Canada’s problems seem to be worsening every day. The Great White North, once a beacon of progress, has lived comfortably within the United States defense envelope throughout the Cold War and up to today, remaining peaceful and uneventful. Its people are known for their politeness, and it has a government leaning to the left. Overall, the situation was pretty good.
This is now changing. The Canadian Parliament is facing allegations of treason. Prime Minister Justin “Castro” Trudeau appears visibly uncomfortable as Canadian Conservatives’ Pierre Poilievre hammers him about the affair.
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), in a new report, first suggested that Canadian lawmakers may have assisted foreign actors in meddling in political campaigns and leadership races. Ottawa is experiencing heightened anxiety about foreign interference as the world prepares for historic elections in which factors like artificial intelligence and emboldened powers will test the resilience of democratic systems.
Since the allegations were made public on Monday, Justin Trudeau has been on the defensive. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called on the government to name names.
Poilievre stated Wednesday that the National Security Committee has indicated there are members in this House who have worked for hostile foreign governments. Canadians have the right to know what information is being shared and who it comes from.
As a U.S. citizen, it is hard to deny that this situation has a familiar tone. What is the proof?
The NSICOP, an all-party organization, said on Monday that they had reviewed intelligence suggesting that “semi-witting” or “witting” parliamentarians worked with foreign missions to mobilize votes during a campaign. They also claimed that foreign missions and their agents have given them cash either “knowingly or willfully blinded” or that they have received privileged information from these officials.
The committee, which has top security clearance, said that it had based its conclusions on over 4,000 documents and about 1,000 pieces of evidence. In its report, it said that China was the biggest foreign interference threat for Canada. India came in second.
It may be a stretch to call this “treason.” Treason can be defined as:
The offense of overtly attempting to overthrow a government in the state that the offender is loyal to.
These acts seem to be an attempt to influence the government, but not overthrow it. This is a little pedantic, but it’s still a serious matter affecting the integrity of Canada’s elections. This all sounds familiar.
It is not far-fetched to believe that this could be an attempt by the same actors to influence a U.S. election. Canada is the ideal place to test geopolitical shenanigans because of the cultural similarities between Canada and the United States. It’s unclear what these external actors are trying to accomplish. This issue seems to have given Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre an enormous political stick to beat Trudeau and his Liberal Party with.
Trudeau’s government is reluctant to reveal names. This is intriguing. Poilievre notes that there are indications that Canadian House of Commons members may be implicated in the scandal. However, the government has not released names. Why? If Canada’s government is anything like that of the United States, we would expect that the names of these individuals would have been released immediately if they were Conservative Party members. Since they haven’t been released yet, we are looking to the north, or in my case to the east, while Canadians are watching Ottawa to see what will happen next.
