Former Conservative leader told a federal inquiry on Wednesday that Canada’s national approach to combating foreign interference, rather than addressing it on a case-by-case basis, may have cost Erin O’Toole his job and was unfair to voters.

It quickly became clear to O’Toole on election night in 2021 that he was not about to become prime minister, but he was nevertheless stunned by the disappointing results in a number of elections, he testified.

His team had already expressed concerns about foreign interference in up to nine ridings with the Elections Security and Intelligence Threats Task Force, which includes representatives from CSIS, the RCMP, Global Affairs Canada, and the Communications Security Establishment.

O’Toole said when these election results appeared, turnout and support for the Conservatives were much lower than the party expected to see based on their model.

He added: “The small number of seats wouldn’t have affected the minority government Canada has now, but the difference of two, three or five seats might have given me more moral justification to remain as leader.”

O’Toole was one of several party witnesses who testified Wednesday before the federal foreign interference inquiry committee in Ottawa.

An intelligence report, declassified during the hearing, showed that O’Toole and the Conservative Party were targets of Chinese interference efforts designed to promote false narratives online about the party’s stance on China.

Conservative MP Michael Chong’s lawyer said Wednesday the committee expects to hear evidence that the intelligence community chose to adopt a national approach to foreign interference, focusing on the overall election outcome rather than interference that may have affected individual votes or voting processes.

Senior intelligence officials told Parliament that both elections were free and fair.

O’Toole responded by saying: “Saying that the elections are free and fair from foreign interference is not accurate if some people were affected, whether it overturned the result or not, or in a few ridings. Every vote counts.” 

He shared his viewpoint as part of ongoing hearings that are part of the inquiry’s work examining potential foreign interference by China, India, Russia and others in the recent federal election.

The Conservatives mentioned China 31 times in their written 2021 election platform, and the party took what O’Toole described as a “stronger stance” on Beijing’s human rights violations than the Liberals.

The report found that an “information operation” posted messages on social media platforms WeChat and Douyin — the Chinese equivalent of TikTok — saying O’Toole and his party wanted to “cut diplomatic ties with China.”

Some posts said Chinese Canadians were afraid of the Conservative platform and questioned whether that community should support the party.

O’Toole said warnings to voters and affected candidates were justified in those elections, but the Conservatives said security officials did not inform the party of concerns. He added that officials told O’Toole he was a target of interference attempts only in the past spring.

The government’s special rapporteur, David Johnston, found little evidence of a link between alleged interference attempts and election results, and limited evidence that disinformation attempts were linked to Beijing.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected O’Toole’s assertion that foreign interference contributed to Conservative losses.

Trudeau said at a separate Wednesday press conference: “I can understand where someone who lost an election is trying to look for reasons, other than their own reasons, behind their electoral defeat.”

Senior intelligence officials had already told Parliament that both elections were free and fair.

He added that the conclusion reached by many intelligence and security agencies “was unequivocally that election integrity is sound, and that no election or overall election outcome was affected or changed due to foreign interference.”

China strongly denies all allegations related to interference in Canadian democracy.

Committee lawyer Natalia Rodriguez wondered whether Chinese Canadians were simply alienated by the Conservative platform, but O’Toole rejected the idea that the blame lies with the party’s long-standing position.

He said, at the very least, parties and candidates believed to be targets of foreign interference should be notified, and voters should be warned about active disinformation campaigns — especially when it comes to foreign-controlled social media platforms like WeChat.

He continued, “Such warnings can be targeted in specific languages within the diaspora where security agencies have identified the biggest threats.

O’Toole said, “I’ve seen enough to know that the process failed last time and let down many Canadians.”

The inquiry committee, led by Quebec judge Marie Josée Houle, expects to hear testimony from more than 40 people, including community members, political party representatives, and federal election officials.

Trudeau and members of his government, along with many senior government officials, are also scheduled to attend the hearings, which are set to conclude on April 10.

The committee is scheduled to release an initial report on findings on May 3, with final conclusions and recommendations expected by the end of the year.