Members of Parliament who put a political spin on foreign election interference are helping China undermine Canadians' confidence in their democracy, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Playing "political games" to get a partisan advantage will undermine people's trust in their institutions, and will only assist the efforts of countries like Russia and China that attempt to make democracies unstable, he said at a news conference in the Greater Toronto Area on Wednesday.
The Conservatives have criticized the Liberals for their handling of possible foreign interference in federal elections, saying the government has left the public in the dark about allegations that have recently emerged in media reports. A non-partisan panel of top public servants -- including the top public servant, the national security advisor to the prime minister and the heads of the justice, public safety and foreign affairs departments -- was stood up to tackle the issue ahead of the 2019 election, with a mandate to continue its work in subsequent elections.
Considerations in making that judgment would include the degree to which the incident or incidents undermined Canadians' ability to have a free and fair election, their potential to "undermine the credibility of the election" and "the degree of confidence officials have in the intelligence or information."
The Liberal party, Conservative party and NDP did not immediately respond to questions about whether they brought any allegations to the panel.
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