OK, finally! Phew! Let’s expose this to sunlight and get to the bottom of this…
And after more than a year of foot dragging and Rapporteur's and so on and so forth…finally!The reversal, amid miserable domestic polling numbers and intense pressure from the opposition parties and media, comes after more than a year of revelations about Beijing’s efforts to interfere in Canada—largely to the advantage of Trudeau’s Liberal Party.
Operation Fox Hunt - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
The Official Opposition is criticizing the judge running the public inquiry into foreign interference for not granting the Conservative Party full standing in the first phase of this probe, a decision that means they cannot ask questions of witnesses or gain access to any evidence gathered outside of the hearings??? Huh??The forthcoming report promises to be deeply uncomfortable for the Canadian government in Ottawa. Since he first came into office, Trudeau—like his predecessors—has attempted a tricky balancing act with the Chinese regime, promoting trade and diplomacy with Beijing whilst trying to find some recourse for human rights abuses, illiberal trade practices, and foreign meddling.
Chinese government interference in Canada - Wikipedia
Justice Hogue in a 71-page decision Monday announced which individuals and groups would be granted full standing and which would be granted intervenor status.
She also warned the Conservatives against politicking during the inquiry and cautioned she could revoke their intervenor status if they ignored this.
Mr. Skamski said the judge’s remarks are troubling. “Justice Hogue’s comments pre-emptively singling out Conservatives for a warning about partisanship suggests bias,” he said.
The first part of the foreign interference inquiry will examine foreign interference by states such as China in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. The second phase will examine what reforms are necessary to fight foreign interference.
But this Public Inquiry is about Foreign “Election” Interference. The Conservatives say it was their party that was targeted by the Chinese government, including foreign affairs critic Michael Chong. In May, former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole revealed that Canada’s spy agency has told him he was also the target of a misinformation and voter-suppression operation by the Chinese Communist Party - demonstrating what he called an “orchestrated campaign of foreign interference” leading up to and during the 2021 federal election.
It is interesting timing in hindsight with respect to the accusation by the Trudeau Government without presenting any evidence whatsoever….in the finger pointing against India. It did put China on the back burner…huh…Now it must figure out how to assert its sovereignty again. And the best place is to start is by understanding how it got here.
Why Did Trudeau Dawdle on Chinese Election Meddling?
A new inquiry may expose Beijing’s reach in Ottawa.foreignpolicy.com
Amid the India-Canada diplomatic row, a senior journalist from Canada has said that there is a big spectre of foreign interference from China in the country.
Daniel Bordman's comments come as tensions continue to flare between India and Canada after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's explosive allegations of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on his country's soil on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.
India angrily rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case.
The journalist, in an interview with ANI, said there is an enormous threat of Chinese meddling in Canada as Justin Trudeau's Liberal party has, during several election cycles sought support from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), regarding which there is a story in Canada to move the spectrum away from Chinese foreign involvement.
Sebastian Skamski, director of media relations for the Opposition Leader’s Office, said this decision by Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue, a judge of the Quebec Court of Appeals, undercuts the credibility of the inquiry that will get under way in January.
The Conservatives say it’s unfair that the governing Liberals effectively have gained full standing in the first phase of the inquiry because the government has been granted this right while they have only been given intervenor status in the hearings. Intervenors cannot ask questions of witnesses but can make submissions to the inquiry. They can also only gain access to evidence that is presented publicly to the probe.
“Political parties are not bit players in this story; they are central to the issues at hand,” Mr. Skamski said. “Conservative candidates and MPs have been specifically targeted by Beijing’s efforts to influence our elections and reports from the media have suggested that it was the explicit strategy of the CCP to target the Conservative Party and benefit Liberals.”
In May, Mr. Chong learned from The Globe and Mail that Beijing had targeted him and his relatives in Hong Kong in the leadup to the 2021 election, a revelation that led the federal government to expel Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei.
Trudeau started fight with India to cover up Chinese interference in Canada, alleges senior journalist Bordman
Amid the India-Canada diplomatic row, a senior journalist from Canada has said that there is a big spectre of foreign interference from China in the country.www.businesstoday.in
Foreign interference inquiry denies full standing to Conservatives, NDP — National Post
The NDP, the Conservatives and their former leader Erin O’Toole were granted intervenor standing, meaning they won’t be able to ask questions of any witnesses
He said it’s wrong for the Official Opposition to be denied full standing while the government is granted it. “While the Conservative Party has been denied full standing, the Liberals – via the Government of Canada – do have full standing. The double standard is glaring.”
Conservatives decry judge’s decision to limit their standing in foreign interference probe’s first phase — The Globe and Mail
Judge’s decision means they cannot ask questions of witnesses or gain access to any evidence gathered outside of the hearings
Denying Conservatives full status at foreign interference inquiry undermines its credibility, party says — National Post
'Political parties are directly affected by foreign interference in our democracy,' A Conservative spokesperson said
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