Former governor general David Johnston will issue a decision today on whether Canada needs a public inquiry into foreign interference.
Johnston’s verdict will come in a report to be released Tuesday. He is expected to hold a news conference around noon.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Johnston as independent special rapporteur on foreign interference in March after a series of stories from The Globe and Mail and Global News reported a range of Chinese government operations to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections and to influence policymakers and institutions. One story from the Globe and Mail, citing a national security source, said Beijing sought the election of a Liberal minority government in 2021.
The stories cited unnamed national security officials. The RCMP is investigating the source of the leaks.
Former governor general David Johnston will issue a decision Tuesday on whether Canada needs a public inquiry into foreign interference. Marion Buller, the former MMIWG Inquiry chief commissioner, says the ‘clock is ticking’ if the goal is to complete such an inquiry before the next scheduled federal election.
All opposition parties have called for a public inquiry into the matter. The Liberal government has said it will call an inquiry if Johnston recommends one.
Johnston has spoken with several party leaders and the prime minister on foreign interference, but Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre refused to meet with him. The Conservatives have criticized Johnston’s appointment, pointing out the former governor general’s friendly relationship with the Trudeau family and his former position as a member of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.
The Trudeau government has taken a number of steps on foreign interference in response to the controversy, including launching consultations on a foreign agents registry. A government source told CBC News that the government will table a bill to establish 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 parliamentarians under threat directly in the wake of the Chong story.
The government and national security organizations have been under fire over the presence of Chinese overseas “police stations” operating in Canada. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the police stations have been shut down, but the RCMP says investigations 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 governor general from 2010 to 2017. His terms of reference as independent special rapporteur give him broad powers to investigate foreign interference, including the ability to review classified documents. 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 conversation has evolved over the past few months has really aggravated and made more stark partisan divides in the country,” said Artur Wilczynski, a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa.
“That, in my opinion, has not contributed to an effective defence of Canadian democracy and has not contributed to an effective governmental response to the threats of foreign interference.”
Wilczynski, who spent more than 30 years in the public service working on foreign policy, intelligence, security and defence issues, said an inquiry would help bring the conversation back around to the details of the foreign interference threat itself and how Canada should position itself to combat that threat.
CSIS has been warning of its growing concern on foreign interference in its annual reports for years, but the subject 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 foreign interference, the only thing that prompted a real fundamental conversation about foreign interference were the illegal leaks,” Wilczynski said.
Wesley Wark, a senior fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation, said the controversy and calls for a public inquiry have put pressure on the Liberal government.
“It’s created a huge political drama for the Liberal government and put it on the defensive, 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.”
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