Review body probing foreign interference calls on government to release more cabinet documents

One of the review bodies investigating the federal government's approach to foreign interference says the government has provided it with only a "limited" number of cabinet confidence documents.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed last month to waive cabinet confidence so that two federal agencies — the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) — can read the confidential documents David Johnston, the government's former special rapporteur on foreign interference, reviewed as he produced his report on foreign interference.

But NSIRA said in a media release Monday that the government has provided it with a "limited number of documents."  

In a letter to Trudeau made public Monday, NSIRA chair Marie Deschamps urged him to release all cabinet confidence documents related to their review.

"In order to ensure the integrity of our review and not limit or influence our evidence base, NSIRA must have access to all documents contained in any class of documents provided, rather than a subset of these documents," she wrote.

"Therefore, NSIRA respectfully requests that all cabinet confidence documents related to our review be released to us, and that all documents provided during the course of this review be without redaction for cabinet confidence."

The agency, which is made up of independent experts, is reviewing the dissemination of intelligence on foreign interference during the past two federal elections, including how intelligence was communicated across government. 

The confidentiality of cabinet proceedings is a longstanding constitutional convention and a cornerstone of the Westminster style of government. It's meant to allow cabinet ministers to have robust discussions in secret.

Members of NSICOP previously voiced their frustration over cabinet secrecy in a letter last fall to the prime minister. In the letter, the committee members said the refusal to share some records posed "a growing risk to [NSICOP's] ability to fulfil its mandate."