Singh calling for foreign interference special rapporteur Johnston to step aside

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is pushing for special rapporteur David Johnston to “step aside” from his role examining the issue of foreign interference before he embarks on public hearings.

“I’ve been very clear in not attacking Mr. Johnston personally and I’ve maintained that, but… It is very clear that the appearance of bias is so high that it erodes the work that the special rapporteur can do,” Singh told reporters in the House of Commons foyer on Monday.

He said that during the pre-scheduled NDP opposition day on Tuesday, his party will advance a motion that will force all MPs to vote on whether to call for Johnston to step aside, and for the federal government to launch a public inquiry.

Opposition days provide opposition parties the chance to set the agenda for debate in the House of Commons around a motion of their choosing. After hours of debate, the motion comes to a vote usually during the next sitting day.

In the motion slated to be debated on Tuesday, sponsor NDP MP Rachel Blaney is calling for Johnston to “step aside” from the role and for the federal government to “urgently establish” an inquiry that:

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  Would be led by an individual selected with unanimous backing from all recognized parties in the House;
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  Would be granted powers to review all aspects of foreign interference from all states, not just China; and
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  Would be asked to present its report and any recommendations ahead of the next dissolution of Parliament or before the next federal election.

The motion, if passed as drafted, also seeks to have the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) which has led the parliamentary study into foreign election interference, report to the House with a recommendation on who could lead this inquiry and what the terms of reference should be.

Blaney’s wording also notes that Johnston recommended against a public inquiry “despite noting significant gaps and leaving many questions either unasked or unanswered,” and that “serious questions” have been raised about his mandate, the past political donations from the council he retained to support his work, and his conclusions.

“Only a full public inquiry can fully restore the confidence of Canadians in the integrity of our democratic institutions,” it reads, contradicting a key conclusion of Johnston’s report released last Tuesday, in which he stated that because of the sensitive nature of the intelligence central to the issue, a public review “simply cannot be done.”

Given the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois also want an inquiry called, and have questioned Johnston’s impartiality, it’s probable that the New Democrats could secure enough votes among other opposition MPs to see this motion pass.

While the motion is non-binding— as past opposition-backed calls for a public inquiry have been— if it passes, it would be yet another message delivered to the governing minority Liberals that the will of the majority of MPs in the House of Commons is for an independent airing of the facts surrounding allegations of foreign meddling by China in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

More to come…