CSIS interference in Canadian elections, politics and democracy smacks of McCarthyism
A campaign by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service claiming, without any evidence, that the 2019 federal election was interfered with by foreign governments including China, smacks of McCarthyism, and exposes CSIS as an illegal political actor in Canadian politics, actively supporting the Conservative Party.
We call for a public inquiry into the operations of CSIS which have crossed the line into political action and interference in the governance of Canada, in foreign policy, and in the political and democratic rights of all citizens including those of Chinese descent.
CSIS racist smearing of Chinese-Canadian politicians, including sitting MPs and a former member of the Ontario Liberal Cabinet, plus nine other “unnamed politicians” is the same kind of political dirty tricks and “wrong-doing” by Canada’s security service exposed by the McDonald Commission when it recommended folding up the RCMP’s security services in 1981.
This latest illegal foray into Canadian politics by CSIS – Canada’s current security service – shows that the security services are fundamentally political and act consistently in the interests of the Canadian state and its most reactionary political elements.
Who benefits from this attack by CSIS? Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives who hope to bring down the Liberal minority government , force an election and ride into government on their racist, McCarthyite and fear-mongering agenda. This is the same party that attacks Muslims, immigrants and refugees, as well as trade unions, public sector workers, and public services and social programs. They speak and act for the multi-national corporations and the super-rich in Canada, and advocate a foreign policy of Cold war, expanding war, and reaction.
The Liberals whose opposition to this racist and reactionary agenda is an inch deep, are now a target of this hate campaign in which the security services are actively colluding. And shamefully, the NDP has jumped on board this campaign to demand an investigation into the 2021 federal election, despite the fact that Elections Canada has clearly stated that both the 2019 and 2021 federal election were free of any interference – foreign or otherwise. They could have added that previous attempts to subvert Canadian elections came from the Conservative Party, and resulted in jail time for those involved.
The real target of the CSIS / Tory campaign is democracy in Canada, and peace internationally. The first casualty of war is truth, and it is never-ending war with Russia and China that is behind the current attack. Canada’s military industrial complex is also directly interested in neverending war profits.
The federal government and Parliament must act now to stop this attack on democracy, democratic rights, the rights of minorities, of trade unions, democratic organizations, and progressive political parties, which are all in danger in Canada today. A public inquiry into CSIS dirty tricks is essential to expose the facts and the truth.
Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada
February 28, 2023