NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he’s convinced 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 Thursday, 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 worried now than I was yesterday after reading the document,” Singh told reporters Thursday afternoon.
“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, that all of these behaviours of these MPs are deeply unethical and contrary to the oaths and affirmations parliamentarians take to conduct themselves in the best interests of Canada.”
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 did confirm that he was a target of foreign interference but would not elaborate about what the report had to say.
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.
After reading the unredacted version of a top secret intelligence report on foreign interference, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May told reporters that there is no list of disloyal MPs, ending days of speculation and growing suspicion on Parliament Hill.
May said the most troubling case in NSICOP’s report involved a former MP who maintained a relationship with a foreign intelligence officer.
“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.”
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.”