The shovel is a very useful tool for politicians. In a storm, it’s about shoveling the problems forward and waiting for them to melt away on their own like snow on a sunny Easter weekend.
Talk to Justin Trudeau, who used this tried-and-true technique when accused of pressuring SCN-Lavalin to avoid lawsuits or exposing his entourage’s ties to WE Charity, to whom Ottawa had given a huge contract.
The time has passed. The grumbling melted away. And voters moved on to another call.
But China’s alleged interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections is far too fundamental an issue for the government to push aside and hope it evaporates.
Yet that is what the Prime Minister has done by appointing an “independent special rapporteur” to determine whether to hold a public inquiry, when there is no doubt that everyone is hear about it.
The Prime Minister’s reaction is trivializing a very serious situation. By trying to buy time, he is eroding public confidence, not to mention that the choice of former Governor General David Johnston as rapporteur also raises doubts because of his closeness to the Trudeau family.
However, confidence in the electoral process is the essential lubricant of our democracy. A lubricant that is sorely lacking in the United States where the cleavage is extreme. This was particularly egregious this week with the indictment of Donald Trump who succeeded in convincing a considerable part of the population that he was robbed of the election.
We are not there in Canada. We are fortunate to have a healthier democracy than that of our neighbours. Canada even ranks 12e position among the strongest democracies in the world, according to the index of the group The Economist, far ahead of the United States (30e), demoted to the rank of “imperfect democracy”.
But we must beware of the drift, because fewer and fewer Canadians – barely 43% according to the Edelman barometer – trust government leaders, whom they perceive as engines of division.
These divisions that weaken our democracies are the joy of foreign dictatorships that want to extend their tentacles around the world.
On the political level, the Chinese president seeks to expand his influence by giving himself the fine role, that of a man of peace. In March, he played the role of mediator between Iran and Saudi Arabia… yet a traditional ally of the United States. This week, he met French President Emmanuel Macron, in search of a solution to the conflict in Ukraine. But by negotiating with France, Xi Jinping also wants to distance Europe from the Americans… with whom tension is mounting over Taiwan.
PHOTO JACQUES WITT, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron during the latter’s official visit to China on Friday
On the economic level, China has already increased its ascendancy over Europe, by courting weaker countries. Look at its strategy: while Greece, crushed by debt, saw painful austerity measures imposed by the European Union, China made considerable investments to restore the port of Athens, which it had taken control of in 2016.
Shortly after, Greece – yet the cradle of democracy – used its veto to prevent the European Union from denouncing to the United Nations human rights violations by China, recounts Joanna Chiu, in her book China and the New World Disorder.
This “checkbook diplomacy” was stitched together with white thread.
In many other cases, China works underground. In Canada, it stealthily infiltrates our universities, our businesses… when it doesn’t allow itself to fly balloons over our heads or play police on our territory.
Interference by the Chinese Communist Party has become “the greatest strategic threat to Canada’s national security”, according to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
And what is Ottawa doing? Too little, for all we know.
In March, the government announced consultations to develop a register in which all people who act on behalf of foreign interests would be obliged to register. Good news. This would improve transparency. But that is not enough.
Other measures to strengthen safeguards against foreign interference were reportedly presented to the cabinet last summer, the Globe and Mail this week. But there is still nothing concrete on the horizon, despite the very real threat.
Let’s stop being naive. We must modernize our laws, adapt them to new geopolitics and new technologies.
Let’s take a cue from Australia, which pulled out all the stops after being rocked by a Chinese meddling scandal that paid for a politician’s expenses in 2017. The main lesson to be learned? All political parties must stick together and set aside partisanship.
So, Mr. Trudeau, put away your shovel. Spring has arrived. We must roll up our sleeves and develop a new toolbox to strengthen the ramparts of our democracy.