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OTTAWA The serenity shown by one senior Liberal official in late March over the Chinese foreign interference saga was at odds with the fever that was gripping Ottawa.

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At the time, it seemed the government was in real trouble. There was compelling testimony that suggested the Liberal party was warned by the security services that some of its candidates were helped by the Chinese government in successive elections.

Yet, as it was explained to me by the senior Liberal, the issue was considered overblown; the process of appointing a special rapporteur to look into allegations Beijing had sought to ensure a Liberal government would take time to come to a conclusion; and, that, absent new revelations, the story would die down.

The plan was cynical but proven. The problem with it is that the Globe and Mails security agency sources appear intent on ensuring there are new revelations.

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Mondays paper included details of a 2021 intelligence assessment that said China is using incentives and punishments as part of an influence network that included interrogating relatives of a Canadian MP. Sources told the Globe that the MP is Conservative Michael Chong and that the diplomat in Canada handling the file, Zhao Wei, is still accredited to work in this country.

Chong said in a statement Monday he is disappointed that he was not told his family in Hong Kong had been identified. The government did not inform me that a diplomat was targeting my family, nor did the government take any action to expel the diplomat responsible for orchestrating this intimidation campaign.

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He said he has been briefed by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service but was not told about the risk of sanction against his family. My conclusion is that the PMO did not authorize CSIS to inform me of this specific threat. The fact that the government neither informed me, nor took any action is indicative of its ongoing laissez-faire attitude toward the PRCs (Peoples Republic of China) intimidation tactics.

During question period, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pointed out that the Chinese consider Canada uniquely vulnerable to foreign influence efforts because there are no protections such as the foreign influence registry that exist in countries like the U.S. and Australia.

Poilievre said that Trudeau knew about the threats for two years and did exactly nothing.

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Will the prime minister finally stand up for this country and its people against a foreign dictatorship that has been interfering in our land for far too long?

The prime minister engaged in a lengthy damage limitation exercise, saying he has asked officials to follow up on the Globe report. It is absolutely unacceptable to see anyone being intimidated, especially a member of Parliament in this House, he said.

But he rebuffed calls for a full public inquiry by pointing to the special rapporteur process.

Former governor general David Johnston has been asked to look into foreign influence allegations, with a mandate to recommend any additional mechanisms such as a public inquiry by May 23, and to release his first conclusions by the end of October.

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Even if you believe, as I do, that Johnston will not be cowed by fear or favour, such an extended timeline inevitably reduces the threat to a government that can use the process like a shield to stonewall the opposition.

The intensity has passed, the media have moved on and too many voters were confused about the details to get too angry.

But stories such as the targeting of Chongs family, the existence of Chinese police stations in Canada and the donation to the Trudeau Foundation orchestrated by Beijing and leading to the entire board resigning keep the issue of foreign interference bubbling away. The three stories dominated question period in the House of Commons on Monday.

Doubts about the Liberal partys role in all of this linger in the publics mind. Polls suggest voters are skeptical, not only of the Trudeau governments relationship with China, but also about the prime ministers ability to tell voters the truth about any given issue.

The continuing drip of news that presents the government as soft on a country intent on undermining our democracy will lead more people to reach the same conclusion as certain members of the security services that the Liberals were co-conspirators with Beijing, as one source put it to me.

Judgment may have been delayed, but it has not yet been denied.

The rest is here:
John Ivison: Interference news has Liberals looking soft on a country intent on undermining our democracy - National Post