Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada’s Conservative Party, has stated that he was elected “fair and square” in the wake of allegations that India had interfered in the party’s election.
The Globe and Mail newspaper published claims that Indian agents were involved in organizing and raising money for Poilievre in the 2022 leadership campaign inside Canada’s South Asian community, citing a source with top-security clearance.
There is no proof that Poilievre or his group knew of the purported meddling.
The second full day of campaigning for Canada’s federal election, scheduled for April 28, was dominated by the accusation.
India has previously been charged with meddling in Canadian elections. Those accusations have been refuted by its government on several occasions.
The Globe and Mail said Monday night that because Poilievre has not received the required security clearance, Canadian intelligence officers could not bring up the subject of India’s suspected meddling with him.
According to the study, India’s purported meddling efforts were a component of a broader campaign to sway Canadian legislators from both parties.
The only prime ministerial candidate from Canada’s political party to decline the security clearance is Poilievre.
In his defense of his choice on Tuesday, he referred to the procedure as politicized and claimed that it would prevent him from publicly discussing matters of national significance.
“What I will not do is commit to the oath of secrecy that the Liberals want to impose on me,” Poilievre assured reporters.
They take me into a dark room and say, “We’re going to give you a little bit of bread crumbs of intelligence and then we’ll tell you you can’t talk about this stuff any more,” because they don’t want me to discuss these topics.
With 68% of the vote, Poilievre became victorious in the 2022 leadership contest. According to the Globe and Mail, Canadian intelligence officials stated that there is no proof the purported meddling attempt affected the result.
Radio-Canada, a broadcaster, also verified the Globe’s findings.
Liberal leader Mark Carney used the accusations as political leverage, calling Poilievre’s failure to secure the clearance “beyond baffling” in a statement to reporters on Tuesday.
“I find it downright irresponsible that the Leader of the Opposition day-after-day, month-after-month, year-after-year refuses to obtain a security clearance,” added Carney.
Concern over foreign interference in Canadian elections has grown in recent years, and last year a public investigation was started to investigate the matter.
China and India were found to have tried to meddle in Canada’s two previous elections, according to the findings of the foreign interference investigation.
The inquiry’s final conclusion stated that although these attempts were “troubling,” they had “minimal impact.” However, it cautioned that disinformation presented a “existential threat” to the nation’s democracy.
Agents connected to China, Russia, and India will attempt to sway the current campaign, a Canadian electoral integrity task team warned on Monday.
According to the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) task group, foreign agents may target diaspora communities in Canada and attempt to sway their voting decisions by using proxies, artificial intelligence, and internet disinformation.
According to officials, this will probably lead to a “more active” federal government response to disinformation issues.
