Canada's foreign interference inquiry public hearings starting: Here's what you need to know

The public hearings portion of the federal inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian elections and democratic institutions gets underway next week. Heading into this process, here's what you need to know.

The public hearings portion of the federal inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian elections and democratic institutions gets underway next week.

After months of behind-the-scenes preparations, including deciding which key players will be able to participate and establishing parameters for the national security and intelligence-centric process, commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue will begin presiding over the first open phase of the national probe.

Heading into this process, here's what you need to know.

A national public inquiry into allegations of attempted foreign election interference was a move the federal Liberal minority government came to, reluctantly, last fall.

After extensive deliberations, parliamentary hearings and a failed special rapporteur process, Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc announced in September that a Quebec Court of Appeal justice would take on the task of examining the issue.

While concern around potential meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal campaigns — based in part on media reports citing unnamed intelligence sources and leaked documents — was what kicked off this controversy, the inquiry has been given a broader mandate.

While the first phase of Hogue's work will focus on "the interference that China, Russia and other foreign actors may have engaged in" during the last two elections, it will also dig into the flow of information within the federal government in connection with these alleged instances.