Canada inquiry into China election meddling claims ruled out

An independent special rapporteur has said that Canada should hold public hearings into foreign interference by China, but stopped short from recommending a full public inquiry.

The advice is in response to claims that China attempted to interfere in Canada's last two federal elections.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been pressured to launch a formal probe.

Chinese officials have previously denied any interference, calling the accusations "defamatory".

At a news conference on Tuesday, David Johnston, Canada's former governor general, said that foreign governments are "undoubtedly attempting to influence candidates in Canada".

However, he said a public inquiry into this influence would not be possible due to the sensitivity of the intelligence involved.

"What has allowed me to determine whether there has in fact been interference cannot be disclosed publicly," Mr Johnson said. "A public review of classified intelligence simply cannot be done."

He added that launching an inquiry "would have been an easy choice" but "would not have been the correct one," given that Canadians expect full transparency from a public probe.

He instead recommended that a series of public hearings be held to discuss what he described as "serious governance and policy issues" in Canada around detecting and deterring foreign interference.

Mr Johnston said he made his conclusions after reviewing classified intelligence reports and interviewing senior politicians and officials within the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Mr Trudeau has said that he will follow Mr Johnston's advice on whether a formal inquiry is needed.

The allegations of interference stem from a steady drip of reports, mostly based on leaked intelligence, in Canadian media that detailed claims of Chinese meddling in the country's last two federal elections, in 2019 and 2021.

The efforts are not believed to have altered the outcome of either general elections. While Mr Johnston agreed that foreign interference has been an issue in Canada, he said some of the media reports on the meddling claims were based on limited information and lacked context. 

Intelligence reports have also detailed accusations that Beijing targeted a member of parliament and his family in Hong Kong after the politician accused China of human rights abuses.

In response, Canada declared diplomat Zhao Wei "persona non grata" earlier this month and ordered him to leave the country.

The next day China ordered the removal of Canada's diplomat in Shanghai, Jennifer Lynn Lalonde.

The issue has strained already challenging diplomatic relations between the two countries.