Johnston to decide on calling foreign interference public inquiry today
UPDATE: Former governor general David Johnston has recommended the govern‐ ment not call a public in‐ quiry into foreign interfer‐ ence in Canada. Read the full story here.
Former governor general David Johnston will issue a de‐ cision today on whether Canada needs a public inquiry into foreign interference.
Johnston's verdict will come in a report to be re‐ leased Tuesday. He is expect‐ ed to hold a news conference around noon.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Johnston as independent special rap‐ porteur on foreign interfer‐ ence in March after a series of stories from The Globe and Mail and Global News report‐ ed a range of Chinese govern‐ ment operations to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections and to influence pol‐ icymakers and institutions. One story from the Globe and Mail, citing a national security source, said Beijing sought the election of a Liberal mi‐ nority government in 2021.
The stories cited unnamed national security officials. The RCMP is investigating the source of the leaks.
WATCH | 'Clock is ticking' on potential public inquiry, legal expert says:
All opposition parties have called for a public inquiry into the matter. The Liberal gov‐ ernment has said it will call an inquiry if Johnston recom‐ mends one.
Johnston has spoken with several party leaders and the prime minister on foreign interference, but Conserva‐ tive Leader Pierre Poilievre re‐ fused to meet with him. The Conservatives have criticized Johnston's appointment, pointing out the former gov‐ ernor general's friendly rela‐ tionship with the Trudeau family and his former position as a member of the Pierre El‐ liott Trudeau Foundation.
The Trudeau government has taken a number of steps on foreign interference in re‐ sponse to the controversy, in‐ cluding launching consulta‐ tions on a foreign agents reg‐ istry. A government source told CBC News that the gov‐ ernment will table a bill to es‐ tablish such a registry later this year. It also expelled a Chinese diplomat, Zhao Wei. National security sources said in a Globe and Mail story that Zhao was assigned to target Conservative MP Michael Chong and Chong's family in China.
The government ordered national security agencies to share intelligence with parlia‐ mentarians under threat di‐ rectly in the wake of the Chong story.
The government and na‐ tional security organizations have been under fire over the presence of Chinese overseas "police stations" operating in Canada. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the po‐ lice stations have been shut down, but the RCMP says in‐ vestigations into them are still ongoing.
A former Liberal MP, Han
Dong, faced allegations in a series of Global News stories that he participated in foreign interference efforts by Beijing. Dong left the Liberal Party in the wake of the allegations, and is suing Global over the allegations.
Johnston served as gover‐ nor general from 2010 to 2017. His terms of reference as independent special rap‐ porteur give him broad pow‐ ers to investigate foreign in‐ terference, including the abili‐ ty to review classified docu‐ ments. The Prime Minister's Office said it expects Johnston to complete his tenure on Oct. 31, 2023.
Johnston decision comes in heated political environment: experts
Experts say an inquiry would allow for a detailed, transparent conversation about what kind of threat Canada is actually facing.
"The way that the conver‐ sation has evolved over the past few months has really aggravated and made more stark partisan divides in the country," said Artur Wilczyns‐ ki, a senior fellow at the Uni‐ versity of Ottawa.
"That, in my opinion, has not contributed to an effec‐ tive defence of Canadian democracy and has not con‐ tributed to an effective gov‐ ernmental response to the threats of foreign interfer‐ ence."
Wilczynski, who spent more than 30 years in the public service working on for‐ eign policy, intelligence, secu‐ rity and defence issues, said an inquiry would help bring the conversation back around to the details of the foreign in‐ terference threat itself and how Canada should position itself to combat that threat.
CSIS has been warning of its growing concern on for‐ eign interference in its annual reports for years, but the sub‐ ject didn't become a political controversy until the media stories, which cited national security sources early this year.
"Despite various attempts by officials to talk about for‐ eign interference, the only thing that prompted a real fundamental conversation about foreign interference were the illegal leaks," Wilczynski said.
Wesley Wark, a senior fel‐ low with the Centre for Inter‐ national Governance Innova‐ tion, said the controversy and calls for a public inquiry have put pressure on the Liberal government.
"It's created a huge politi‐ cal drama for the Liberal gov‐ ernment and put it on the de‐ fensive, certainly," Wark said.
"The Liberal government has struggled to come up with a convincing portrait of the actions and policies it has taken to respond forcefully to foreign interference. It clearly has done some things, but it hasn't been enough."
Wark said Johnston has a big burden to bear.
"Johnston's been thrust out in front of this problem. And he will take the heat."