MPs representing every major opposition party are getting frustrated with the slow response from the federal government in providing key information to their study on Beijing’s foreign interference.
In a letter sent to the Clerk of the Privy Council on April 6, six members of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) are requesting that commitments made by top officials to the committee in early March be respected.
During those meetings, National Security and Intelligence Advisor Jody Thomas and CSIS Director David Vigneault said they would provide the committee with the dates they briefed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his staff on interference by the Chinese regime in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
“It has now been over one month since the original request and assurances were given that this information would be provided to the committee,” wrote the MPs.
“The fact that no information has been provided, despite repeated follow-ups, appears to be a deliberate effort to obstruct the committee’s study on foreign election interference.”
The letter is signed by Conservative MPs John Nater, Michael Cooper, Luc Berthold, and Blaine Calkins, Bloc Québécois MP Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, and NDP MP Rachel Blaney.
The MPs wrote to the Clerk of the Privy Council Janice Charette given Thomas’s office is under the Privy Council Office (PCO), and Vigneault said on March 2 he would work with the PCO to provide a consolidated response.
The letter says it’s “essential” that the committee receive the requested information before Trudeau’s Chief of Staff Katie Telford testifies. A date for her appearance at committee has yet to be announced.
Conservative MPs on the committee had been trying to have Telford testify for weeks, but initially faced opposition from Liberal and NDP MPs.
The NDP switched its stance on having Telford testify as new allegations about the extent of the Chinese regime’s interference were surfacing in the media.
After all opposition MPs on the committee banded together to hear from Telford, Liberals started a multi-day filibuster to avoid voting on a motion they would lose which called for the chief of staff to testify.
“While there are serious constraints on what can be said in public about sensitive intelligence matters, in an effort to make Parliament work Ms. Telford has agreed to appear at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee as part of their study,” the PMO said in a statement.
While national security leaks in the media have provided an idea of the extent of the Chinese regime’s interference and what the government knows about it, MPs want to know specifically when Trudeau was alerted about the issue.
