At long last, the Hogue inquiry lays the foundation for a real debate about foreign interference

In assessing the impact of foreign interference during the 2019 and 2021 elections, Hogue states clearly and unequivocally that she does not believe any meddling undermined the integrity of the electoral system or affected which party formed government.

"While awareness and foreign interference may at one time have been largely within the domain of security and intelligence agencies and hidden from public view, the cat is now out of the proverbial bag," Hogue writes.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears as a witness at the Public Inquiry Into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 10, 2024.

In its own defence, the Liberal government can fairly argue that it established new bodies and formal processes to deal with foreign interference — a threat that fully came into view in the wake of the American presidential election in 2016.

Kenny Chiu appears as a witness at the Public Inquiry Into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.

The original leaker(s) might take solace from the fact that the blaring headlines ultimately led to greater public awareness and a detailed exploration of both the problem of foreign interference and how the federal government is responding to it.