Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a 2010 radio interview described David Johnston as a frequent dinner companion with whom he had “great conversations,” despite both men having downplayed their personal relationship as insignificant in the scope of Johnston’s investigation into foreign interference in his role as special rapporteur.
“We had great conversations around dinner tables around all sorts of things. I always respected him as a man who was very personable, very real and very, very smart,” Trudeau told CBC Radio in an interview, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
Trudeau appointed Johnston to be the special rapporteur on March 15 following media reports suggesting widespread interference by Beijing in Canada’s elections. Instead of launching a public inquiry, which opposition leaders repeatedly called for, the prime minister said he would heed the recommendations of Johnston.
The former governor general said he had been favourable to the idea of holding an inquiry before he started the review, but conversations with senior security and elected officials and reviews of intelligence files changed his mind.
When asked whether his relationship with the Trudeau family would impact the impartiality of his decision, Johnston replied that while he went on five ski trips with the family decades ago, he had no unofficial contact with the prime minister since Trudeau became the MP for Papineau, Quebec in 2008.
Johnston denied having a close relationship with the Trudeaus, recalling that they parked their car in his condo lot in Québec’s Laurentian Mountains. “These are the facts of the so-called friendship,” said Johnston.
Trudeau also told reporters on May 24 that he saw Johnston “a few times” as a kid.
Opposition Parties Criticize Johnston
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called Johnston’s decision not to call a public inquiry a “whitewash attempt,“ and ”cover up“ saying that the prime minister hired his ”ski buddy, chalet neighbour, family friend” to investigate foreign interference.“We have to put this in the hands of a trusted judge rather than in the hands of Trudeau’s ski buddy,” Poilievre said, adding that Johnston was also a former member of the Trudeau Foundation and should have therefore recused himself from the investigation.
Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet said Johnston’s appointment was a clear conflict of interest.
“I am not taking the word of Mr. Johnston at all,” said Blanchet. “Even if before we might have said we do not know if he is neutral or not, today we do know he is not.”
“The issue is, what happened? How can we protect ourselves against such things in the future?“ Johnston said. ”Because China won’t stop. Mr. Johnston just said, ‘Go on, enjoy, have fun. Canada is open for you.’”
