Quebec judge to lead foreign interference inquiry, first report due next February

A Quebec judge will head a public inquiry into allegations of foreign interference in Canada's affairs over the next 16 months now that federal parties have agreed on a process to examine the thorny subject. Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Marie-Josée Hogue will lead the probe starting Sept. 18, Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Thursday after months of behind-the-scenes negotiations. "She will be able to undertake her important work with the support of all recognized parties in the House of Commons," LeBlanc told reporters on Parliament Hill. LeBlanc, who is also public safety minister, said the inquiry will examine meddling by China, Russia and other foreign states and non-state actors. "China is not the only country that seeks to interfere in an inappropriate way, and we wanted the commission and Justice Hogue to have the ability to follow the evidence, as she is brought up-to-date by our intelligence agencies," he said. "Some of the interference may be by non-state actors that are affiliated with some of these regimes in various ways, so we wanted her to have the independent judgment to follow the evidence." LeBlanc said Hogue will have access to any secure records she deems necessary to look at allegations of foreign interference in the last two federal elections. That includes cabinet confidences. An interim report is due by the end of February and a final report by the end of December 2024. It is uncertain whether Hogue's work will be done before the next federal election, as the Liberals could choose to ask the governor general to call one at any time, or be defeated and be forced to do so by opposition parties. However, the NDP has agreed to support Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority government on key House of Commons votes until June 2025 in exchange for progress on New Democrat priorities. LeBlanc said it's up to Hogue to consult with legal experts of her own choosing as to whether parts of the inquiry will be held in public, and also who will be called to testify. When asked whether Trudeau and cabinet ministers would comply with requests to testify at any public hearings, he said the government intends to be "available and forthcoming" for Hogue. "She will decide what particular matters she will hear in camera, what will be public hearings," LeBlanc said, adding that all parties hope parts of the proceedings will be public early in the process. Opposition parties have been demanding a public inquiry for months over allegations the Liberals failed to properly monitor and respond to attempted meddling by Beijing. Officials say Canada maintained the overall integrity of the 2019 and 2021 elections. But opposition parties say they need clarity on the phenomenon of interference, and whether the government has adequately protected Canada's democracy. LeBlanc said Hogue does not have "detailed experience" in national-security matters, arguing it's an asset for her to come to the issue with a fresh set of eyes. He said the fluently bilingual judge, appointed to the bench by the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, was a consensus choice among the parties, and her work involves rulings that often establish precedents in Canadian law. "We believe Justice Hogue has all of the necessary experience, credentials and judgment to lead this important work," he said. "That view was shared by some of the country's most senior jurists with whom we've spoken." Hogue's biography on the website of the Quebec Court of Appeal says her main areas of practice as a lawyer were corporate commercial litigation, civil litigation and professional liability, in addition to work in administrative and constitutional law. Hogue said in a statement Thursday she looks forward to the role and will provide details on subsequent steps in due course. "It is vital that our electoral processes and democratic institutions be protected from foreign interference." Bloc Québécois House leader Alain Therrien expressed confidence in the process, saying Thursday that Hogue is sufficiently independent to lead the probe. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the party wants to make sure people have trust in democratic institutions, "and that's why we've always believed that a public inquiry was the right way to go." Speaking in Quebec City, Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer said his party would be "watching like hawks to make sure that Canadians get the real answers that they deserve about foreign interference in our democracy." Hogue has a "huge and nearly impossible task ahead of her," said Wesley Wark, a national security expert and senior fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation. He cited the inquiry's tight timeline, a lack of clarity about exactly what to focus on, fuzziness concerning public hearings and a steep learning curve for Hogue in the realm of security intelligence.