MPs discuss calling foreign interference rapporteur Johnston to testify

Opposition MPs have teamed up to force a meeting of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) on Thursday, to discuss calling special rapporteur David Johnston to testify about his recommendation against a public inquiry into foreign election interference.

Set to unfold between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET, PROC has convened—despite it being a break week for the House of Commons—to discuss and potentially vote on a motion to haul Johnston before the panel of MPs to explain his decision not to pursue public hearings.

On Tuesday, Johnston issued his first report as the special rapporteur looking into foreign interference, in which he highlighted serious shortcomings within Canada’s intelligence apparatus, but said he found no evidence to suggest the federal government knowingly or negligently failed to act. 

He ruled that a public inquiry was not necessary, a decision he said he took on the basis that the key pieces of sensitive classified information that would inform Canadians on questions such as who knew what and when, “cannot be disclosed publicly” and would essentially duplicate the work he’s undertaken in the last two months.

Johnston recommending against an inquiry was quickly panned by all of the federal opposition parties who continue to insist the issue merits a proper— and as public as possible—airing of all the facts, to reassure Canadians.

“David Johnston’s decision is a slap in the face to diaspora groups who are subject to abuse and intimidation by hostile foreign governments and all Canadians rightly concerned about foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections and future elections,” reads the letter requesting the meeting.

It was signed by all Conservative, Bloc Quebecois and NDP MPs who sit on PROC, writing that: “David Johnston must come before committee and answer for his decision at the earliest opportunity.” 

In the letter, the opposition MPs also cited examples of reporting on allegations of attempts from Beijing to interfere in Canadian democracy that they called “jarring,” but in his report, Johnston called “misconstrued.”

A series of media reports published by the Globe and Mail and Global News over the last six months led PROC to hold more than a dozen meetings digging into the issue, seeing the committee hear from senior federal officials, party representatives, intelligence experts as well as current and former MPs. 

In his report, Johnston said that part of his work reviewing “all of the relevant facts” over the last two months and that included taking in PROC’s hearings. From which, he made the following observation: “While those proceedings have certainly included an element of political theatre, MPs have asked insightful questions and received important information from a variety of witnesses.”

Resistance from the leaders of the two largest opposition parties to see for themselves the materials that informed Johnston’s findings is the latest example, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday, of his critics of being more interested in playing politics than being proactive. 

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh wrote to Trudeau on Thursday to confirm his intention to receive the necessary security clearance to access Johnston’s confidential annex, with conditions. In the letter, Singh also stated that he “profoundly” disagrees with Trudeau’s decision to take Johnston’s advice to not call an inquiry.

Singh’s conditions on pursuing security clearance are that members of his team can accompany him to fill the spots left vacant by Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, and they receive a briefing by officials explaining the impact of the confidentiality on his ability to speak publicly on the issue of foreign interference going forward.

“In his report, Mr. Johnston wrote that he insisted on an ‘unprecedented’ ability to discuss intelligence matters. I expect that I would be able to speak as freely about my conclusions based on the intelligence I am allowed to view and that my ability to be critical of the government’s actions will not be constrained. I will be seeking assurances on this point in writing,” Singh stated in his letter to the prime minister. 

Trudeau—who appointed Johnston to the role amid pressure to address heightened concerns around the threat of foreign meddling in Canadian affairs—stands behind the former governor general’s decision to hold hearings.