Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he has seen the names of MPs who allegedly assist foreign states, but cannot release them due to laws preventing the disclosure of classified information.
“I know a number of names that were surfaced in various intelligence products that I had seen,” Mr. LeBlanc told the House of Commons public safety committee on June 6.
The minister was appearing at the committee as part of its study on Bill C-70, which seeks to overhaul national security legislation to better counter foreign interference.
The report, based on approximately 4,000 government documents, says that some parliamentarians “began wittingly assisting foreign state actors soon after their election.”
“This places a cloud of suspicion over every single member of the House—elected members. Do you know the names of these people?” asked Tory MP Frank Caputo.
Mr. LeBlanc said he did, but added he was not involved in the production of the NSICOP report, hence he doesn’t know what documents it consulted in its review.
“But I’m very comfortable that I have access to all of the most important intelligence information, which would include, in some cases, names,” said the minister.
Mr. LeBlanc rejected Mr. Caputo’s call to release the names publicly, saying those are contained in intelligence reports which, in some cases, are uncorroborated and unverified. Making public a list of names that is not entirely reliable would be “simply irresponsible,” he said.
Mr. Caputo asked the minister whether he believes Canadians have the right to know before the next election whether the candidate they'll support is under the influence of a foreign state.
Mr. LeBlanc said Canadians should have confidence in the country’s security and intelligence agencies.
“Should the RCMP, for example, in their wisdom decide that charges should be laid in consultation with the appropriate prosecutors, that’s our system in a rule of law democracy,” he said. “I’m not going to violate the Security of Information Act and risk prosecution for a political stunt.”
It did confirm, however, that it is conducting investigations into a “broad range of foreign interference in Canada, including matters which intersect with democratic institutions.”
The federal police force said it was unaware of some of the elements mentioned in the NSICOP report.
The report was commissioned by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in March 2023, when he was under pressure to establish a public inquiry into foreign interference. Intelligence leaks in the media in the previous weeks had suggested widespread interference by Beijing.
The widespread interference has been established through the work of the inquiry, which was eventually launched in the fall, and various government reports released or produced since.
In early May, the Liberal government tabled Bill C-70, an Act respecting countering foreign interference, to address the threat. It plans the creation of a foreign influence registry and of new criminal offences, among other measures.
