As Canada’s foreign interference inquiry begins, what to expect this week

The judicial inquiry into foreign interference in Canada’s politics is under a tight timeline to produce ways to harden the country’s defences.

The long-awaited public inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian politics is set to begin Monday with hearings on how much information it can, in fact, make public.

Justice Marie-Josée Hogue’s inquiry, facing tight timelines to report on a complex national security issue, is scheduled to hold five days of hearings beginning Jan. 29. The inquiry said the initial hearings will focus on the “challenge” of how to make as much information public, given that much of the evidence will come from top secret national security documents and sources.

It’s one of the key questions facing Hogue’s commission as it begins a months-long probe into allegations that hostile governments — particularly China — have attempted to influence Canadian politics and politicians, including during the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

“The issue is … dealing with classified information and making it available to the public,” said Wesley Wark, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and longtime national security researcher.

“It’s really a factual inquiry, the question of the extent and nature of foreign interference, particularly from China, possibly from Russia, in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.”

The commission has also requested records related to India and allegations of interference in Canada.

It’s also the beginning of another chapter of the saga of foreign intervention in Canadian domestic affairs, which gripped the House of Commons in early 2023 and has launched multiple parallel probes.

Justice Hogue, a judge in the Court of Appeal of Quebec, was appointed by the Liberal government last September after months of negotiations with opposition parties. Her appointment came after the resignation of former governor general David Johnston, who appointed “special rapporteur” on the issue of foreign interference and tasked with determining whether a public inquiry was needed.