Poilievre challenged Trudeau to release the identities of the unnamed parliamentarians
OTTAWA — Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre would release the names of members of Parliament “deemed to have knowingly participated in foreign interference” should his party form government, his office says.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used his testimony before a federal inquiry on foreign interference to say he has the names “of a number of parliamentarians, former parliamentarians and/or candidates” within the Conservative party who intelligence shows “are engaged, or at high risk” of foreign interference.
Poilievre accused Trudeau of “lying” and challenged him to release the identities of the unnamed parliamentarians in a committee report that cites “troubling” intelligence about some being “‘semi-witting or witting’ participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in our politics.”
On Oct. 16 he issued a statement calling on Trudeau to release the names of “all MPs” known to have collaborated with foreign interference.
Poilievre has faced criticism from the governing Liberals, New Democrats, the Bloc Quebecois and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May for refusing to obtain the security clearance needed to receive classified briefings.
But Poilievre says the classified briefings would prevent him from sharing what he learns publicly.
Asked by the National Post whether Poilievre would do the same should Conservatives form government, which many polls suggest may happen whenever a federal election is called, a spokesman said “yes.”
“For those who are deemed to have knowingly participated in foreign interference, yes,” wrote Conservative spokesperson Sebastian Skamski.
He said Poilievre “will of course” take classified briefings once in the Prime Minister’s Office, adding that unlike Trudeau and his ministers, “he will actually read his intelligence briefing notes,” referring to an earlier statement the prime minister gave about preferring oral briefings to reading intelligence reports.
“(Poilievre) will be upfront and honest with Canadians and be transparent about the threats posed by foreign interference, unlike Justin Trudeau who continues to hide and obstruct the truth for political gain,” Skamski said.
“Justin Trudeau should release the names if he has nothing to hide.”
His office has not yet responded to questions about how a future Poilievre-led government might seek to release such information, given the sensitives around sharing top-secret information and the risks posed to those collecting it.
After the committee of parliamentarians with top-secret security clearance released their report back in June divulging that some parliamentarians were wittingly involved in foreign interference, Opposition House leader Andrew Scheer wrote to Justice Marie-Josée Hogue asking the ongoing public inquiry on the issue investigate the allegations.
The government also supported expanding the commission’s terms of reference to probe the allegations.
In his letter, Scheer asked Hogue to issue “a finding of fact” in each alleged case and that anyone found to have knowingly participated in foreign interference be named in a report to Parliament.
The commission later ruled it would not be in a position to identify those involved in the allegations for several reasons, including the fact that the allegations are based on classified information which could not be disclosed to the individuals in question because of the need to maintain confidentiality, meaning they would not be afforded the chance to respond according to “the rules of procedural fairness.”
Speaking at an unrelated housing announcement in Ottawa on Monday, Poilievre repeated how the Conservatives have asked Trudeau to release the names.
“We know he’d release the names if he had them. This is a prime minister who releases information on foreign interference whenever it suits his political purposes,” said Poilievre.
“We said, ‘we’ve got nothing to hide so name the names Mr. Trudeau,’ … so that all Canadians can hold them to account.”
Earlier this month Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a stunning announcement that the Canadian government had expelled six Indian diplomats, including its high commissioner, after India refused to work with Canadian authorities currently investigating allegations that government agents were involved in crimes from murder to extortion.
India has denied the allegations.
National Post
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