David Johnston -- who was tasked with the investigation after recent media reports of Chinese interference in the 2019 and 2021 ballots, including secret campaign donations -- also ruled out a public inquiry into the matter demanded by the opposition.
China denies the claims.
"Foreign governments are undoubtedly attempting to influence candidates and voters in Canada," Johnston, who previously served as governor general, told a news conference.
He concluded, however, that those efforts did not change the outcome of the votes. He said Canada's 2019 and 2021 elections "were well protected by sophisticated mechanisms and there is no basis to lack confidence in those results."
"Moreover, I have found no examples of ministers, the prime minister or their offices knowingly or negligently failing to act on intelligence," Johnston said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority liberal government has faced increasing pressure to explain how it responded to allegations that Beijing sought to influence or subvert Canada's democratic process.
The accusations reported in local media and based on leaked intelligence documents and unnamed sources included secret campaign donations and Chinese operatives working for Canadian candidates or lawmakers in an attempt to influence policy.
More recently, it emerged that Beijing sought to intimidate an opposition Canadian lawmaker and his relatives in Hong Kong over his criticisms of China.
Earlier this month, Ottawa expelled a Chinese diplomat implicated in that scheme.
Beijing, which has called the intimidation accusations "groundless," reacted by sending home a Canadian diplomat and warning Ottawa it was sabotaging relations with its second-largest trading partner.
- 'Real and growing threat' -
Johnston in his interim report, after reviewing original source intelligence files and interviewing senior intelligence officials, rejected calls for a public inquiry to shed light on the accusations and bolster confidence in Canadian elections.
"A public review of classified intelligence simply cannot be done," he said.
Instead, he said he would hold hearings over the summer and invite testimony from targeted diaspora communities and various experts.
All three opposition party leaders were unmoved by Johnston's findings and demanded open scrutiny.
"We remain resolute that a public inquiry is needed to restore confidence in our electoral system," said Jagmeet Singh, leader of a small leftist faction that has propped up Trudeau's liberals.
Concerns about China interference in G7 democracies were included in the bloc's statement in Hiroshima last week.
"We will never tolerate foreign interference," Trudeau said Tuesday.
He noted such intrusion "is not new," and "doesn't just target our elections. It targets all aspects of society, our research institutes and universities, our businesses, and most commonly, the diverse communities that enrich our country."
In his preliminary findings, Johnston noted common foreign interference techniques included cyberattacks, online influence campaigns, disinformation and "exploitation of human relationships."
He also identified shortcomings in how intelligence is shared among officials, describing "significant and unacceptable gaps in the machinery of government."
Johnston said it is "a real and growing threat and more remains to be done promptly to strengthen our capacity to detect, deter, and counter foreign interference in elections."
Johnston is scheduled to release a final report in October.
Chinese diaspora bears brunt of Canada-Beijing tensions
Toronto, Canada (AFP) May 24, 2023 -
The Chinese diaspora has been caught in the crossfire of Ottawa's row with Beijing over its alleged meddling in Canada's affairs -- facing both intimidation from Chinese operatives and rising stigmatization.
And each new spat between their ancestral home and adoptive country -- the latest being tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats in May -- brings additional stress for the community.
Many people in Toronto's historic Chinatown, where Canada's maple leaf symbol can be seen on Chinese-language signs posted above busy stores and food marts, appeared uneasy to speak on the record about recent racism and threats.
Allegations of harassment have been described by rights activists and Canada's ethnic minorities, and documented by Amnesty International in recent years.
Some have accused Chinese undercover agents or proxies of intimidating Chinese Canadians by vowing retribution against their relatives back home.
"What they do is they use family ties to China or Hong Kong to threaten you," Cheuk Kwan, co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, told AFP recently.
Kwan, clad in a black leather jacket, said this includes "death threats, verbal intimidation, or something as simple as saying: 'We know where your parents live.'"
Dilnur Anwar, a Uyghur who fled persecution in China and moved to Canada in 2019, has experienced such calls firsthand for years -- on an almost daily basis.
"I blocked the (phone) numbers but it doesn't change anything because they call all the time using other numbers," said the woman, who now lives in Montreal.
"Sometimes I'm asked to come to the embassy, sometimes it's an automated message," she explained.
"I'm very worried because I haven't heard from my family in six years."
- 'We have lived in fear' -
Ottawa and Beijing have been at loggerheads since 2018, when a Huawei executive was arrested on a US warrant in Vancouver and two Canadian nationals were detained in China in apparent retaliation.
Then there was the Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese "spy balloons" over North America, clandestine Chinese police stations discovered in Canadian cities and allegations of Beijing's interference in Canada's elections.
Canada's Chinese immigrants and their descendants often endure extra scrutiny amid such controversies.
"We will always be deemed to be from China, even though many of us have no connections with China," lamented Amy Go, co-founder of the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice.
"In the past, we have lived in fear," several dozen Chinese-Canadian associations wrote in an open letter recalling discrimination faced by early Chinese immigrants to North America. "Today, let's not let it happen again."
"In recent years, the social pressure exerted on members of our community is such that it is difficult to remain insensitive to it," they continued, pointing to diplomatic tensions that "are now having a direct impact on our community."
The first immigrants from China settled in Canada more than 200 years ago. Several waves followed, notably at the end of the 19th century to help build Canada's transcontinental railway.
The Canadian Pacific Railroad united a nascent country, but at a severe cost: Hundreds of Chinese workers died from accidents, winter cold, illness and malnutrition.
Today nearly 1.7 million Canadians, almost five percent of the population, trace their roots to China, census figures show.
- 'Tip of the iceberg' -
There is an urgent need for Ottawa to act to stem a recent rise in racism, many members of the community believe.
It is also important that the government "ensure that Canadians, but also newcomers, are not interviewed (by Chinese agents) or potentially exposed to risks or threats from foreign countries," said Go.
Ottawa has been gripped of late by revelations that a Canadian MP, Michael Chong, and his relatives in Hong Kong were targeted by Beijing for sanctions over his strong criticisms of China.
On Tuesday, a top Canadian official also concluded that China sought to interfere in Canada's 2019 and 2021 elections.
Beijing has rejected both accusations as "groundless slander and defamation," and warned Ottawa against seeking to "sabotage" relations with its second-largest trading partner.
Meanwhile, intimidation like that faced by Anwar, the Uyghur woman in Montreal, might be more extensive than realized, the Toronto association's Kwan said.
This sort of behavior by China is only "the tip of the iceberg," he suggested. "We don't see 90 percent of the iceberg."
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