Trudeau says ‘full buy-in’ from opposition needed before launching new foreign interference probe

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government won’t be announcing any next steps on probing foreign interference until the Liberals get “full buy-in” from the opposition parties, to avoid the process devolving as it did under former special rapporteur David Johnston.

“As we put forward proposals to the other parties on how we can move forward to restore Canadians’ confidence in our abilities to fight foreign interference, we will ensure before we launch any next process, that there is full buy-in by the other parties on how it will be done, and who will do it,” Trudeau told reporters on Wednesday.

In the aftermath of former rapporteur David Johnston’s resignation earlier this month, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc has been locked in negotiations with opposition parties over what form a potential public inquiry, or other unspecified new public process could take.

There appeared to be momentum leading towards an imminent announcement when the House of Commons adjourned for the summer last week, but there’s yet to be any news on whether it’ll be a full inquiry, who could lead it, or what kind of timeline would be set on this investigation of the issue.

On Monday, Johnston submitted his final wrap-up report to the prime minister, formally concluding his work.

Trudeau said the way the entire Johnston chapter unfolded is the reason the Liberals won’t be making any further steps until all parties are on-side with whatever the next steps are.

“We saw the excessive partisanship and toxicity that was aimed at, and rendered it impossible for our esteemed former governor general David Johnson to actually be able to continue his work,” Trudeau said.

“This is something I think all Canadians know we have to avoid in the future as we deal with foreign interference. And that’s why we are going to be making sure that we have consensus around the path forward, around the framework, around the individual or individuals we will put in charge of the next steps, before we actually announce anything.”

More to come…