‘Alarming’, says Canadian PM on report that India interfered in 2022 race to elect leader of Oppn party

“Allegations of Indian interference in Conservative leadership races are alarming but they’re not new,” Trudeau said, while responding to a question in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

He referred to the matter figuring in a report issued by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) in June this year and before the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions.

The allegations were reported by the government-funded outlet CBC News on Monday which cited unnamed sources to claim that Indian agents “attempted to derail” the candidacy of Patrick Brown, currently the Mayor of the Greater Toronto Area township of Brampton.

The pro-government outlet quoted sources as saying “Indian consulate representatives” put pressure on Brown’s campaign co-chair Michelle Rempel Garner to leave, which she did in June that year.

That particular contest was won handily by current Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre in the first round, as he garnered nearly 70% of the votes. Poilievre was always favoured to easily capture the leadership. Brown was never considered a serious candidate for the post. Each of the principals in the report refuted, in various ways, the allegations in the report.

Garner rebutted the imputation in the CBC News’ report, as she told the outlet in a written statement, “I left Mr Brown’s campaign completely of my own volition.”

“In no instance was I coerced in any manner, by anyone, at any time. I am an experienced parliamentarian, seasoned communicator, and former cabinet minister who has proven more than capable of developing senior grade positions entirely based on my own read of a situation…to suggest that I’m not is ridiculous,” she added.

Meanwhile, in a statement on Monday, Brown said, “I have no reason to believe that such interference altered the final outcome of the 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership race.”

The statement came as he was summoned to appear before a Standing Committee of the House of Commons looking into alleged Indian interference in Canada. “I have no new evidence to contribute to the committee’s proceedings and am concerned that my appearance has been sought for political reasons rather than matters of substantive policy,” he added.

He said that he takes the matter of foreign interference “very seriously” but he had “no desire to be drawn into partisan disputes unfolding in Ottawa.”

A spokesperson for the Conservative Party told the outlet that the Canadian Security Intelligence Services (CSIS) never advised it “of any intelligence suggesting there was foreign interference in the leadership contest”.

“This is the first time we have heard about it,” she added.

The issue of foreign interference first broke in February last year when the outlet Globe and Mail reported that China may have undertaken an operation to influence the results of the 2021 Federal elections in Canada in favour of the ruling Liberal Party.

The report added “the intelligence reports show that Beijing was determined that the Conservatives did not win. China employed disinformation campaigns and proxies connected to Chinese-Canadian organisations in Vancouver and the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), which have large mainland Chinese immigrant communities, to voice opposition to the Conservatives and favour the Trudeau Liberals”.

It cited a Canadian Security Intelligence Service report as referring to an unidentified Chinese consulate official as saying, “The Liberal Party of Canada is becoming the only party that the PRC (People’s Republic of China) can support.”

However, Beijing also preferred to restrict the Liberal Party government to a minority as it “likes it when the parties in Parliament are fighting with each other, whereas if there is a majority, the party in power can easily implement policies that do not favour the PRC”.