Justin Trudeau’s deeply cynical tactics of denial and deflection in recent weeks is not the behaviour of someone who is taking seriously allegations that Beijing supported multiple Liberal candidates in the 2019 and 2021 elections through covert and illegal donations.
Dismissing allegations of foreign interference as the unreliable leaks of someone from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, with potentially ill intent, as the government and its advisors have done, was always a transparent dodge. As is the Liberals
filibustering to prevent Trudeau’s chief of staff, Katie Telford, from testifying at committee under oath.
The goal is to drag the scandal out until no one can remember why it matters
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No matter how many times the prime minister says he is taking the issue seriously, he remains committed to pretending everyone but himself is playing partisan games.
When asked repeatedly by Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre during
Question Period about the “clandestine” funnelling of money via China’s Toronto consulate towards “preferred candidates,” Trudeau oscillated between ignoring the question and indulging in a bit of sophistry.
“We have no information on any federal ‘candidates receiving money from China,” he said. It was the same apparent dismissal Trudeau gave in the fall when CSIS leaks about interference began surfacing in the news media.
The key word here is “candidates,” which the prime minister may be choosing to define narrowly. He is using “a very tiny technical term called ‘candidate’ which only applies to a limited scenario 30 days before an election,” as Poilievre put it.
The Opposition leader then broadened out his questions to include money given to “any parties, leadership campaigns or electoral district associations,” and asked “how much the Liberal Party or its various arms received in money from Beijing. How much?”
Trudeau gave up denying he knew nothing about such funding and instead accused Poilievre of questioning “the loyalty to Canada” of other members in the House, which the prime minister described as “unfortunate and despicable” as well as “disgusting.” On cue, the entire Liberal caucus stood clapping.
The Conservative leader has avoided hyperbole. No reasonable person who
watched Question Period that day would conclude Poilievre was questioning anyone’s loyalty, not even the prime minister’s….”
look over there! Healthcare!”
But that is what Trudeau wants Canadians to think, and the CBC, at least, was happy to oblige, by carrying the
headline “Trudeau calls Poilievre’s suggestion he isn’t loyal to Canada despicable.”
“Look over There!!”
Earlier, when reporters
asked Trudeau directly what did he know about election interference and when, he responded “I understand the extent to which Canadians have very real questions about this” and then repeated the various panels and committees tasked with investigating foreign interference.
Rather than explain what he knows, Trudeau is suggesting there will be an investigation into what he knows. Will NSICOP study whether it, itself, already briefed the prime minister? Will it feature members of the committee asking themselves questions?
If Trudeau wants questions answered, he could obviously just answer them himself. No need for a public inquiry, or, for a special rapporteur to conduct an inquiry into whether or not we need an inquiry.
All this posturing is ultimately fruitless and pointless. The Liberals could have spared the country this confusing process by simply acknowledging the gravity of the allegations weeks or months ago. Instead, as was done in the wake of the SNC Lavalin and WE Charity scandals, the government is permitting a constant drip of evidence of wrongdoing to pile up.
It might be incompetence, or part of a deliberate strategy to overwhelm and confuse the story, so that even those paying attention have trouble describing what exactly has happened. Accountability is never the goal. The goal is to drag the scandal out until no one can remember why it matters. Bonus if you can tar the opposition along the way.
Rather than getting serious about election interference, everything he announced is merely smoke and mirrors
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There was
the “Trump” card: giving reasons to mistrust elections is not good for society, “that’s something that we have seen from elsewhere,” said Trudeau, echoing a senior Liberal who more openly accused the opposition of “Trump-style tactics.”
The
“nothing to see” card: “Canadians can have confidence that the integrity of our elections held.”
The partisanship card: he accused the opposition of “sowing confusion and mistrust” by even raising the allegations.
The
“it’s all lies” card: “We are very concerned with the (Globe) leaks, particularly because there are so many inaccuracies in those leaks.”
And, of course,
the racism card: he referred to “a rise in anti-Asian racism” to deflect a question on the subject.
Then, on Monday, in an ignoble and shameless act, he threw in the two Michaels card: “We worked day and night to bring back the two Michaels after they were arbitrarily detained in China, including over the course of the 2019 and 2021 elections.”
What the hell have the two Michaels got to do with this? Look over there!!
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