Achi news desk-
Fasano, Italy –
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has concerns about how conclusions were drawn in the watchdog’s report.
Speaking after the end of the G7 summit in Italy, Trudeau told reporters he had concerns about how MPs’ National Security and Intelligence Committee reached its conclusions that some MPs were “half-witted or witty” participants in foreign countries’ efforts. Get involved in Canadian politics.
“We clarified some concerns we had about the way NSCIOP did it, we drew conclusions,” he said. “I think this is an important part of the process.”
The Prime Minister’s words echo those of Public Safety Minister Dominique LeBlanc, who said last week that the government disagrees with the committee’s interpretation of some of the intelligence. However, it is still unclear what exactly the Prime Minister’s concerns are. He would not elaborate Saturday when asked specifically for details about those concerns.
“NSCIOP exists so that parliamentarians of all parties have full access to the work that our intelligence agencies do,” Trudeau said Saturday. “This is an important step that would not have happened if the conservative party had remained in power.”
NSICOP was established in 2017 as an independent and high-level audit body of the National Security and Intelligence Organization of Canada. Its members all hold the highest level of security classification, and are bound to secrecy according to the Information Security Law. The committee is made up of lawmakers from all major parties, and members of both the House and Senate.
Earlier this week, the House of Representatives voted in favor of a bloc proposal asking Marie-José Hogue to expand her foreign interference investigation to also delve into the commission’s findings and investigate the allegations made against members of parliament.
“We welcome the work they are doing, of course when it comes to intelligence there are important bodies such as the Foreign Interference Investigation which is tasked with checking this,” said Trudeau.
The Prime Minister, however, would not answer repeated questions about whether Liberal MPs present were named in their report as knowingly or half-knowingly participating in foreign interference.
“The issue of foreign interference is one that this government has taken very seriously,” Trudeau said in response to a question about his MPs. “We’ve also called in a number of different reports, including an ongoing report on foreign interference, which is that we’re working with now to see how they can follow up on the NSICOP report.”
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh were given access to the committee’s confidential report this week. The conservative leader, however, did not take steps to obtain the necessary security clearance.
Singh told reporters on Thursday that the watchdog report showed that “a number of MPs” knowingly provided help to foreign governments and that he was “more alarmed today” after reading the unredacted version of the committee’s findings.
“In short, there are a number of MPs who have knowingly provided assistance to foreign governments, some to the detriment of Canada and Canadians,” Singh said.
The NDP leader did not provide details on the number of MPs involved in the report or their political affiliations. He previously said any NDP MP proven to have knowingly interfered would be expelled from his seminar. However, he said no NDP MPS were included among those named as having attended.
May, however, had a different interpretation. She said there is no “list of MPs who have shown disloyalty to Canada”. She called some of Singh’s comments on the unpublished report “too heated”
Singh accused Trudeau of not acting sooner on the MPs named in the report. Trudeau was given access to the report nearly three months ago.
“He may not agree with this intelligence, but I believe he has sent the message that he is willing to accept some level of foreign intervention,” Singh said earlier this week.
