Trudeau wants the China election-interference scandal to go away. Canadians cannot let that happen.

By Spencer Fernando, Exclusive to the National Citizens Coalition

As noted by Blacklock’s Reporter, the Trudeau government plans to spend months discussing the issue of a foreign agent registry:

“Cabinet will spend months reviewing a proposed registry of Canadians working as paid agents for foreign governments, says Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino. A bill to create a registry has languished in the Senate for over a year: ‘Why don’t we do our job?’”

This delay is only the latest attempt by the government to wait out the public firestorm regarding China’s interference in our democratic institutions.

When the government initially announced the appointment of a “special rapporteur,” the timeline was for an individual to be appointed to the role within days.

That was then changed to “weeks.”

It must not be overlooked that the idea of a special rapporteur was itself a delaying tactic.

The Liberals continued to be pressed to call a public inquiry, and the rapporteur is meant to create another delay in the process of that decision being made.

All the while, the Liberals claim they are taking the issue of foreign interference “very seriously.”

However, actions speak louder than words, and the actions of the government show that they not only don’t take the issue seriously, they are desperate for it to go away.

Consider that each move the Liberals have made since the foreign interference scandal broke has been to try to buy enough time for the public to be satisfied with nothing being done.

At first, the Liberals denied there was even a problem, claiming the reporting on CSIS leaks was based on incorrect information.

When that didn’t work, they tried to call people racist for wanting an investigation.

When that didn’t work, they tried to turn the focus to hunting down those who leaked information.

When that didn’t distract the public they flipped – rhetorically – towards being “very serious” on the issue.

Hence the ‘rapporteur.’

Yet, when we look closer, we can see that nothing has changed.

There is no progress towards a foreign agent registry.

There is no progress towards an inquiry.

The government hasn’t stopped obstructing attempts to have the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Katie Telford testify.

Nobody has been removed from the Liberal Caucus, a stark contrast to the immediate action taken at the provincial level by the Ford government following a report alleging a PC MPP was part of China’s interference efforts. 

There has been no reprimand of China by Canadian officials, nor has any high-level diplomat been told to leave the country.

In fact, the Liberals have essentially sought to generate a bunch of noise and rhetoric to distract from the fact that they aren’t actually doing anything to confront China’s foreign interference attempts.

It’s obvious that the Liberals are seeking to wait out the scandal, hoping to just get through each day and wait for public attention to turn elsewhere.

In normal circumstances, for a scandal involving mild wrongdoing by one or two officials, the success of that ‘do nothing and wait’ tactic wouldn’t be too damaging to the country.

But in the context of an assault on our core democratic institutions, allowing the government to get away with changing the channel would be disastrous.

Canada faces a very real risk of having a significant portion of our democratic institutions being co-opted by a foreign government that is deeply hostile to many of our core values as Canadians. 

Doing nothing isn’t an option.

That’s why Canadians must keep the pressure on the Liberal government.

In the past, Liberal MPs have been influenced by public pressure into bringing about changes within the government.

And many of those Liberal MPs are likely wondering if they want ‘enabling China’s interference in Canada’s democracy’ to be their legacy.

The more they hear – respectfully – from Canadians about the importance of holding a public inquiry and the importance of protecting our country being influenced by the Chinese Communist Party, the more at least some of them will feel compelled to put country ahead of short-term partisan interests.

So, I encourage you to speak out, contact MPs and Senators, and make yourself heard. 

Our democratic institutions are at stake, and we all need to stand up and protect them.

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