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As Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went overboard in linking India to the death of a Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil last year, he has been now accused of turning a blind eye towards China’s alleged interference in Canadian politics. While speaking before the Foreign Interference Commission, a panel set up to probe interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 elections, Trudeau casually labeled China’s efforts to target Canadian MPs as “part of what diplomats do.” Trudeau highlighted how China has broadly classified Canadian parliamentarians into three different groups in their diplomatic activities, based on their views on the communist country. “The fact that Chinese diplomats are categorising MPs in their outreach abilities into those three categories is not itself particularly revelatory or new information to me. It is fairly obvious and a part of what diplomats do in all countries in all parts of the world,” Trudeau argued. Trudeau downplayed Chinese interference activities even as Canada’s own intelligence has suggested that Beijing clandestinely interfered in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections in the North American country, both of which Trudeau won. Additionally, Canada’s Foreign Interference Commission in 2024 had identified China as “the main perpetrator.” Also read: Nijjar killing row: India blasts Trudeau’s ‘cavalier attitude’ following ‘no hard proof’ remark The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians in March had also identified China and Russia as the top sources of foreign threats. "In its 2019 review of the Government Response to Foreign Interference, the Committee noted that the most significant perpetrators of foreign interference in Canada were the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Russian Federation, with the PRC representing the greatest foreign interference threat," the report said. Yet days ahead of his appearance before the Foreign Interference Commission, Trudeau chose to go all guns blazing against India, without even having any ‘hard evidence’ suggesting the involvement of Indian diplomats in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Mike Duheme on Monday accused Indian officials of “interference into democratic processes”. During his appearance, Trudeau admitted that his government did not have hard evidence against India. Also read: Justin Trudeau admits Canada had no ‘hard proof’ of India’s role in Nijjar killing, only ‘intel’ "Canada asked India to cooperate. Their (India) ask was for proof. We asked for Indian security agencies to investigate further and cooperate with us. Because at that point what we (Canada) had was intelligence," Trudeau said. "Their [Indian government] ask was how much do you know? Give us the evidence you have on this and our response was well...it's within your security agencies, you should be looking into how much they know. You should be engaging," said Trudeau. Canadian opposition is now attacking Trudeau to let China have its way in the country’s internal affairs. The Leader of the Opposition in Canada, Pierre Poilievre, even said Beijing had helped Trudeau secure victories in the past two Canadian elections, further piling pressure on the embattled PM amidst the diplomatic standoff with India. (With inputs from agencies) Geopolitical writer at WION, follows Indian foreign policy and world politics, a truth seeker. None
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