In view of increasing political pressure, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau now wants to have indications of China’s possible influence on the elections in 2019 and 2021 examined more closely.
According to media reports, the liberal politician announced that, among other things, he would involve the parliamentary committee on national security. The Toronto Star newspaper wrote that he should also be given access to top-secret documents about China’s suspected interference in the elections.
In addition, an external consultant should examine how Canada dealt with this possible election interference and make recommendations as to whether a public investigation is necessary, wrote the “National Post”. With these announcements, however, Trudeau fell far short of the demands of the opposition and former security and intelligence officials, who had called for such a public inquiry, the newspaper further reported.
Leaked information from secret services
Trudeau had secured a third government mandate in the 2021 general election, but failed to win the majority of votes and governs with a minority government. There was a similar result in the 2019 election.
According to the National Post, there was a large number of media reports about attempts by China to influence the election results for both elections. This would have included leaked information from government intelligence sources.
