Special Rapporteur David Johnston has been invited to testify before a House of Commons committee after tabling his first report which recommended against holding a public inquiry on foreign interference.
The House Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) passed a motion on May 26 re-inviting Johnston to appear no later than June 6.
The final motion was adopted after hours of wrangling between the committee members over its language and implications, with the initial Conservative motion calling to “summon” Johnston to appear.
The committee had called Johnston to testify close to two months ago, but committee Chair Liberal MP Bardish Chagger said during the meeting Johnston had previously responded he would only be available after tabling his report.
Johnston, a former governor general, was appointed special rapporteur by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on March 15 amid calls for a public inquiry into Beijing’s meddling in Canada’s elections.
Trudeau gave Johnston the mandate to review the threat along with the government’s response and to provide a recommendation on whether to hold an inquiry.
While Johnston’s review found that foreign governments are “undoubtedly” meddling in Canada’s democracy, he recommended against holding an inquiry, citing as a main argument the need to protect classified information.
Opposition parties, which have voted in the House to hold a public inquiry, have called Johnston’s advice a “slap in the face” of groups subjected to intimidation by hostile governments.
The motion adopted also calls PROC to report to the House that it re-affirms its support for a national public inquiry and calls the government to begin consultations with parties within 24 hours with a view of launching the inquiry within two weeks. Such motions are non-binding.
Liberal and NDP MPs on the committee worked jointly to add an amendment calling on the opposition leaders to obtain security clearances to read the confidential section of Johnston’s report.
While NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has expressed an interest in consulting the classified annex, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre and Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet have both refused, saying that reading it would bound them to secrecy and hence limit their ability to criticize the government.
PROC has been studying foreign interference since early November 2022. Its work picked up as national security leaks on Chinese regime interference appeared in the media. The committee has recently been tasked by the House to investigate Beijing’s targeting of Conservative MP Michael Chong as a result of one such leak.
