Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief of staff defended the integrity of Canadian elections that returned the Liberal Party to power despite allegations China sought to influence the votes.
(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief of staff defended the integrity of Canadian elections that returned the Liberal Party to power despite allegations China sought to influence the votes.
The government has been strengthening its tools to counter foreign interference, Katie Telford told lawmakers Friday afternoon in Ottawa. She said national security agencies concluded that elections held in 2019 in 2021 were conducted “freely and fairly.”
Telford used her opening statement to explain how intelligence is delivered to and consumed by the prime minister’s office and the government. “Sensitive intelligence is treated with the utmost care,” she said, adding that some of what is reported is eventually proven wrong. “Intelligence rarely paints a full, concrete or actionable picture.”
“Protecting our democracy is one of the most important things we can do and one of the important parts of my job,” Telford said. But she gave few specific answers on the content of briefings that she or Trudeau received, citing the sensitive nature of national security matters.
“There is nothing that is ever kept from the prime minister, certainly not by me,” she said.
Her testimony on foreign election interference is a defeat in itself for Trudeau. Facing pressure after repeated leaks from within the national security apparatus, the prime minister appointed former Governor General David Johnston to investigate and potentially recommend a public inquiry.
Telford said Johnston has been given access to classified files and will deliver his findings in May. She reiterated that the government will abide by his recommendations.
Canadian governments, no matter their partisan stripe, operate under the principle of ministerial responsibility. Political staff are rarely called before House committees, with Telford appearing only twice before.
In 2021, she testified on how the government handled allegations of sexual misconduct within Canadian military ranks. In 2020, she was grilled by lawmakers during a controversy over a student aid contract given to WE Charity, a scandal that damaged former Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
In this case, the governing Liberals — beset by the growing China scandal — tried to filibuster a Conservative motion to call Telford before a different committee.
Since Trudeau’s appointment of a special investigator, the tumult has resulted in a wholesale change of leadership at a charity established to honor the legacy of the prime minister’s father. Pierre Trudeau, who governed for more than 15 years, established Canada’s diplomatic ties with China’s Communist-led government more than 50 years ago.
This week, the president and board of directors of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation resigned, saying a C$200,000 ($150,140) donation from a Chinese businessman linked to the government in Beijing had irrevocably politicized their work. The prime minister deflected questions about those staffing changes.
“The Trudeau Foundation is a foundation with which I have absolutely no intersection,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
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