Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he will appoint a new independent watchdog with a 鈥渨ide mandate鈥� to investigate foreign interference in Canada and recommend how to better respond to the challenge.

The move does not include calling a public inquiry into allegations of foreign meddling in Canada鈥檚 elections, against the explicit demands of opposition parties. But Trudeau left the door open to taking that step if the 鈥渟pecial rapporteur鈥� he appoints thinks one is warranted.

鈥淎ll political leaders agree that the election outcomes in 2019, and in 2021, were not impacted by foreign interference,鈥� Trudeau said Monday evening at a news conference on Parliament Hill.

鈥淏ut even if it didn鈥檛 change the results of our elections, any interference attempt, by any foreign actor, is troubling and serious.鈥�

The Liberal government is facing heavy criticism that it did not act when warned that China was trying to influence the outcome of the 2021 federal election, or that a Liberal candidate nomination had been targeted in 2019.

The Globe and Mail, citing classified records from Canada鈥檚 spy agency, reported last month that China worked to help ensure a Liberal minority victory in 2021, as well as defeat Conservative politicians considered unfriendly to Beijing.

A Global News report cited anonymous sources alleging the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had urged senior Liberal party staff to rescind Han Dong鈥檚 nomination in a Toronto riding in 2019 due to alleged Chinese interference in his bid to become the Liberal candidate.

Dong, who won the riding for the Liberals in 2019 and 2021, said his nomination and campaign teams have found no indication of irregularities or compliance issues regarding his candidacy or election. Trudeau said last week that it is not up to 鈥渦nelected security officials鈥� to tell political parties who can and cannot run for office and denied that it would happen.

Trudeau was heavily defensive of his government鈥檚 actions on foreign interference since 2015, including setting up a protocol that has a panel of senior civil servants keep tabs on the possibility of foreign interference in elections and warn Canadians if some were found.

He said if the government was presented with 鈥渃redible evidence of wrongdoing of foreign agents or officials breaking Canadian laws we would have acted.鈥�

鈥淟ack of evidence means we have not,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are a country of laws, of rules, of evidence. And if we do not get concrete, clear evidence we will not take action.鈥�

But he also said he understands that Canadians have a lot of questions and concerns right now.

In addition to appointing an 鈥渆minent Canadian鈥� as special rapporteur, Trudeau said he is asking both the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency to take on 鈥渦rgent work鈥� on foreign interference.

The former, a group of MPs from all parties and one senator who all have top-level security clearance usually referred to by its acronym NSICOP, will launch a new study on foreign interference focused on elections.

The agency, helmed by former Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps, has a mandate to review the work of Canada鈥檚 intelligence agencies. It will look at the work those agencies have done on foreign interference.

Opposition parties have been demanding a full public inquiry to probe what the government knew about attempts by foreign governments to meddle in elections, and Monday鈥檚 announcement did not satisfy them.

NDP House Leader Peter Julian said after the announcement that his party still believes an 鈥渋ndependent, non-partisan public inquiry鈥� is warranted.

鈥淎s Jagmeet Singh has made clear, the NDP does not believe NSICOP is an acceptable substitute for a public inquiry,鈥� Julian said. 鈥淭hat committee is partisan, and takes place behind closed doors. The way to stop foreign actors from acting in secret is to refuse to keep their secrets.鈥�

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre agreed.

鈥淧arliament is supreme. A majority of the parties in the House of Commons have demanded a full public, independent inquiry and the continuation of the investigation by the parliamentary committee. Anything less is wholly insufficient to respond to the gravity of the situation,鈥� Poilievre said in a written statement after Trudeau鈥檚 announcement Monday.

Earlier, he told reporters he would not accept a 鈥渟ecretive process that will never bring about the truth.鈥� While Trudeau has not yet named the special rapporteur, Poilievre predicted he would name a 鈥淟iberal establishment insider.鈥�

Trudeau said Monday there have been a lot of opinions given about the merits or flaws of a public inquiry on foreign interference, and it will be left to the independent rapporteur to recommend next steps, including the possibility of an inquiry.

鈥淲e will abide by their recommendation,鈥� Trudeau committed.

Trudeau is also looking to Australia for guidance on dealing with foreign interference, a problem that country鈥檚 director-general of security said last month has replaced extremism and terrorism as their biggest concern.

In December the Liberals said they would consult experts and the public on whether to create a registry of foreign agents, similar to that in Australia.

Trudeau said he has now asked Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino to launch consultations to guide the establishment of such a registry.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very important we start with this consultation, because we have to be mindful of history any time we鈥檙e talking about registries of foreigners in our country,鈥� Trudeau said.

He is also asking Mendicino to create a 鈥淐ounter Foreign Interference Co-ordinator鈥� in his department to co-ordinate all the various actions the government is taking on foreign interference. A similar position already exists in Australia.

The RCMP also said Monday it was investigating the intelligence leaks behind the media reports on foreign interference. The RCMP said last week it wasn鈥檛 investigating the alleged interference itself.

鈥擬ia Rabson, The Canadian Press