Former Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole believes foreign interference may have led to his removal as party leader, according to documents submitted ahead of a foreign interference inquiry.
In a document documenting a meeting between Mr. O’Toole and lawyers representing the Commission on Foreign Interference earlier this year, Mr. O’Toole expressed doubts about the motives of those behind the petition seeking leadership review. He is reported to have said that 2021 Election.
“Mr. O’Toole also believes that foreign interference contributed to his ouster as party leader,” the document states. “Immediately after his election loss, a petition and public relations campaign against Mr. O’Toole was launched within 48 hours by prominent Chinese Communist Party members who served on the party’s National Council.”
That Conservative member was Bert Chiang. O’Toole was suspended by the party’s national council after launching a petition to remove him as leader..
“Reliable sources in the diaspora and journalists have confidently advised Mr. O’Toole that this particular party member has unusual ties to the diaspora. [People’s Republic of China] government. “While Mr. O’Toole does not have information to support these claims, he has confidence in the sources,” the document reads.
“This information came to his attention after he had already lost his seat in the party leadership.”
Despite winning the popular vote, O’Toole’s Conservative Party lost the 2021 election, winning 119 of 338 seats.
Chen’s petition did not result in O’Toole’s resignation as party leader. He was forced to resign in February 2022 following a revolt in his party’s caucus.
“What’s in my report is what I heard from people,” O’Toole said. power and politics Wednesday’s host is David Cochran. “There is no verifiable evidence regarding Mr. Chen or anyone else. But I think sunlight is a good disinfectant. We need more transparency.”
Mr. Chen denies any relationship with the Chinese government
In an email to CBC News, Chen said he started the petition to elect a new Conservative leader “because Mr. O’Toole is unfit to lead our country and our party.”
“As a Taiwanese-born Canadian whose family fought in the Communist Party’s civil war against the Chinese Communist Party, I can frankly tell all Canadians that I have no ties to the Chinese government,” he said.
“My motivation for filing the petition to remove Mr. O’Toole as leader was that he had reversed his campaign promise to never introduce a carbon tax, something that Mr. O’Toole has not mentioned. The facts are evidence of the reliability of Mr. O’Toole’s sources.”
Conservative Party spokeswoman Sarah Fisher called the reported allegations against Mr O’Toole “ridiculous”.
“It was the Conservative Party of Canada caucus that voted to remove the then-leader, not members of the National Council,” she said in an email to CBC News.
In O’Toole’s testimony before the inquiry on Wednesday, he said Chinese foreign interference may have led to the defeat of up to nine CPC candidates. claims he has made in the past.
He said his party was the victim of false information claims on WeChat, a social media platform used by many Chinese Canadians.
O’Toole said he believes his party is being targeted by the Chinese government in part because of its push to investigate Chinese interference in Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory. Private member bill to support foreign agent registration.
He also said he did not believe Chinese interference changed the actual outcome of the election.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed claims that foreign interference was influencing the riding results.
Speaking in Toronto, he said, “I can understand why someone who lost an election would want to look to someone other than themselves for the reason why they lost the election.”
“The reality is that to ensure the integrity of the 2019 and 2021 elections, we have a commission formed by top independent civil servants and staffed by security officials across the intelligence and security services. We have set up a special committee to do this, and it is clear that the conclusion of all of these mechanisms was that the integrity of the election was maintained.”
