Dispatch by Cris Corbito, Glendon Campus, York University
The last Glendon Global Dialogue event for this academic year took place on March 12th and featured three scholars discussing the threat of foreign interference in elections to democracy. Foreign interference has become more acute and alarming—not only to the integrity of our elections but also to the future of democracy. Foreign interference can refer to foreign involvement in domestic elections; the proliferation of disinformation and misinformation from foreign entities; and foreign states-sponsored blackmailing, bribery, and threats to diasporas.
The risks, repercussions, and responses to foreign interference formed the focus of the event. Speakers included the pride of Glendon’s political science program — Dr. Francis Garon who offered an insight on policy response and democratic resilience. Joining him on the stage were Dr. Antoine Kernen, who is a specialist on China from University of Lausanne, and Dr. Lori Ringhand, who is a scholar from Georgia University specializing on election law.
The event began with the moderator, Susan Pond, stating that confidence in free and fair elections is a hallmark of liberal democracy. I wondered immediately: what would happen if the public lost this confidence? In liberal democracies, particularly in the last century, the hijacking of the political process by demagogues has often led to political extremism.
"In a representative democracy like Canada, where political power and representation come from the ballot box, foreign interference can be perceived as an indirect act of war — a way for foreign actors to attack citizens by targeting their democracy. As the proliferation of digital technology has ushered in a new epoch of politics (i.e. digital politics / politics of the digital), controlling and countering the effects of foreign interference and threats is crucial for protecting democracy."
Cris Corbito
I found Dr. Garon’s discussion interesting because he analyzed the current state of foreign interference in Canada, particularly in our federal political parties. For him, both the Liberal Party and Conservative Party at the federal level are involved in this scandalous issue. To discuss this, he foregrounded reactions from politicians across the political spectrum on X/Twitter to Chinese intervention in Canadian elections. On one hand, Garon observed that Liberal politicians used blame avoidance and “change the topic” strategies in their posts; Liberal politicians avoided talking about this issue by invoking the Canadian ideology of multiculturalism, with an emphasis on social cohesion and national unity. On the other hand, Conservative politicians used victim-playing strategies and incited political polarization through ‘us vs them’ rhetoric. Some of these tweets included, “We lost the elections because China helped the Liberals” and “China is a threat and the Liberals can’t handle it.”
Garon’s examination reveals how polarizing the issue of foreign interference is in the current political climate, which often overlooks cooperation and unity between the two parties. Our Canadian democracy thrives on cooperation and solidarity, but if the politicians themselves do not uphold civility, collaboration, and accountability and value power over people, then the demise of democracy in Canada is inevitable. Democracy crumbles when elected politicians no longer see themselves as public servants but as chess sets of the politicized chess board.
As a result of the first-past-the-post electoral system, Canada is usually governed by either the Liberal Party or the Conservative Party. Garon’s intriguing discussion only shows that political representation is not a perfect system, and in the midst of this crisis, perhaps, the people shall take over and reclaim the political power that they often delegate to their representatives.
Utilizing a comparative method, Dr. Ringhard gave me optimism. Although foreign interference in domestic elections has become more a critical and pressing issue, she argued that this is not something new. She continued by discussing what liberal democratic states could have done to resolve this issue. First, she believed in the power of education to protect democracy to equip the public with the skills to become more sophisticated and critical readers and consumers of information. I wholeheartedly agreed with her; as the age of information and disinformation becomes more mainstream, an important strategy for protecting public reason is to create an educated and informed public that can discern factual information. Additionally, Ringhard emphasized enhanced transparency on digital media through the incorporation of disclaimers in media posts and communications. This transparency could add additional flavour to the robust and civilized debate, criticism, and discourse that happens both in the digital and non-digital realm.
Undoubtedly, our Canadian democracy is experiencing a political malaise as shown in the lower voter turnout, the erosion of civil engagement and associations, and the lack of national unity among Canadians. Our democracy can only survive if we have leaders—who are patriotic and courageous to stand up for our values and system. We should have leaders who will compromise and cooperate with other political actors to launch a united front against these threats to our democracy.
In the end, Canadian democracy can only thrive if Canadians are empowered and educated to stand up for the political system that gives them life and liberty in the first place.
Our democracy is worth fighting for.
Dispatchers in Canadian Studies are undergraduate students who attend events related to the study of Canada and report on what they witness and learned through blogposts. This initiative is in collaboration with Brock University, Mount Allison University, and Trent University.