People arrive to cast their ballot on federal election day in Montreal, Monday, Sept. 20, 2021. A Parliamentary committee is set to decide whether or not it will expand its current study on foreign election interference to include more details about the 2021 federal election. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
OTTAWA – A parliamentary committee is expanding its current study on foreign election interference to determine whether the 2021 federal election was influenced by outside actors.
The move comes in response to a report last week from the Globe and Mail newspaper that said China worked in the last federal election to defeat Conservative politicians considered unfriendly to Beijing and to help ensure a Liberal minority government.
The House of Commons procedure and House affairs committee has agreed to extend the committee indefinitely, and to have at least three more meetings scheduled for later this month.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that Canadian voters alone decided the last federal election, playing down the suggestion that China tried to unduly sway the outcome.
The committee has been studying allegations of foreign interference in the 2019 federal election since November.
Members of Parliament have already questioned witnesses from the RCMP, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Elections Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2023.
