John Ivison: Can Trudeau Liberals weather the election interference storm?

This week, John Ivison is joined by National Post columnist, Sabrina Maddeux, and Rubicon Strategies managing partner, Andrew Balfour, to discuss the issue that has dominated the political headlines – allegations of Chinese interference in the last general election.

“These allegations are going beyond niche policy circles and political nerds – people are talking about it and are really concerned,” said Maddeux. “This is not going to to away in a few days or even weeks. There is an expectation of transparency that this (Liberal) party isn’t used to.”

Balfour agreed, saying that while most things in Ottawa don’t get traction with Canadians, polling suggests this is different.

Maddeux suggested that a public inquiry is the way to go. “The public wants transparency and honesty, and (Justin) Trudeau’s statements that anyone who is looking at this is racist or has partisan intentions will increase the feeling that they have something to hide.”

Balfour said the parliamentary national security committee is a more logical place to discuss the issues. He said there is a “zero percent chance” that the Liberal Party is involved in collusion with Chinese proxies. “Party’s play that stuff very carefully,” he said. “For the sake of winning an election, you’re not tying your horse to bad actors. That might happen in other jurisdictions but I don’t think that’s a Canadian thing.”