Public inquiry into foreign meddling in Canada's elections drops its first report today

Canadians could get a clearer sense today of the extent to which China and other countries meddled in the past two federal elections — and whether the government and security agencies did enough to share that information — when the public inquiry on foreign interference releases its first report.

The inquiry was triggered by media reports last year which, citing unnamed security sources and classified documents, accused China of interfering in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Some of the reports also suggested members of the Liberal government were aware of certain attempts at interference and didn't act.

Over 10 days of hearings in March and April, Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue heard hours of sometimes contradictory testimony about the breadth of foreign interference by countries like China, Russia and India in the past two elections and whether information was shared with the right people at the right times.

Hogue and her staff also have heard classified testimony behind closed doors to help them reach their conclusions.

Testimony and documents tabled at the inquiry have made it clear that foreign states have meddled in Canadian elections in the past.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Canada's spy agency, has said it believes the Chinese government «clandestinely and deceptively» interfered in both the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, according to a 2023 document made public at the inquiry.

That briefing note says China's interference was «pragmatic in nature and focused primarily in supporting those viewed to be either 'pro [People's Republic of China]' or 'neutral' on issues of interest to the PRC government.»

Other CSIS documents tabled at the inquiry showed the governments of India and Pakistan also