It's a shame we didn't have Trudeau's testimony on foreign interference earlier. Much earlier

A half-hour into his appearance before the public inquiry into foreign interference, Justin Trudeau arrived at a dramatic moment, from 2019, that would reverberate three and a half years later when Canadian journalists began reporting on a series of intelligence leaks.

Though it was reported in February 2023 that CSIS officials "urged" the Liberals to revoke Dong's nomination, both Trudeau and Broadhurst have now told the commission — under oath — that no recommendation of any kind was made.

The biggest problem at hand remains the undisputed (and now widely known) fact that hostile foreign states are trying to covertly meddle in Canada's democratic process.

14 hours agoTestifying at the foreign interference inquiry, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it's critical for Canadians to have confidence in their democratic institutions and maintained that intelligence shows the 2019 and 2021 elections were not compromised.

Trudeau was at pains on Wednesday to review everything his government had done to prepare for that problem and how it set up independent bodies that could deal with interference during elections and established protocols and processes.

And while the government might not want to call a public inquiry every time someone leaks something to a reporter, greater and faster transparency and openness might be a significant part of the answer to foreign interference.