Opposition MPs on a parliamentary committee have banded against the Liberals to call the public safety minister to testify on his government withholding documents from the foreign interference inquiry.
MPs on the House of Commons Procedure and House Affairs Committee voted on a Tory motion May 28 that would direct Dominic LeBlanc to appear before the foreign interference commission and to provide all requested documents unredacted.
Ultimately, NDP and Bloc MPs sided with the Tories in calling Mr. LeBlanc to appear, along with representatives from the Privy Council Office (PCO) and the Foreign Interference Commission.
Mr. Cooper’s motion cited reporting by the Globe and Mail to the effect that cabinet is “withholding an undisclosed number of documents requested by the Commissioner” and that “nearly” 10 percent of documents provided by cabinet contain redactions.
“Some documents contained redactions for Cabinet confidence, solicitor-client privilege or protection of personal information,” says the footnote. “Discussions as to the application of these privileges is ongoing.”
The Epoch Times contacted Public Safety and PCO for comment but didn’t hear back immediately.
“In light of the ongoing discussions with the Government on document production, the Commission will not comment on this issue at this time,” said commission spokesperson Michael Tansey in an a statement to The Epoch Times.
“Justice Hogue will have full access to all relevant cabinet documents, as well as all other information she deems relevant for the purposes of her inquiry,” said Mr. LeBlanc when announcing the inquiry last September.
“Does he agree that enough is enough with the secrecy?” asked Mr. Therrien.
“He knows very well that we are committed to sharing cabinet information with the commission,” replied Mr. LeBlanc. “We will always be available to work with the commission so that it has access to all the appropriate documents.”
Democracy Watch co-founder Duff Conacher remarked that since the security agencies provided their documents without redactions to the commission, cabinet can do the same.
“If the Trudeau Cabinet continues to hide records from the inquiry into foreign interference, Canadians are justified in assuming that disclosure of the records would make the Cabinet look bad, and that is why the records are being kept secret,” Mr. Conacher told The Epoch Times via email.
He added the secrecy makes it impossible for the commissioner to “determine who knew what, when they knew it, and what they did.”
The commission was announced in September following months of negotiations between parties on the inquiry’s terms of reference and the choice of a commissioner. These negotiations came after initial resistance by the Liberal government to hold an inquiry and also followed the resignation of special rapporteur on foreign interference David Johnston.
The mandate of the inquiry was framed to look at interference by China, Russia, and other state and non-state actors, but so far the overwhelming focus has been on China.
“Based on the intelligence collected by Canada’s intelligence agencies, the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) stands out as a main perpetrator of foreign interference against Canada,” says Ms. Hogue’s report.
The report states that “Canadian intelligence agencies did not observe Russian attempts at interfering in either the 2019 or 2021 general elections.”
The commissioner concluded in her interim report that foreign interference did not impact the election result at the national level in 2019 and 2021, but that individual ridings were potentially affected.
“I nevertheless conclude that foreign interference impacted the overall election ecosystem in 2019 and 2021,” she wrote.
The commission is required to file a final report before by end of year.
