How far back do China’s attempts to meddle in Canadian democracy go?

In today’s Big Story podcast, recent reports have shed light on Chinese attempts to influence the 2019 and 2021 elections, and The Globe and Mail Tuesday reported that these attempts stretch back to 2014-2015, after Justin Trudeau became Liberal leader, but before his party rose to power.

Robert Fife is the Ottawa Bureau Chief at The Globe and Mail, he joins us to discuss his coverage of the unfolding scandals, and what the responses have been from across the political spectrum.

“I think it shows the depth of uneasiness within the Canadian spy service, that our national security people would come forward with this information because of concerns that our government is not taking the threat of Chinese interference in our democracy as seriously as those investigating it,” he said.

There are surely more revelations to come but why are Canadians finding out this way, through leaked bombshells in the press, instead of learning about it at the time, or at least finding out now through a public inquiry? What should we expect to learn in the coming days? And will we ever get transparency on this from Trudeau and his government?

You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.

You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.