Most Canadians believe China did try to interfere in elections: poll
Global News
The new poll from the Angus Reid Institute found over half of Canadians believe the Liberal government has not been strong enough in responding to China's alleged interference.
A majority of Canadians believe China attempted to interfere in recent federal elections and want to see stronger measures to prevent foreign meddling, a new poll suggests, adding to the growing calls for Ottawa to take action.
The new poll from the Angus Reid Institute, released Wednesday, also found 53 per cent of those surveyed believe the Liberal government has not been strong enough in responding to China’s alleged interference attempts, and even more (64 per cent) want more focus on national security and defence.
“The response over the last couple of weeks from Ottawa … is not necessarily washing with Canadians, or at least with a really significant segment of them,” said Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute.
“More than half of them are saying, ‘No, this alleged interference represents a serious threat to Canadian democracy.'”
Over the last number of weeks, Global News and The Globe and Mail have revealed detailed reports showing the scope of China’s alleged efforts to influence Canadian society, including allegations of attempts to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
On Tuesday, a report commissioned by an independent panel tasked with reviewing the 2021 federal vote concluded there was no foreign interference that “threatened Canada’s ability to have a free and fair election.” But it also warned there were attempts to interfere in the election that didn’t meet the panel’s threshold for reporting those attempts to the public.
Despite the mounting allegations, Trudeau so far has not clearly answered questions about calls for a public inquiry into the matter, despite calls from prominent officials to do so.
The Angus Reid Institute poll, which was conducted in late February, did not ask Canadians about a public inquiry. But Kurl did note the data is consistent with a growing distrust among some Canadians in their democratic institutions.