Foreign interference report is just the start of a conversation about Canadian democracy [Video]

The sensational foreign-interference saga that gripped Parliament Hill off and on for two years came to an unofficial end last month with the release of Justice Marie-Josée Hogue’s final report. And between her relatively anticlimactic conclusion there are no “traitors” in Parliament and the incredible tumult that Donald Trump has since provoked, the commission’s work could soon fade from memory.

That would obviously be a mistake — and not only because foreign interference remains a serious threat, but also because Hogue’s report opens the door to a wider and necessary discussion about continuing to strengthen Canadian democracy.

Among Hogue’s 51 recommendations was a little-noticed call to consider a change to Canada’s political financing laws — specifically, whether direct public funding should be provided to political parties.

As Hogue notes, the federal government used to provide parties with a per-vote subsidy: When corporate and union donations were banned in 2004, the federal government introduced an annual stipend …