Trudeau says he has 'concerns' about some findings of foreign interference report
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has con‐ cerns about some of the findings of a foreign inter‐ ference report from one of Canada's intelligence over‐ sight bodies.
But he did not specify the exact nature of his concerns.
"There are a number of the conclusions of the Na‐ tional Security and Intelli‐ gence Committee of Parlia‐ mentarians report that we don't entirely align with," Trudeau told reporters Sun‐ day at the end of the Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland, without addressing which conclusions raised concerns.
On June 3, the cross-party committee of MPs and sena‐ tors with top security clear‐ ances, known as NSICOP, re‐ leased a heavily redacted document alleging, based on intelligence, that some parlia‐ mentarians have been "semiwitting or witting" participan‐ ts in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in Canadi‐ an politics.
Trudeau on Sunday refer‐ red to previous comments made by Public Safety Minis‐ ter Dominic LeBlanc, who has raised concerns about NSI‐ COP's interpretation of intelli‐ gence reports.
The day the report was re‐ leased, LeBlanc suggested it left out important context and did not acknowledge "the full breadth of outreach that has been done with re‐ spect to informing parlia‐ mentarians about the threat posed by foreign interfer‐ ence."
The prime minister's com‐ ments come days after Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh each read the commit‐ tee's unredacted report and offered different interpreta‐ tions.
Trudeau said the fact that the leaders came to different conclusions about the same report "demonstrated" his government's concerns.
In a news conference Tuesday, May said she was "relieved" after reading the report, adding that she does‐ n't believe any current MPs knowingly betrayed their country.
Two days later, Singh said he was "more alarmed" after having read the same report.
He said he was "convinced" that some MPs have been "willing participants" in for‐ eign states' efforts to inter‐ fere in Canadian politics, but would not confirm whether that included sitting MPs.
In an interview on Rose‐ mary Barton Live that aired Sunday, Singh confirmed that he has been a target of for‐ eign interference, both now and in the past, and that many "everyday Canadians" have as well. But as a political leader, Singh has access to certain security protections, and most members of the public do not.
"I speak with a lot of Canadians who live with the fear of foreign interference," he said. "They live with con‐ stant threat, harassment ... and they're not feeling safe in Canada."
Singh also criticized Trudeau's government for not doing enough to curb in‐ terference.
"He's effectively implicitly saying, 'A certain amount of foreign interference, I can live with,'" Singh said.
Trudeau said Sunday his government has made sever‐ al moves to stop other coun‐ tries from meddling in Cana‐ dian affairs.
"Over the past number of years, Canada has brought in a significant number of mea‐ sures and institutions and programs to counter foreign interference," he said, includ‐ ing creating NSICOP, strengthening the national security oversight agency, tasking top public servants with elections monitoring, and putting a stronger intelli‐ gence focus on democracy and elections.
'Varied' conclusions
The prime minister also em‐ phasized the differing find‐ ings in two other recent in‐ vestigations into foreign in‐ terference in Canadian politics.
"Many of those conclu‐ sions and reports are varied in the conclusions they draw, in the level of assumptions and conclusions they make," he said.
In May 2023, following al‐ legations of interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, special rapporteur David Johnston concluded that foreign governments were attempting to influence Canadian politics but it did not warrant a public inquiry.
Regardless, the govern‐ ment launched an inquiry on foreign interference that Sep‐ tember. In an interim report released last month, inquiry Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue found that foreign meddling did not ultimately affect which political party formed government, but may have affected the results in a small number of ridings.
Trudeau said that when taken together, those investi‐ gations and the NSICOP re‐ port have provided Canadi‐ ans with valuable informa‐ tion.
"All of those elements to‐ gether are contributing to a fuller picture that Canadians have - all of us have - on the reality of foreign interference by many different countries into our democracy," he said.
Trudeau also stressed that differences in Singh and May's interpretations of the report demonstrate that "there is a certain amount of responsibility that party lead‐ ers have to engage with this," and criticized Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for not taking steps to do so.
"The decision by the Con‐ servative leader and the leader of the Official Opposi‐ tion to not get a security clearance, to not choose to even read the unredacted re‐ port before engaging in polit‐ ical attacks and oversimplifi‐ cations, is not responsible leadership."
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said last week he has sought se‐ curity clearance to view the report, which makes Poilievre the only federal party leader who has not sought clear‐ ance.
Though he has not read the unredacted report, Poilievre has repeatedly called on the Liberal govern‐ ment to release the names of MPs accused of knowingly colluding with foreign gov‐ ernments.
"Canadians have a right to know who and what is the in‐ formation," Poilievre said in question period last Wednes‐ day.
In an interview with CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton that aired Sunday, LeBlanc shot down the request.
"We're not able, by law, to announce a series of names," he said. "It's completely irre‐ sponsible and it's illegal."