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Commissioner Justice Marie-Josee Hogue speaks to reporters after the release of the final report of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 28, 2025.
Foreign interference report delivers mixed bag
“There are legitimate concerns about parliamentarians potentially having problematic relationships with foreign officials, exercising poor judgment, behaving naively, and perhaps displaying questionable ethics,” writes Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, who nonetheless found no treason or conspiracy.
She did find, however, that foreign interference, including the spread of mis- and disinformation, is a “major risk to Canadian democracy” that must be addressed. She writes that “information manipulation” is, in fact, “the single biggest risk to” democracy in Canada.
The report includes a slew of recommendations (51 in fact) for combating foreign interference, including better information-sharing protocols, smoother cooperation across orders of government, that party leaders get top-secret security clearance soon after becoming leader – something Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has refused to do – and tighter rules for leadership elections to limit votes to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.House of Commons in the Canadian Parliament building in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Green fund controversy halts government business in Ottawa
The government has provided initial documents on the program, but the Conservatives want more handed over to the Commons so they can share them with federal police. The government argues sharing more documents would be illegal and prefers that the matter be studied by a House committee.
Why it matters? Since the Conservative demand falls under parliamentary privilege, most House business is on hold until it’s resolved. But the government can’t end the stalemate without the support of at least one other opposition party, the NDP or Bloc Quebecois, to join them in ending the showdown. But neither wants to do so.
The Conservatives are happy to let the scandal drag on, delaying the government’s agenda and painting them as crooked ahead of a federal election that’s due by October 2025. The showdown indicates an increasingly dysfunctional legislature and weak government, and it suggests that the coming months won’t be as productive as the Liberals would hope – and the country would expect.