A Conservative motion to have a parliamentary committee investigate allegations of foreign election interference failed on March 21, following an announcement the same day that the prime minister’s Chief of Staff Katie Telford will testify at another committee on the issue.
The motion, introduced by Conservative MP Michael Cooper, would have transferred a parliamentary investigation from the Liberal-chaired Procedure and House Affairs committee (PROC) to the Conservative-chaired ethics committee. The motion was defeated, with 147 MPs voting in favour and 177 opposed.
The Conservative, Bloc Quebecois, Green, and Independent MPs voted in favour of the motion, while the Liberals and New Democrats opposed it.
Cooper told the Epoch Times following the vote that he was not surprised by the New Democrats choosing to vote against his motion, following the party’s pattern of “aligning with the Liberals.”
Cooper said the Liberals and NDP “caved in” to Conservative pressure to allow Telford to testify at PROC after weeks of “obstructing and blocking” her appearance.
“Telford is a key witness to get to the heart of the scandal, [which is] what the prime minister knows, and what did he fail to do about Beijing’s interference in two federal elections under his watch?”
The motion called for Telford, among others, to be ordered to appear before PROC as a witness no later than April 14, 2023, and answer questions for three hours. The Conservatives want Telford to testify on what she was told by security agencies, following media reports that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was briefed multiple times on attempts by Beijing to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
Liberal and NDP MPs had repeatedly blocked PROC motions calling for Telford to testify. But in a shift on March 21, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office announced that Telford would be appearing before the committee to testify about foreign election interference.
“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.
Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister Katie Telford arrives to appear as a witness at the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa on Nov 24, 2022. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Earlier in the day, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said his party would back the Conservative motion if the Liberals continued the “obstruction” of Telford’s testimony.
“They have a choice. They can stop blocking that and they can allow the chief of staff to testify ... or we will force them to do that,” he said.
Following question period today, Singh told reporters that Telford being allowed to testify rendered the Conservative motion “useless.” Singh said he “forced” the Liberals to allow Telford to testify by threatening that his party would vote for the motion.
“Liberals have not answered Canadians’ questions, and it’s really called out the importance of a public inquiry. That’s what would satisfy me, and more importantly to me, that’s what would satisfy Canadians who are worried,” he said.
Following question period, opposition House Leader and Conservative MP Andrew Scheer told reporters that Trudeau only reversed course on Telford after he “tried everything else.” Scheer said the Liberals engaged in “desperate filibustering” for weeks, but it was only after the Conservative motion that they allowed Telford to testify.
“And now Justin Trudeau is expecting a gold star for exhausting every attempt to delay and block Telford from testifying. None of this takes away from the urgent need for a full independent public inquiry,” he said.
