This week, the U.S. and Canadian governments ignited a diplomatic firestorm by attacking Mexico’s proposed judicial reform.
Under that reform, Mexico’s judges will be elected directly by its citizens.
Why do the U.S. and Canadian governments regard such a reform as problematic? Might it be that judges who are elected by the people are more difficult to influence than those who are hand-picked by the country’s most powerful politician?
To explore these and related questions, I spoke this week with Jonathan Dai. Dai is the founding president of the Canada-China Council for Cooperation and Development. He is also a former Liberal Party candidate for Canada’s Parliament.
Dai recently submitted a letter to Canada’s Foreign Interference Inquiry Commission. In it, he argued that, contrary to claims by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), there’s no credible evidence that the People’s Republic of China is interfering in Canada’s democratic processes and institutions.
I came to a similar conclusion after carefully reviewing a recent report issued by the Canadian Parliament’s National Security and Intelligence Committee.
You can watch and listen to my discussion with Dai here:
