Canada’s Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has said he won his leadership “fair and square” after reports emerged that India allegedly meddled in the party’s contest.
Citing a source with top-security clearance, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported allegations that Indian agents were involved in fundraising and organising within Canada’s South Asian community for Poilievre in the 2022 leadership race.
There is no evidence that Poilievre or his team were aware of the alleged interference.
The allegation dominated the second full day of campaigning in Canada’s general election, which will be held on 28 April.
India has been accused of interfering in Canada’s elections in the past. Its government has repeatedly denied those allegations.
On Monday night, the Globe and Mail reported that Canadian intelligence agents were unable to raise the issue of India’s alleged interference with Poilievre because he has not obtained the necessary security clearance.
The report said India’s alleged attempts to interfere were part of a larger effort to influence Canadian politicians of all parties.
Poilievre is the only Canadian federal party leader running for prime minister that has refused the security clearance.
He defended his decision on Tuesday, calling the process politicised and saying it would bar him from being able to speak publicly about issues of national importance.
“What I will not do is commit to the oath of secrecy that the Liberals want to impose on me,” Poilievre told reporters.
“They don’t want me to speak about these matters, so they bring me into a dark room and they say: ‘We’re going to give you a little bit of bread crumbs of intel and then we’ll tell you you can’t talk about this stuff any more.'”
Poilievre won the 2022 leadership race with 68% of the vote. Canadian intelligence agents said there is no indication the alleged interference attempt influenced the outcome, the Globe and Mail reported.
The Globe’s reporting was also confirmed by broadcaster Radio-Canada.
The allegations served as political ammunition for Liberal leader Mark Carney, who criticised Poilievre for not obtaining the clearance, telling reporters on Tuesday that it was “beyond baffling”.
“I find it downright irresponsible that the Leader of the Opposition day-after-day, month-after-month, year-after-year refuses to obtain a security clearance,” Carney said.
Foreign meddling in Canada’s elections has been a growing concern in recent years, and a public inquiry was launched last year to look into the issue.
The foreign interference inquiry concluded that China and India had attempted to interfere in Canada’s two previous elections.
While these attempts were “troubling” they had “minimal impact”, a final report by the inquiry said – but it warned that disinformation posed an “existential threat” to the country’s democracy.
A Canadian election integrity task force cautioned on Monday that agents tied to China, Russia and India will try to influence the ongoing campaign.
The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) task force said foreign agents could use tools like artificial intelligence, proxies and online disinformation to target diaspora communities in Canada to try and influence how they vote.
Officials said Canadians will likely see a “more active” federal government response on issues of disinformation as a result.