Using his harshest language yet on the issue of foreign interference in Canadian democracy, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of working in China’s interests and against Canada.

Poilievre suggested that those in Canada’s security services who have been leaking information about the election interference allegations to the media “must be very worried about how the prime minister is working against the interests of his own country and his own people.”

“They’ve been warning him for years about this. And what has he done? He’s covered it up, even encouraged it to continue,” Poilievre told reporters Tuesday.

“And so they are so concerned about how the prime minister is acting against Canada’s interest and in favour of a foreign dictatorship’s interests, that they are actually releasing this information publicly.”

A series of reports published in recent months by Global News and the Globe and Mail, citing national security personnel, have reported that the Chinese government intervened in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections through a variety of means, including the spread of disinformation and campaign finance fraud.

The media reports say the interference allegedly helped candidates Beijing saw as supportive of its regime and hurt those it perceived as critical of it. One of the reports said Beijing’s operations in the 2021 election were aimed at electing a Liberal minority government.

Eroding faith in democracy

Trudeau told another news conference Tuesday that while foreign interference is an important issue, Poilievre’s attacks risk lowering citizens’ faith in Canadian democracy.

“It is upon all of us, as leaders, to ensure that even as we are strengthening our capacity as democracies and as institutions to respond to that, that we’re not falling into the trap of actually weakening Canadians’ confidence in those institutions by leaning in heavily into partisan accusations,” Trudeau said.

WATCH |Trudeau says election interference is ‘concerning’ issue for Canadians

Trudeau says election interference is ‘concerning’ issue for Canadians

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discusses how his government will combat election interference.

Trudeau pointed to action his government is taking in response to the reports. He announced Monday that he’ll appoint a special rapporteur on election interference who will make recommendations on how the government can address the issue. Opposition parties have pushed for a full public inquiry.

Trudeau said he’ll call a public inquiry if the special rapporteur recommends it. Trudeau added that the government would start public consultations on a foreign agents’ registry later this week.

Election not compromised: report

The RCMP announced Monday that it’s launching an investigation into the media leaks as violations of Canada’s Security of Information Act. In his remarks on Monday, Trudeau said he did not refer the matter to the Mounties and that he does not direct law enforcement.

But Poilievre said Tuesday — without citing evidence — that Trudeau supported the RCMP’s decision.

“The problem for him is the whistleblowers. He’s against a real investigation into the foreign interference we know happened, but in favour of a tough police investigation into the whistleblowers who are exposing it,” Poilievre said.

Citing a report from a panel tasked with looking into the matter, Trudeau has insisted that foreign interference did not affect the outcome of the two most recent federal elections. The report, released publicly last week, said foreign interference did not affect Canada’s ability to hold free and fair elections in 2019 and 2021.

The media reports come at a tense time in Canada-China relations due to issues such as the recently resolved detention of two Canadians in China, Chinese spy balloons flying through Canadian airspace and the federal government banning the Chinese telecom company Huawei from Canada’s 5G infrastructure.

China has denied allegations that it interferes in Canada’s domestic affairs. In a statement last week, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Ottawa called them “purely baseless and defamatory.”