At long last, the Hogue inquiry lays the foundation for a real debate about foreign interference

The most grave allegation levelled during the foreign interference saga of the last many months was that the Liberal government willfully turned a blind eye to Chinese state meddling in Canada's democracy because it benefited the Liberals politically. Justice Marie-Josée Hogue's initial report seems to at least cast significant doubt on that claim.

«In my opinion, the evidence I have heard to date does not demonstrate bad faith on anyone's part, or that information was deliberately and improperly withheld,» Hogue says at page 150.

Hogue repeated her finding about an absence of bad faith in her prepared remarks to reporters on Friday. But in both cases, she attached a caveat.

The evidence, she wrote, «does suggest that on some occasions, information related to foreign interference did not reach its intended recipient, while on others the information was not properly understood by those who received it.»

In her remarks, she said «there were some communication problems and a certain lack of understanding of the role that everyone plays, or should play, in combating foreign interference.»

These are far less sensational problems. But they're still problems.

In assessing the impact of foreign interference during the 2019 and 2021 elections, Hogue states clearly and unequivocally that she does not believe any meddling undermined the integrity of the electoral system or affected which party formed government. It could have affected the result in a specific riding, she says, although she also concedes that she cannot say so with certainty.

But she does find that foreign interference has now undermined public confidence in Canadian democracy.

«While awareness and foreign interference may at one time have been largely within the domain of