, with the government’s response too slow and coordination suboptimal. Communication to the public and affected parliamentarians was “piecemeal and underwhelming.” Subsequent CSIS landscape documents and 2025 election after-action reports reiterate China’s priority targeting of Canada, including in nomination races and local contests.This is not abstract. Canadian Conservatives, notably Erin O’Toole in 2021, pointed to specific ridings with large Chinese-Canadian populations where interference likely cost seats. Intelligence warned of Beijing’s preference for certain Liberal outcomes tied to issues like the Meng Wanzhou case. The pattern mirrors what Trump describes south of the border: authoritarian regimes probing democratic vulnerabilities through proxies, data, and narrative control rather than crude ballot-stuffing.Canadians who instinctively reject Trump’s claims while ignoring or downplaying our Hogue findings and CSIS warnings reveal a partisan blind spot..This is serious stuff. If evidence matters when it suits one narrative, it must matter generally. Beijing does not respect borders in its United Front operations. Dismissing US concerns as “Trump derangement” — as the American Left was quick to do and so many Canadians will reflexively do now — while our own intelligence agencies document parallel threats in Canada does not mean you're a smart guy who sees through Trump BS. It means willful blindness, even cowardice. In any case, it is not reassuring for Canadians that as these plausible allegations come to light south of the border, our response has been to portray our own experiences as penny-ante stuff and attempt to expand trade with the CCP that would like nothing more than to turn Canada into simply a source for raw materials and a market for their goods. It’s not as if they would be starting from scratch…The lesson is clear: vigilance, not denial. Strengthen transparency, foreign agent registries, election safeguards, and public education on disinformation, as Hogue recommended. Demand accountability from Ottawa for past sluggishness.And yes, listen to the evidence on Trump’s allegations before knee-jerk condemnation. Our own record proves the Chinese leadership is up to precisely what he warns against. Canada cannot afford selective outrage when democratic sovereignty is on the line.
