Conservative MP says Hogue’s first report comes to ‘a damning set of conclusions’
Commissioner Hogs first report comes to conclusions and findings that are starkly different from what the Trudeau government has told us over the last 18 months and conclusions and findings that are different from the report of Mr. Johnson of a year ago. She concluded that interference occurred in the last two general elections, and while this interference did not have an impact on which party came to power, it could have had an impact on the results at the riding level. And she concluded that it impacted the broader electoral system, that it undermines public confidence in Canadian democracy. And that it disproportionately targeted and negatively affected diaspora communities, particularly the Chinese community. Commissioner Hogue specifically concluded with respect to Mr. Dong’s nomination in Don Valley N that the suspicion that Beijing interfered in Mr. Dong’s nomination was well grounded, and that this is significant because it could have determined the candidate who was elected to Parliament. She also concluded that Mister Trudeau told her that he did not veto Mr. Dong’s nomination because it would have direct electoral consequences because the Liberal Party was expected to win on Valley North, and she questioned why the Prime Minister did not take action, as he said he was going to do after the election. With respect to Mr. Chu’s election in Steveston, Richmond, Easton E, she concluded that there were strong indications. Of the PR CS involvement and that there is a reasonable possibility that the narratives could have impacted the results in this writing. And so this report is a damning set of conclusions and findings in the first phase of this inquiry about what the Trudeau government has indicated over the last 18 months and contradicts much of what the government has told us over that period of time. We look forward to her continuing her work in the second phase of this inquiry.