There are no “traitors” in Canada’s Parliament despite a recent national security committee report suggesting some parliamentarians are “witting” or “semi-witting” participants in foreign interference schemes, a federal inquiry found.
Justice Marie-Josée Hogue’s final report on foreign interference suggested that while it remains a threat, a few isolated incidents did not compromise the integrity of the two recent federal elections.
She also questioned the findings of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), which claimed that multiple MPs or senators were caught up in the machinations of foreign states.
“There are legitimate concerns about parliamentarians potentially having problematic relationships with foreign officials, exercising poor judgment, behaving naively and perhaps displaying questionable ethics,” Hogue wrote.
“But I did not see evidence of parliamentarians conspiring with foreign states against Canada. While some conduct may be concerning, I did not see evidence of ‘traitors’ in Parliament.”
But while Hogue suggested attempts by foreign actors to meddle in Canadian affairs have been largely unsuccessful, she nevertheless pointed to what she called an “existential threat” to Canada’s democracy.
Disinformation and misinformation campaigns, foreign or domestic, represent the “single biggest threat to our democracy,” Hogue said.
Foreign states continue to use more traditional methods to meddle in Canadian democracy, Hogue said, but are augmenting those efforts through “sophisticated technological means” to sow disinformation both in traditional media and on social media platforms.
“The impact of traditional methods should not be underestimated, but the greatest threat – the one that I believe threatens the very existence of our democracy – is disinformation,” Hogue said in prepared remarks Tuesday.
“This threat is all the more nefarious because the means available to counter it are limited, and very difficult to implement. Nevertheless, we must not give up, but rather attack it forcefully, all together.”
The Hogue commission’s sprawling 860-page report, released Tuesday, makes 51 recommendations to improve the Canadian government’s response to foreign interference threats.
Hogue concluded while the federal government has made countering foreign interference a bigger priority since 2017, it needs to “find ways to move more swiftly” to address what she considers an evolving threat.
And she pushed the government and Canada’s intelligence community to be more transparent about the threat.
“Most Canadians first learned about foreign interference through media reports, and without the government being the source of the information communicated. This should not have been the case,” Hogue said.
In a joint statement, Democratic Institutions Minister Ruby Sahota and Public Safety Minister David McGuinty – who was the chair of NSICOP when the report about Parliamentarians “wittingly” going along with foreign interference was published – thanked Hogue for the report but did not commit to implementing any of its recommendations.

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“The government will carefully review the final report’s findings and recommendations and they must guide the government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen Canada’s defence against foreign interference,” the statement read.
The statement also highlighted funding for the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer and Canadian Heritage’s Digital Citizen Initiative.
Despite his pledge to bring down the government at the earliest possible moment, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh suggested the Liberals could bring in legislation to address Hogue’s recommendations.
“They could put forward a plan to address the recommendations of Justice Hogue right now. I have not seen that plan. I have not seen that initiative,” Singh told reporters at a press conference.
The commission found that while foreign states – chiefly the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and India – are believed to have attempted to interfere with the 2019 and 2021 general elections, the activity was limited and the impact unclear.
Overall, however, Hogue found that Canada’s electoral system and democratic institutions “remain robust.” As with her preliminary report released last year, Hogue said that foreign interference did not change the ultimate outcome of either election.
“Although there are a very small number of isolated cases where foreign interference may have had some impact on the outcome of a nomination contest or the result of an election in a given riding, there is no evidence to suggest that our institutions have been seriously affected by such interference or that parliamentarians owe their successful election to foreign entities,” the report reads.
“While any attempted interference is troubling, I am reassured by the minimal impact such efforts have had to date.”
Hogue, a Quebec Court of Appeal judge, was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to lead the public inquiry foreign interference in September 2023. The move came after months of political pressure prompted by reporting by Global News and the Globe and Mail on alleged foreign interference operations by the People’s Republic of China.
That included allegations that PRC proxies may have interfered in the 2019 Liberal nomination in Don Valley North. Citing unnamed national security sources, Global reported that there was intelligence indicating Chinese students were bussed in from outside the riding and pressured to support Dong’s candidacy.
Dong has repeatedly denied any knowledge of alleged “irregularities” in his nomination and denied any wrongdoing. He is suing Global’s parent company, Corus Entertainment, over the reporting.
Dong had a phone conversation with a PRC consular official in which they discussed China’s detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians Beijing detained on national security grounds. Dong had the conversation with the consular official without the knowledge of the Prime Minister’s Office. Global, citing leaked documents, reported that national security officials believed that Dong advocated for the delay the Two Michaels’ release.
Dong has repeatedly denied that allegation, and said he always advocated for the Two Michaels’ release.
A summary of the conversation, primarily created by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), was described as an “incomplete” intelligence summary and its allegations have not been proven. It alleges Dong speculated that freeing the pair right away would bolster opponents of the Liberal government.
“Mr. Dong expressed the view that even if the PRC released the ‘Two Michaels’ at that moment, opposition parties would view the PRC’s action as an affirmation of the effectiveness of a hardline Canadian approach to the PRC,” the summary read.
The CSIS intelligence summary also alleges Dong “stressed that any transparency provided by the PRC in relation to the ‘Two Michaels’ such as a court hearing or a court date, would help to placate Canadian public opinion and provide some valuable talking points to his own political party against the opposition.”
When asked about the call, Dong testified it was “possible” he said that but did not “recall that conversation.”
Hogue noted that the conversation took place in Mandarin, and “precision and nuance can be lost in translation.”
“According to a government summary of intelligence relating to Mr. Dong that was made public, Mr. Dong would have expressed the view that even if Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor were released at that moment, it would be viewed by opposition parties as an affirmation of the effectiveness of a hardline Canadian approach,” Hogue wrote.
Hogue said that based on the classified information available to her, she cannot assess the accuracy of the CSIS summary of the conversation. But she said that classified information supports Dong’s denial “that he suggested the PRC should hold off releasing Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor.”
“He did not suggest that the PRC extend their detention,” Hogue wrote.
The Hogue commission made a total of 51 recommendations, including establishing a government-wide plan to address foreign interference and include it in a renewed national security strategy, come up with a way to declassify intelligence about foreign interference and better communicate it with the public, and develop a way to monitor “open-source” information while respecting Canadians’ privacy.
The question now is how quickly the government can move to implement her recommendations – if it decides to take them – with Trudeau on the way out, the Liberals in the midst of a leadership contest and a spring election looking almost certain.
The likelihood is that the recommendations would fall to the next government – after an election where foreign states will once again be paying close attention.
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