Party Nominations Vulnerable to Foreign Interference
Election regulatory bodies' taking control is one solution
With the return of Parliament, Justice Hogue continued her Inquiry into foreign interference. Some of the big revelations had to do with candidate nominations, specifically how, and where foreign influence can be applied.
The entire process for choosing a candidate is left up to the parties themselves from who can stand for nomination, and who can vote on a nomination. The whole idea of a ‘safe seat’ means that the seat will remain with the party in power. Toronto was until earlier this summer considered safe until the by-election in St. Paul’s. The Montreal area was considered safe until last Monday. Losing these two areas makes it almost impossible to win the next federal election.
The Liberal Party has no membership fee, and candidates have to pass through a ‘greenlighting process,’ my impression of which doesn’t amount to much because ‘anyone can say they’re greenlit. Erin O’Toole highlighted the vulnerabilities caused by this problem saying “There is no cost to join. If you supply an email address, you’re in,” The problem being anyone can be attached the email accounts being submitted, creating the difficulty in determining whether the person is there because they want to be, or because they’re being told to be there.
Highlighting the Liberal problems is a case study of Han Dong who has been kicked out of the Liberal Caucus. The case study says: “According to CSIS the PRC had a significant impact in getting Han Dong nominated as the Liberal Party of Canada’s 2019 federal candidate in Don Valley North.” According to reporting from The Bureau, Intelligence reports indicate that MP Dong allegedly benefitted from coordinated efforts of Chinese consular officials to coerce Chinese International students into voting for him. Testimony this week from National Director Azam Ishmael says the party was apparently unaware of that fact. Global news reported in August that the RCMP had talked to Dong’s Financial agent for the 2019 federal election for unknown reasons believed to be connected to the Hogue Inquiry. Ishmael also ‘rejected a suggestion at the Hogue Inquiry that allowing those who aren’t even permanent residents to vote in a nomination race creates any kind of vulnerability for Foreign interference.
The only way to clean these meetings up is to have Elections Canada take over federal nominations, and the provincial election regulators take over provincial nominations. It’s a change that’s been talked about for a number of years, as well as one that makes sense. These bodies regulate the requirements for candidates, financial donations, and look after election workers themselves. The problem here is no federal party is interested in doing so, which indicates the likelihood there remains some level of foreign interference that’s ongoing. But unless this changes, the nominations will remain vulnerable to foreign interference.
If influence is applied at the nomination level, then it’s easy to see, and understand how we get 11 Members of Parliament who have allegedly helped foreign interests undermine our democracy. It deepens the sense of mistrust Canadians already have of political leaders at all levels of government.