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Writer's pictureRachael Thomas

Lethbridge Herald: Mr. Trudeau Turned a Blind Eye to Beijing’s Interference

Mark Twain once offered “if you tell the truth, you do not have to remember anything.”


To tell the truth means the facts will align and one can live confident and carefree. Mr. Trudeau would benefit from taking this wisdom to heart.


Since February, Mr. Trudeau has tried to defend his inaction considering the damning facts regarding Beijing’s interference in our democracy.


Most recently, we learned that a Beijing diplomat targeted and intimidated my colleague, Michael Chong and his family. Canada’s intelligence agency reported this to the Prime Minister and advised him to inform Mr. Chong, but Mr. Trudeau chose to remain silent and do nothing—for two years! It was not until the media exposed Beijing’s operation that my colleague learned the truth.


To date, the government has refused to expel the Chinese diplomat responsible. This corrupt actor is still at play.


And it gets worse…


At the direction of the Communist Party of China, Beijing billionaires paid hundreds-of-thousands of dollars to the Trudeau Foundation to gain access to the Prime Minister and advance Beijing’s interests.


Over the past few months, with the help of a courageous whistleblower, the main­stream media has brought to light nu­merous intelligence reports that highlight Beijing’s interference in Canada’s elections. These reports were drafted by Canada’s national spy agency (CSIS) and sent to the Prime Minister’s Office leading up to and during the 2019 and 2021 elections.


The Prime Minister claims he has had “many” conversations “over long periods of times, over many years” but refuses to provide a straight answer about when he was briefed concerning Beijing’s interfer­ence and why he chose to do nothing in response.


Canadians deserve to know the truth.


For months, my colleagues and I have tried to get to the bottom of this by asking thoughtful and direct questions in committee and during debate in the House of Commons. On April 14th we had the op­portunity to question the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Katie Telford. She was asked simple questions but refused to give simple answers and opted instead to maintain the cover-up. She did, however, offer something she likely regrets when she stated the Prime Minister “reads everything” and “there is nothing that is ever kept from the Prime Minister.”


This is helpful to know because it points to the fact that the Prime Minister wasn’t ignorant; he wasn’t kept in the dark. Instead, he actively ignored and avoid­ed information, briefings, and warnings from security and intelligence agencies about Beijing’s interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections because it benefitted his political party. According to one intelli­gence document Beijing “employed a sophisticated strategy to seek the return of a minority Liberal government” in 2021.


The concerns regarding Beijing’s interfer­ence range from distorting public opinion through disinformation campaigns, dis­rupting the voting process through hacking attempts, funneling ille­gal money to Liberal candidates, and plac­ing interns chosen and paid for by Beijing businesses in political offices.


Further, reports show that many Chinese Canadian citizens were pressured by an apparent Beijing representative to vote for a particular candidate or conform to certain political views.


During this period of uncertain­ty and insecurity, the government’s response is alarming. The Liberals have attempted numerous times to obstruct witnesses from testifying at committee. Rather than choosing “sunny ways”, they have provided convoluted and purposely veiled responses to direct questions. Further, the Liberals filibustered committee for more than 30 hours and continuously resisted calls for a public and fully independent inquiry into Beijing’s interference in our democracy.


My Conser­vative colleagues and I are fighting for a fully independent and public inquiry into Beijing’s interference in our democracy so we can uncover what and when the Liberals knew about this foreign interference.


Instead of a public and transparent process, the Liberals have opted to form a special committee with secret hearings, secret evidence, and secret conclusions – all controlled by Prime Minister Trudeau.


If the government has nothing to hide, why won’t the Prime Minister launch a public inquiry?


Our de­mocracy demands transparency and accountability. We must understand Beijing’s interference as a direct attack on our sovereignty as a nation. We need to shine a light on what transpired and who is responsible.


If only Mr. Trudeau would tell the truth.



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