India might have contributed to influencing the result of the 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership contest in favor of Pierre Poilievre, The Globe and Mail wrote on Tuesday, weeks before Canada's federal election on April 28.
Referring to an unnamed senior government official, the report asserts that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) detected evidence of "Indian agents" collecting funds and organizing support from the South Asian community in order to boost Poilievre's leadership campaign.
CSIS, however, reported that such suspected interference was not very structured or vast. The spy agency also did not detect any evidence that Poilievre or his inner circle had knowledge of India's supposed activities.
CSIS had already told Canada's foreign interference commission it had no reason to believe the targeted candidates were aware of any external influence.
Allegations of Indian Interference in Canadian Politics
In December, CBC News, a publicly funded news organization, said Indian agents had tried to sabotage the campaign of Patrick Brown, a rival in the same leadership contest and current mayor of Brampton. Brown rejected the allegations, saying he had no reason to suspect that any meddling affected the result of the election.
Poilievre, the favourite to win the 2022 leadership contest, won close to 68% of the vote in the first round. Defending the charges on Tuesday, he claimed that he had won the contest "fair and square." He also dismissed calls for him to apply for the security clearance that, in his view, the Liberal government was "trying to impose" on him. Poilievre had held security clearances when he was a Cabinet minister and then as opposition leader.
Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader Mark Carney has termed Poilievre's hesitation to seek permission to examine foreign interference files as "baffling."
Political Fallout and Counterattacks
Poilievre countered by accusing Carney of having "secret talks" with the deputy governor of China's central bank on a trip to Beijing last year. Carney had been working as an economic advisor to then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the time. Poilievre also said that Brookfield Asset Management—where Carney was chairman until January—had been granted a $250 million loan two weeks after the meetings.
“What did they talk about? What did Mr. Carney, in his role as Trudeau’s economic advisor, offer China?” Poilievre asked. He also questioned why Carney would engage with a government that has been accused of human rights violations, including executing four Canadian citizens for alleged drug offenses.
Poilievre accused Carney of having “massive financial interests” in Brookfield and labeled him as “financially compromised” and “conflicted.”
Growing Concerns Over Foreign Interference
Concerns about the foreign intervention in Canadian elections arose for the first time in February 2023 when The Globe and Mail published reports that China has potentially tried to influence the 2021 federal elections to favor the governing Liberal Party. Reports of the Canadian intelligence indicated Beijing was determined to see the Conservatives lose the election. A document from CSIS referenced in the report quoted one of the officials from the Chinese consulate as declaring, "The Liberal Party of Canada is becoming the only party that the PRC [People's Republic of China] can support."
While China is the main focus of concern for foreign interference, Ottawa is also looking into possible operations by other nations, including India. The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force is closely monitoring potential interference as campaigning for the April 28 election begins.
Vanessa Lloyd, the chair of the SITE task force and deputy director of operations at CSIS, cautioned on Monday that China is "highly likely" to use AI-powered tools to disrupt Canada's democratic process. She also named India as a possible threat, saying, "We have also seen that the government of India has the intent and capability to interfere in Canadian communities and democratic processes."
In January, the last report of a foreign interference probe identified India as the "second most active nation practicing electoral foreign interference in Canada" after China. According to the report, even though India is an important country on the international scene, only China has contributed more to Canada's democratic institutions. Russia, Pakistan, and Iran were other nations mentioned in the report.
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