NDP leader says he's more alarmed after reading unredacted intelligence report
Singh's office says leader's comments should not be taken as confirming or denying if current MPs are involved
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Thursday he's "more convinced than ever" that some parliamentarians are "willing participants" in foreign states' efforts to interfere in Canadian politics after reading an unredacted version of a bombshell report from one of Canada's intelligence oversight bodies.
But after a raucous half-hour scrum with reporters, he would not confirm whether he was referring to serving MPs.
Last week, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), a cross-party committee of MPs and senators with top security clearances, released a heavily blacked-out document alleging, based on intelligence, that some parliamentarians have been "semi-witting or witting" participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in Canadian politics.
"I am more alarmed today than I was yesterday after having read the report," Singh told reporters Thursday afternoon.
"In short, there are a number of MPs who have knowingly provided help to foreign governments, some to the detriment of Canada and Canadians."
A party spokesperson later said that Singh's comments should not be taken as confirming or denying that the parliamentarians cited in the report are currently serving.
Singh told reporters some of the cases he read about appear to be criminal and should be prosecuted, and all of the behaviour cited in the report was "deeply unethical."
"I am more convinced than ever of the conclusions of the NSICOP committee and the report, that some parliamentarians are willing participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in our politics," he said, adding that those involved are "traitors to the country."
The NDP leader also confirmed that he was a target of foreign interference but would not elaborate on what the report had to say. Singh also said there are also politicians from all levels of government who have benefited from foreign interference.
May said she was 'relieved' reading the report
Singh's statements on the report were very different from those Green Party Leader Elizabeth May gave earlier this week after reading the unredacted report.
During a news conference Tuesday, May said she doesn't believe any of her House of Commons colleagues knowingly betrayed their country.
"I am very comfortable sitting with my colleagues," she said.
"Are there currently MPs sitting with us in the chamber who would set out knowingly to sell out Canada for personal benefit? If there are, there's no evidence of that in the full report."
While May said she was "relieved" after reading the report, she added the report points to troubling cases of foreign interference across different levels of government and civil society.
May said the most troubling case in NSICOP's report involved a former MP who maintained a relationship with a foreign intelligence officer. She also said some MPs may be compromised" because they were "beneficiaries of foreign governments interfering in nomination contests."
"Saying that I'm relieved does not mean that there is nothing to see here folks. There are clearly threats to Canadian democracy from foreign governments," she said.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said Tuesday he's inquired about getting security clearance to view the report.
Singh says report has troubling details about Conservative Party
That would make Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre the only major party leader to refuse to obtain the necessary security clearance to read the report.
Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong defended Poilievre's decision Thursday after testifying before a Senate committee.
"The leader would not be able to divulge this information to anyone else and therefore would not be able to act on this information," said the MP, who was himself a target of Beijing's foreign interference.
"At the end of the day, if members of the House of Commons are knowingly and wittingly assisting foreign states to the detriment of Canada's national interest, to the detriment of the people of Canada, then those individuals need to be held accountable. That's not up for party leaders to decide expulsion."
The redacted NSICOP report said foreign actors from India and the People's Republic of China interfered in more than one race for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.
The public report does not provide any further information about the nature of the alleged interference, or state which Conservative leadership races were allegedly targeted and when.
Singh said Poilievre doesn't want to read a report that contains "serious allegations touching his party."
"To me, that disqualifies him as a leader, and I do not buy his phoney excuses," he said.
"It is clear that both of them, Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre, want to protect their party rather than defending the country.
Singh previously told reporters that if the full report showed New Democrat MPs knowingly took part in benefiting another country to Canada's detriment, he would remove them from caucus.
He suggested Thursday that would not have to happen.
The NSICOP report called the Liberal government's response to the known threat of foreign interference "a serious failure ... from which Canada may feel the consequences for years to come."
"The prime minister has had access to intelligence that raises concerns about MPs ... knowingly benefiting from foreign interference," said Singh.
"He may disagree with that intelligence, but I believe he has not taken the steps he should have to deal with this."
Intelligence commissioner says he worries about loose talk
During a Senate committee Thursday morning, Canada's Intelligence Commissioner Simon Noël testified that he has concerns about the public conversation on classified information.
"The more we speak publicly on national security and disclose information without knowing it, you know who's listening more? People on St. Patrick Street and Charlotte Street," he said, referring to the Chinese and Russian embassies in Ottawa.
"If you say, 'I don't have any problem, having read the NSICOP report,' are you telling them, somebody who knows more on the other side, 'Oh, we got this going, that means they haven't caught that.'"
As intelligence commissioner, Noël's job is to approve or disallow certain activities planned by the Communications Security Establishment and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service that would involve breaking the law in Canada or another country, or that would interfere with the privacy interests of Canadians.
"Let's move on," he said. "The system is not broken."
Earlier this week, the House of Commons voted overwhelmingly in favour of a Bloc Quebecois motion to expand the mandate of the public inquiry investigating foreign election interference to allow it to investigate the claims in the NSICOP report concerning MPs and senators.
A spokesperson for Marie-Josee Hogue, who is overseeing the public inquiry investigating allegations of election meddling, said she is "honoured by the confidence expressed towards the commission."
Trudeau and his government have come under pressure to release the names of the parliamentarians in the unredacted NSICOP report.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc has argued releasing classified intelligence could expose CSIS methods, put sources at risk and jeopardize relationships with allies, who share their intelligence with Canada on the condition that it not be made public.
- What do you want to know about foreign interference in Canadian politics? Email your questions to ask@cbc.ca. It helps inform our coverage.
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