Kurl: Poilievre and Trudeau make it hard to unravel the China mess

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We have reached the point at which we may never learn pertinent facts about the hydra-headed saga of China’s attempts to interfere in Canadian elections. We may never know what our leaders, security officials and politicians knew, when they knew it, who they told, and what, if anything, they did about it.

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We may never be able to truly measure the scope and breadth of the threat, the extent to which it continues, or whether anyone will apply the lessons from it in future.

Pierre Poilievre and Justin Trudeau are just fine with that.

The two men most likely to face off in the next federal election have so irrevocably politicized the process that, at this point, sober examination of the issue itself is no longer possible, the need for confidentiality notwithstanding. it will linger as a bitter aftertaste many Canadians would prefer to just wash away.

When questions over attempted meddling in the 2021 federal election campaign re-emerged earlier this year, the federal Liberals, the prime minister, his cabinet and caucus huffed and puffed. They suggested the issue wasn’t worth talking about because they either didn’t know about the allegations; the allegations weren’t true; the allegations conjured anti-Asian racism; or because even asking about the allegations was akin to using “Trump-like tactics.”

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When questions then emerged about the suitability of appointing David Johnston as special rapporteur on the issue, a man Trudeau once characterized as a “family friend,” a man formerly on the board of the Trudeau Foundation (a charity recently under scrutiny for a donation from businessmen who had relationships with the Chinese government), Trudeau described the former governor general as “unimpeachable.”

The dictionary says to be unimpeachable is to be above scrutiny, question and criticism. Surely no earthly mortal can be above all that.

We soon learned just how impeachable Trudeau’s choice was in the eyes of the Opposition leader. Instead of putting credible, knowledgeable critics such as Michael Chong at the vanguard of the quest for answers, Poilievre refused to meet with Johnston, preferring catchpenny attacks. The latter wasn’t just a “ski buddy” of the prime minister’s (although Johnston himself has spoken of this) but was filling a “fake job.”

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By denouncing the process altogether, Poilievre scorched and salted the earth to the point it was poisoned among his base. Any possibility something useful might come out of Johnston’s work is now gone amid the mistrust Poilievre has sown among his supporters.

This is exposed in what people think. New data from the Angus Reid Institute shows the vast majority of past Conservative voters say a public inquiry should have been called, that the Trudeau government has been evasive in answering questions and lacks ability to handle this file going forward. There is no equivocation among this group.

On the other side of the political spectrum, it’s equivocation central. Past Liberal voters are either skeptical or ambivalent. While they are far less likely to view issues of election interference as “very important,” they do not offer a full-throated defence of their government either. Just one-third (35 per cent) say Trudeau and company have been transparent in response to this file. Nearly 40 per cent aren’t confident in the Liberals’ ability to combat election interference in future. Significant numbers say they just don’t know.

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Lost in all of this: the answers we should expect and deserve.

Elections — the kind that are free and fair, protected from bad actors who would meddle with fundamental applications of democracy — must be defended, cherished and always safeguarded. Their protectors should be able to answer questions confidently and coherently, especially as confidence deteriorates. In January 2022, one-third of those surveyed said free and fair elections in Canada were weakening. Today, that number stands at 43 per cent.

Now we get politicization of the issue to the point it becomes meaningless. You deserve better. The MPs targeted in this sorry mess deserve better. People in minority communities who say they have been intimidated deserve better. Sadly for this country, for democracy, and productive political discourse, neither Trudeau nor Poilievre appears capable of delivering.

Shachi Kurl is President of the Angus Reid Institute, a national, not-for-profit, non-partisan public opinion research foundation.