Forget Trudeau’s appearance on The Late Show. For real drama, tune in to Season Two of the Hogue Commission inquiry
As Parliamentarians spar over a DOA non-confidence motion and the prime minister chats with late-night host Stephen Colbert, the drama Canadians should really be watching is Season Two of the Hogue Commission on foreign interference. From a clueless Liberal party apparatchik to the Speaker’s refusal to prioritize issues of national security, it is the best spy show going — if only Canadians would tune in. So here are the highlights from the latest instalments.
Episode One: Liberal national director Azam Ishmael’s wilful blindness:
Last Friday, Azam Ishmael admitted that he had not read the commission’s first report, detailing how China manipulated the 2019 Liberal nomination race in Don Valley West. That’s the riding where the Chinese consulate in Toronto paid for buses to ferry international students to vote for their preferred candidate, Han Dong, threatening them with visa revocation if they did not comply. That report noted that CSIS briefed a Liberal party representative with secret-level clearance several weeks after the nomination meeting, who then briefed the PM the next day.
Episode Two: House Speaker Greg Fergus’s not-so hidden agenda:
Episode Three: Elections Canada vs. vote-seeking politicians:
In other words, while the Liberals may star in this drama, the supporting actors are just as leery about shining a light on the extent of foreign interference — and who benefits. Foreign states know this, and have gamed the system for decades, undermining our nation’s sovereignty by trading electoral support for political influence. And unless Canadians pay attention and demand change, the show will go on, and on, and on.
Postmedia News
Tasha Kheiriddin is Postmedia’s national politics columnist.