Poilievre refuses to review intelligence
Conservative leader calls Johnston PM’s ‘ski buddy,’ urging him to step down as special rapporteur
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is refusing to review classified information on foreign state interference, stating he won’t be “silenced” as he continues to claim — contrary to the conclusion of a new report he dismissed as untrustworthy — that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau might be “complicit” in Chinese efforts to meddle in Canadian democracy.
Speaking in Quebec City on Tuesday, Poilievre did not waver from his party’s criticism of former governor general David Johnston, who published an interim report earlier in the day as the government’s “special rapporteur” on foreign political interference.
While Johnston’s report said foreign interference is real and that gaps exist in how the “machinery of government” responds to it, he said he has seen no evidence the Liberal government “knowingly or negligently” failed to act on intelligence, advice or recommendations relating to allegations of foreign meddling.
He made those conclusions based on his access to secret intelligence and briefings with top national security officials and Trudeau.
Even before Johnston published those findings, Poilievre had scheduled a news conference to discuss Trudeau’s “coverup of Beijing’s interference.”
Poilievre blasted Johnston as the prime minister’s “ski buddy” and called for him to step down from his study of foreign interference to make way for a public inquiry — a measure that Johnston had just recommended against because the issue involves so much secret information.
Poilievre also rejected Johnston’s call for opposition leaders to get special security clearance so they can review the secret portions of his findings and observe a special parliamentary committee that is studying foreign interference intelligence behind closed doors.
The Conservative leader has dismissed similar proposals in the past, arguing they would limit his ability to hold the government accountable if he accessed secret information he wasn’t able to talk about publicly.
“As for any proposals he may have to silence me, the answer is no — I will not be silenced,” Poilievre said.
“Justin Trudeau wants to cover up the facts because they’re very embarrassing to him. He was either negligent or complicit in Beijing’s interference in our democracy. He doesn’t want us to know which it is.”
In his report, Johnston noted that Poilievre declined to meet with him before his interim report and said it’s understandable that he might not want to be subject to the “constraints” of Canada’s security of information law.
However, Johnston added, “this matter is too important for anyone aspiring to lead the country to intentionally maintain a veil of ignorance on these matters. While political parties may disagree about policy and priorities, they should do so from a common understanding of the true facts, not as speculated or hypothesized from media reports based on leaks of partial information.”
Trudeau, speaking later on Parliament Hill, also urged all party leaders to take the briefings so they can debate issues around foreign interference with the same information about what’s actually going on.
“I don’t think Canadians would want or expect any of their leaders to choose ignorance when they can choose to have the facts laid out for them,” Trudeau told reporters.
“Let us, please … not choose to risk weakening Canadians’ confidence in our institutions by building partisan attacks on things that are patently untrue.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he would accept the secret briefings, while the Bloc Québécois MP Alain Therrien said his party still had not decided whether its leader would do the same.
Johnston, meanwhile, downplayed his relationship with the Trudeau family and dismissed opposition criticism as “baseless.” He said this is the “first time” his impartiality has come under question as a public figure.
In his report, Johnston also stated that excessive partisanship — fuelled by media reports on leaked intelligence that he said paints an exaggerated picture of Beijing’s alleged political interference — has clouded the issue of foreign interference in recent months, and that all political parties share the blame for that.
“There has been too much posturing and ignoring facts in favour of slogans from all parties,” Johnston’s report says, “and many of those slogans turned out to be wrong.”
For months, opposition parties have accused the government of mishandling allegations of Chinese state interference, which grew into a political firestorm fuelled by a series of intelligence leaks to the media that started late last year.
The Conservatives have also zeroed in on Johnston, alleging his relationship with Trudeau’s family means he can’t be trusted to look into the issue as the government’s chosen “special rapporteur” on the issue. They have characterized Johnston as a family friend with ties to the Trudeau Foundation charity that itself has been embroiled in allegations of Chinese influence campaigns.
In a blog post published Monday, former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole accused Johnston of failing to take worries about foreign interference seriously at a recent meeting. O’Toole said he realized it was pointless to even raise concerns with Johnston that Beijing tried to work against O’Toole and other Conservative candidates in the 2021 federal election campaign.
O’Toole said Johnston didn’t “really” ask questions or provide “any insights.” He also said he learned during their meeting that the report slated for release Tuesday was already being translated into French.
“I was flabbergasted and realized that nothing I was going to provide to the special rapporteur was going to impact his work,” O’Toole wrote.
“David Johnston is someone I have great admiration for,” he continued. “I consider him to be a great Canadian, which is why I am disappointed that he lent his incredible goodwill to a flawed exercise.”