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 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 meeting today is 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 will meet later today to discuss the report, which cited classified records from Canada’s spy agency.
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 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. 21, 2023.
