Canada to continue diplomacy with alleged foreign interference actors: Joly

Canada will continue to have “tough conversations” and pursue diplomacy with foreign states accused of interfering in democratic institutions, including China and India, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says.

Both of those countries have been at the centre of allegations being heard at the public inquiry on foreign interference, which is probing attempts to meddle in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

Ottawa is also still reeling from a startling report released this month by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) that alleged parliamentarians are “wittingly” or “semi-wittingly” collaborating with foreign governments.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called China a “significant” foreign interference threat.

But Joly told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block that engagement remains “the best way to address those issues.”

With China specifically, she said there are still areas where the two countries can cooperate “when we must” — such as climate change, health, artificial intelligence and geopolitics — while holding firm and pushing back on issues of tension.

“These are tough conversations,” Joly said.

“I don’t see diplomacy as a gift you give to another country — only allowing them to speak to you. I think it’s the best way to convey really difficult messages in order to make sure that in the end, there is less tension for us and in the world.”

The minister pointed to actions the government has taken to show it will “never accept any form of foreign interference,” including the expelling last year of Zhao Wei, the former Chinese consul general in Toronto accused of participating in an intimidation campaign against Conservative foreign affairs critic