There is an unusual climate of tension in the Ottawa House of Commons, where Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has faced uninterrupted opposition from Parliament for several weeks. The latter criticizes him for his indolence in the face of allegations of Chinese interference exposed by Canadian media.

In a bid to ease political pressure, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino announced on Friday March 10 the launch of consultations to set up a registry of foreign agents to encourage this, he said. “Transparency on Legitimate Lobbying Activities by Foreign States in Canada”. Individuals acting on behalf of a foreign government to further its goals must disclose their affiliations with the government that employs them. The United States in 1938 and then Australia in 2018 established similar registers to counter attempts at foreign interference.

On March 6, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the appointment of a “Special Rapporteur” on the formulation “Recommendations for protecting our democracy”.

But he has so far refused to yield to the injunctions of his main opponent, Canada’s Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, and his own political ally, substantial parliamentary support under a minority government, the New Democratic Party (NDP, left) , calling for a government-independent public inquiry into the issue. “It seems that there are more and more things to hide. All of this is not helping Canadians have confidence in their voting system.”castigated Jagmeet Singh (NDP) during a session of the House of Commons on March 8.

Funding for eleven candidates

The crisis has been brewing since the Global Television Network – one of Canada’s largest television networks – revealed in November 2022 that Canadian security intelligence suspected the Chinese consulate in Toronto, Ontario, of being the center of attention during the 2019 general election. being considered by a network to help and fund eleven candidates whose identities have not been revealed “sino-compatible”.

Since the beginning of February, Canada’s most powerful English-language daily newspaper has once again been shut down by secret service sources globe and mail, in turn published a series of articles claiming that China had done everything it could to encourage it a narrow victory for the Liberal Party over the Conservatives in the 2021 general election.

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