THE federal NDP on Tuesday hit back at Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre, pointing out that while he is happy to throw around accusations around foreign election interference, he is failing to tell Canadians how the last Conservative government was warned about this – repeatedly.

In 2010 the Conservatives’ Public Safety Minister was warned about foreign influence.

In 2011, the House of Commons Public Safety Committee documented “worrisome” foreign interference.

Poilievre was the Conservatives’ Minister of Democratic Reform from 2013–15 and had plenty of opportunities to do something about foreign interference, the NDP noted.

He even introduced a bill with wide-ranging amendments to the Elections Act – but Poilievre did nothing about foreign interference in election campaigns, the NDP added.

In fact, Conservatives actually argued against transparency when it came to these allegations – bizarrely claiming that “the risk of foreign meddling is a good reason to avoid democratic intelligence oversight.”

“Poilievre never lets the facts get in the way of a good talking point,” said NDP House Leader Peter Julian. “But when it comes to concerns around foreign election interference, the facts actually show Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives failed to do anything about it – despite repeated warnings.

“Canadians deserve better.”