For the foreign-interference inquiry to be effective, Justice Hogue needs the right tools
For Canadians, the crucial outcomes of this whole exercise could be captured in a few questions: Will any more Chinese diplomats involved in election interference be expelled from Canada? Will their proxies working here be held to account and see their day in court? Will we end up getting an effective foreign influence transparency registry to gain insight around any persons of influence in our Canadian democracy who have conflicts of interest by receiving benefits from a foreign state or its representatives (e.g. agents of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party)? Will we get more clarity on why the government projected such an indifferent response to alarming reports of foreign malign, including activities detailed in a large number of federal government intelligence assessments?
Mr. LeBlanc said Justice Hogue will bring “fresh eyes” to topics that
she otherwise has no demonstrated credentials to address. She is a
respected and capable jurist, but will clearly need a lot of support,
including leading experts with deep knowledge in the field, in order to
fulfil this critical mission. If not, she could fall into the trap that
evidently bedevilled her special-rapporteur predecessor David Johnston,
who had to rely on “curated access” to top-secret documents and
less-than-thorough debriefings from senior bureaucrats and politicians
who might be worried that their denials of any evident ineffectiveness
in countering Chinese interference in Canada’s democracy will not stand up to scrutiny.
