For the Foreign Interference Inquiry to Count, It Must Lead to Real Change

Commentary Sigh. Another instance of intelligence in Canada ignored. Stop me if you have heard this one before: A Canadian spy agency approaches a senior government bureaucrat and says it has solid intelligence that a foreign power tried to interfere with and influence a federal election.  The bureaucrat in question has a vested interest in ensuring that the vote is free, fair, and unencumbered. In the end, said bureaucrat does nothing with the intelligence but still insists the election went off without a hitch. Welcome to the Great White North! The spy agency referred to above is of course the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) which took the initiative to warn the government, the bureaucrat is none other than Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault, and the alleged foreign power is the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The actions against our democracy took place not once, but twice, in 2019 and 2021. On both occasions, a minority Liberal government retained office: the PRC wanted a result of this nature to come about....