Is Canada vulnerable to foreign interference?

The allegations kept mounting in Canada: Election-meddling by China, an Indian-backed assassination on home soil, and a campaign to harass Iranian dissidents. Is Canada especially vulnerable to foreign interference?

Michael Chong said it did not take long for him to become a target of Beijing.

In testimony before US lawmakers on Capitol Hill last year, the Canadian Conservative politician described how an alleged intimidation campaign against him was born after he spoke out against China's human rights record in parliament.

He said that a Chinese official in Canada began gathering details about his relatives living in Hong Kong shortly after, and that a smear campaign against him was launched on China's most-popular social media platform, WeChat.

"My experience is but one case of Beijing's interference in Canada," he said. "Many, many other cases go unreported and unnoticed, and the victims suffer in silence."

The alleged targeting of Mr Chong, which first became public when intelligence reports were leaked to Canadian media, unleashed a fierce debate in the country around its vulnerability to foreign interference and the safety of its citizens.

On Monday, he and others will begin testifying before a public inquiry that will look into Beijing's meddling in Canada, especially its alleged efforts to sway the country's last two federal elections by backing certain candidates.

China has denied any interference and the allegations have soured relations between Beijing and Ottawa.

While the inquiry will focus on claims of election interference by China, Russia, India "and other foreign actors", experts say the problem of foreign meddling in Canada is much more complex and widespread.

Solving it, they say, demands a restructuring of