On foreign interference, we need to regain perspective

Everyone needs to take a deep breath. Four big reports on foreign interference are now in. What did they find? When you read them closely, their conclusions should be somewhat reassuring. When placed against the full backdrop of our democracy, foreign interference is a small problem, but we must remain on guard. For over a year, Canada has been seized by allegations of interference in our 2019 and 2021 federal elections. The torqued headlines and alarmist commentary that our democracy was under secret assault by a 21st century “Yellow Peril” controlled by Beijing have turned out to be gross exaggerations. I ran as the Conservative candidate in 2021 in a heavily Chinese riding, Scarborough-Agincourt, Ont. As I stated before, I never saw any interference during my campaign, and no one has brought anything to my attention since it ended. Mark Johnson was a Conservative candidate in Toronto in the 2021 federal election. Photograph courtesy of Mark Johnson We now have four reports: from Morris Rosenberg on our critical incident responses in the 2021 election; from the special rapporteur, former governor general David Johnston; from the public inquiry led by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue; and now a report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP). They recount many of the same events and conclude much the same thing. The interference that could have happened amounted to low-level nuisances in only a few ridings, a tiny fraction of the total 338, and inconsequential even at that. Their findings are replete with uncertainty: “impossible for me to determine whether those events had an impact,” “much of the intelligence is uncorroborated,” and “no evidence that the disinformation campaign was foreign state directed.” It’s all rather muddled, and we really don’t know. Sadly, much of the controversy is based on the faulty and prejudiced premise that Chinese-Canadians sole source their news, are gullible, that they actually agree with President Xi Jinping’s vision for China, and that they don’t consider other issues when marking their ballots. Chinese-Canadians, like the rest of us, are discerning consumers of news and are smart political shoppers. NSICOP’s report may be the most explosive one with its incendiary statements that some MPs could be aiding foreign powers. We should remember that these are only allegations entirely based on reports from CSIS whose sources and reliability remain unknown. Given that the parliamentarians impugned as traitors will not be publicly named, a shadow lingers over Parliament, but are all parliamentarians now under that shadow, or only the ones with non-white skin or ethnic last names? Canadians should ask tough questions of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which should no longer hide behind the shield of secrecy when asked for more substance. We can’t go on with grave accusations that destroy reputations, engender animosity towards an ethnic group, and undermine confidence in our elections because a few anonymous people at an intelligence agency say it should be so. If CSIS has evidence that politicians—or anyone for that matter—engaged in treasonous acts, then our police and intelligence agencies should act decisively. What has been the result of the sturm and drang over foreign interference? We learned more about it, and we should be better prepared next time. Good. But let’s remember why we called these investigations. We wanted to reassure public confidence in our elections. By allowing ourselves to be consumed by fears of foreign interference did we damage the very confidence that we sought to reinforce? Free and fair elections are a cornerstone of democracy. So is the equal participation of all citizens. Sadly, there’s nary a word from either our political leaders or CSIS on the risk of this debate casting aspersions on Chinese-Canadians. Hogue stated that foreign interference is a “stain” on our democracy, and called for vigilance. More importantly, we need to be equally if not more vigilant against anti-Chinese sentiment whipped up by a select few. Allowing ourselves to fall victim to that, to lose perspective, and to become mistrustful of our fellow Canadians of Chinese descent would be the darker and more permanent stain on our democracy. Mark Johnson is a general counsel who has worked in the private and public sectors. He was a Conservative candidate in Toronto in the 2021 federal election. The Hill Times

On foreign interference, we need to regain perspective

The foreign interference described in four reports amounts to low level nuisances in only a few ridings, a fraction of the 338 seats contested in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

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On foreign interference, we need to regain perspective

The foreign interference described in four reports amounts to low level nuisances in only a few ridings, a fraction of the 338 seats contested in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

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