O’Toole says CSIS told him about ‘active’ voter suppression by Beijing
Former Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) found an “active campaign of voter suppression” by China against him and his party in the 2021 election.
O’Toole made the comments Tuesday from the floor of the House of Commons, within which MPs are protected by parliamentary privilege from civil or criminal prosecution under freedom of speech provisions.
His speech comes after a briefing with CSIS last week. “I also believe my privileges as a Member and officer of Parliament were infringed by the government’s unwillingness or inability to act on the intelligence related to foreign interference,” O’Toole said. “The briefing confirmed to me what I had long suspected – that my party, several of my caucus colleagues and myself were the target of a sophisticated misinformation and voter suppression campaign orchestrated by thePeople’s Republic of China before and during the 2021 general election.” The issue of foreign interference in Canadian elections — chiefly from the Chinese government — has dominated federal political discussions for months.
After media reports citing leaked documents by Global News and the Globe and Mail, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed former governor general David Johnston as a “special rapporteur” on foreign interference.
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