Foreign interference inquiry set to hear from senior PMO staff

Staff from the Prime Minister’s Office are set to speak on Tuesday at the public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada’s elections.

The testimony comes a day after the inquiry saw a briefing document prepared for the PMO stating China meddled in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

The document from Canada’s spy agency says it knew China “clandestinely and deceptively interfered” in those elections.

It says in 2021, Chinese foreign interference activities were very likely motivated by a perception the Conservative Party of Canada’s campaign platform was anti-China.

The commission will hear from the PMO’s Katie Telford, Jeremy Broadhurst, Brian Clow and Patrick Travers a day before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears Wednesday.

Senior government officials who monitored election threats told the commission Monday that incidents during those campaigns didn’t meet the threshold to issue a public warning.