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Ottawa:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau insisted Wednesday that Canada's last two elections were indeed “decided by Canadians,” rejecting criticism that his government was not doing enough to thwart foreign interference.

Trudeau testified for hours before an independent commission investigating allegations that China and other countries tried to interfere in Canada's democratic process, as well as Ottawa's response.

“This election, which was conducted fairly, was decided by Canadians,” Trudeau testified about the 2019 and 2021 elections, won by the Liberal Party.

Trudeau's ministers, intelligence officials and senior advisers also testified at the hearing, organized to shed light on a political scandal that has rocked Canada for more than a year.

Conservative opposition groups have accused Ottawa of turning a blind eye to allegations of interference, particularly from China. Beijing has rejected accusations of interference.

An intelligence report presented to the committee described China's actions as “sophisticated, widespread, persistent, and directed against all levels of government and civil society across the country.”

But Trudeau and several of his ministers present at the inquiry downplayed the information, saying it was often inconclusive.

The prime minister gave the example of a foreign diplomat caught bragging to his superiors about his success in influencing the outcome of the Canadian election, saying: “Bragging is not an option. »

In another example, he said he had not received enough evidence to cancel the candidacy of a candidate accused of favoring Beijing.

During his three-and-a-half-hour testimony, Trudeau said that when he came to power in 2015, combating foreign disinformation in elections “was not an option at all.”

“So we started from scratch,” he said, explaining some of the controls his administration has put in place since then.

“There is always more to do,” he added.

Erin O'Toole, Trudeau's main rival in the last election, told the inquiry he believed the Conservative Party lost as many as eight seats due to foreign interference in the 2021 election that brought the Liberal Party back to power, still with a minority government.

There are arguments that the Conservative Party has taken a tough stance on China because of its record on human rights and security violations in Hong Kong, and that Beijing views them less favorably than Trudeau's Liberal Party.

Trudeau rejected this assessment and told investigators: “It seems highly unlikely that the Chinese government itself will get priority in the election.” »

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)