Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc has rejected a proposal to disclose the names of MPs who allegedly colluded with foreign states, telling the Foreign Interference Commission the issue has been exaggerated.
National Security and Intelligence Advisor (NSIA) Nathalie Drouin told the inquiry on Oct. 9 she believes there are no “traitors” in parliament.
The NSICOP report, based on a large body of classified intelligence documents, sent shockwaves across the country with its conclusions that some parliamentarians or party candidates had been “semi-witting or witting participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in our politics.”
LeBlanc said accusations of treason are “criminal phrases that are not borne out by the evidence and by the work of the police or the security agency.”
“I don’t think it’s particularly helpful to use ‘witting,’ ‘unwitting,’ ’semi-witting.' I think those words understandably cast an understandable concern on these parliamentarians,” he said.
LeBlanc was responding to questions from Sujit Choudhry, the counsel for NDP MP Jenny Kwan. Inquiry proceedings have delved into Kwan’s experience as one of the MPs targeted by Beijing for being outspoken against the policies of the Chinese communist regime.
Kwan has proposed a process in which she said the names could be disclosed without compromising national security, such as by dealing with the matter in private meetings of the House of Commons Procedure and House Affairs Committee, where the impacted parliamentarians would testify. Based on the testimony provided, a decision could be reached regarding the disclosure of the names.
Choudhry presented this option to LeBlanc, who called the process “not particularly instructive.” He said there is no framework for normal committees to deal with national security information and that NSICOP was created specifically for that purpose.
“Some people may not have liked the report that they chose to issue. It is their report, and I don’t think there’s an appeal mechanism or a review of a report,” said LeBlanc. The minister also expressed concern that going through a normal parliamentary committee would open the door to partisanship.
The NSICOP report and the issue of MPs potentially colluding with foreign powers has been raised with a number of officials appearing before the inquiry.
“The information we have, and that you have as well—and that was used by NSICOP—does not allow me to come to the conclusion there are traitors in Parliament,” NSIA Drouin told Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue when asked what information she’s using to draw her conclusions.
“I’ve seen inappropriate behaviours, I saw lack of judgment, I saw individuals I would maybe trust less,” said Drouin. “But I haven’t seen any MP in our Parliament who did espionage, sabotage, or really put Canada’s security at risk.”
Officials from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which has produced the bulk of reporting on foreign interference, did not dismiss the NSICOP report out of hand.
CSIS’s counter-foreign interference coordinator Bo Basler told the inquiry his agency agrees with some aspects of the report.
“Mr. Basler noted that, in some cases, CSIS may have reported or assessed that an MP is witting” in foreign-directed interference in Canada’s democracy.
The commission is concluding a phase of public hearing this week, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testifying on Oct. 16. The commission’s final report is due before the end of the year.
