The Conservative Party Of Canada Is Being Investigated By CSIS. Are We Surprised?
Reporting from Press Progress late Friday brought to light that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) seemingly is investigating The Conservative Party and its nomination of a candidate in southwestern Ontario.
The then-candidate Arpan Khanna, who failed to win a seat in his local region in Brampton, was handpicked for the extremely rural riding of Oxford. A community that he did not live in, nor did he ever really spend a long period of time in. Khanna narrowly won that by-election in a hard Tory riding.
Eyebrows were raised back then about the reason Khanna was selected versus a more local conservative to take the race. Pierre Poilievre and the federal leadership overwhelmingly backed Khanna for his bid and subsequent win in the riding.
Reporting from Press Progress stated that there have been internal rumors around the Conservative party in that region that Khanna’s nomination was suspect. This was brought to a turning point as, it appears, CSIS wanted to take a look into this as well. CSIS’s job is to investigate crimes against Canadians coming from external means such as a foreign state.
The nature of this investigation is still ongoing, and CSIS has declined to comment to Press Progress. So, we truly don’t know how far along this investigation is or if there are criminal offenses that occurred. Regardless of where they are in this investigation, it was suspect enough to get the attention of investigators.
Last year, when it came to light that China was allegedly interfering with the democratic process here in Canada and helping a Liberal candidate win their riding, the Conservatives were foaming at the mouth at the idea of the Liberals and Justin Trudeau being investigated for election interference.
They criticized the appointment of former Governor General David Johnson. The anti-everything crowd tried to find ties between Johnson and the Trudeau foundation. It was an all-around crisis according to the Conservatives, all while the Federal government and police were investigating.
During that investigation, Liberals and other opposition parties called for a full-scale, multi-nation investigation. Not only investigating China’s interference but also interference from Russia, India, and even the United States. An investigation that the Conservatives didn’t want. Famously, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre didn’t obtain security clearance, raising even more eyebrows in the reasoning.
So, let's take a step back. Last year the Conservatives stopped short of a full-scale investigation into Russia and India. The Conservatives have faced punishment in the past for election interference. Now, CSIS is investigating this potential interference.
It’s important to note that this article is just my opinion. I am not privy to anything more than what is publicly being reported. It seems like the Conservatives are in some muddy water here. There is too much behavior that is being exhibited by this federal Conservative party that can't be overlooked.
It just raises so many questions. The same questions as before, but now that this news has come out of an apparent investigation, the questions are dying to be answered even more.
Why does Pierre Poilievre continue to not get his security clearance when it comes to the election interference investigation?
Why was a GTA-based Indian descent candidate selected to be the candidate in Oxford?
Why does the Conservative party continue to press the Liberals for interference when it appears they themselves might be doing this? Accusation or Confession?
These are all questions that Conservatives either deflect from or downright refuse to answer even to this very day.
In my opinion, this should be even more proof that Pierre and his party cannot be trusted to represent our country and the democracy that holds it together. We may have a messy and confusing electoral system, but Canadians trust our democratic process. It appears the Conservatives can only win by cheating, either by lying about the fact or engaging in potentially criminal activities.
But really, it all makes sense. Far-right conservatives are pushing to get Trudeau removed undemocratically, or some of them downright are pleading guilty to threatening to kill him, instead of voting him out at the ballot box.
As we plow through 2024 and subsequently into our election year in 2025, keep that top of mind. What side is yelling and screaming that everything is bad and making attempt after attempt to remove him, and what side is actually saying what they will do for Canada during these turbulent times.
Until next time