The latest scandal involving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government involves meddling by China and other entities in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
Information released by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) showed that there was foreign meddling in those votes. That shouldn’t be a surprise. And it shouldn’t be viewed as a scandal.
But the scandal is how Trudeau has handled the issue. Not only has he ignored calls to have a public inquiry, but there are also questions regarding how much he knew about this problem before the details were leaked last month.
The opposition parties, including the New Democratic Party, have called for the inquiry. Many Canadians want an inquiry. The decision to say no is a tone deaf measure by the prime minister. It makes it look like he has something to hide.
We don’t know, at this point, what the Liberals knew of international interference, if they knew anything. Maybe they didn’t. But the longer they try to block an inquiry, the more suspicious it will look, especially to the critics of the government. They will continue to build up ammunition to hammer the government.
It’s a reminder of a common refrain in politics: it’s not just about what you do, but how you do it.
The inquiry should happen, and it needs to be free of partisanship as much as possible.
The fact that the Chinese would want to influence our vote, or that countries would meddle in the elections of other nations, shouldn’t be a surprise. In this day and age, with social media and the lack of oversight into what is posted, it’s quite easy for them to get involved with spreading misinformation.
They know some people will believe (and share) anything when it fits their worldview.
I’m not sure why the Chinese felt the need to meddle in 2019 or 2021. As the 2019 election drew close, we knew Canadians weren’t going to feel comfortable with Andrew Scheer as prime minister, so they would give Trudeau another term in power, no matter how many gaffes he committed.
Chinese meddling wasn’t the biggest factor in Trudeau’s win that year. Scheer was the biggest reason.
As for the 2021 election, Erin O’Toole wasn’t going to win, either. Too much waffling on such issues as the environment, the pandemic and gun control as he tried to appease the Conservative base while appealing to voters in urban areas.
If the Chinese are really scared of the Tories, and if they really want Trudeau to remain in power, then we can expect a healthy heaping of interference the next time we go to the polls. They’re not going to be happy to see Pierre Poilievre leading the Conservative Party to power.
Some people have been calling for the prime minister to resign amid this latest revelation. But those angry over the Chinese meddling, and those who want to see a change of government, should be hoping that Trudeau remains as PM until the next election. He’s held the post for 7 1/2 years. A strong prime minister would be getting close to the best before date after that amount of time. Trudeau is not a strong prime minister.
He won minority governments the past two elections, and lost the popular vote both times. His approval rating is sliding and I don’t think he has the ability to regain those lost supporters, especially after being at the helm of the country for so long.
The best thing that could happen for the Liberals before the next election would be a new leader.
We probably need to expect some form of nefarious measures in our elections from other governments. And so after the next election, we’ll likely be seeing a report of meddling by another government. And someone will call for some form of an inquiry. Measures will be taken to prevent it from happening again. But there will still be interference.
Those committing these actions will always be ahead of the system.
However, you still need to take steps to prevent it from happening as much as possible.
And the public inquiry is still needed. And it will be needed the next time it happens. After all, the public needs to have answers as much as possible.
