Foreign interference led to loss of some seats in 2021, O’Toole tells inquiry

Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole says he was startled on election night in 2021 when the vote count fell far outside what his party had projected in a number of ridings.

He is testifying Wednesday as part of a federal inquiry into allegations of foreign interference in Canada’s last two elections.

He says Tory campaigns flagged concerns about possible meddling in as many as nine ridings, and his team passed those concerns on to the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force.

He says when results started coming in on election night, turnout in those ridings was lower than expected, which made him suspect voter suppression tactics were at play.

A declassified intelligence report shown at the hearing highlights concerns that O’Toole and the Conservative party were the target of Chinese interference intended to promote false narratives online about the party’s stance on China.

Tories say security officials didn’t inform the party about the concerns, and O’Toole was only informed that he was a target of meddling attempts last spring.

O’Toole blames the alleged interference for the loss of as many as eight or nine seats, and says Canadians must be able to exercise their right to vote unimpeded.

He told the commission Wednesday that those seats wouldn’t have won him the election, but he believes they may have allowed him to stay on as leader.

The government’s special rapporteur, David Johnston, had found little evidence of a link between the alleged interference attempts and the election result.

On Wednesday afternoon, former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu is slated to take the stand, followed by NDP MP Jenny Kwan and Tory foreign-affairs critic Michael Chong.

All three have said they believe China has targeted them