(Ottawa) “There would be here and now in this House elected officials voluntarily or naively under foreign influence. What does the Prime Minister intend to do? »
Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet did not get an answer to his question on Tuesday: Justin Trudeau simply assured that the government was taking “all necessary measures” to counter the threat of foreign interference.
This is not the conclusion of the Committee of Parliamentarians on National Security and Intelligence (CPSNR), which criticized the Prime Minister for his inaction in a report in which we learned that Canadian MPs or senators would knowingly contribute to interference efforts by foreign states.
Who are they ? How many are they ? Which political party do they belong to?
The document, partially redacted, does not specify this.
Speculation was therefore rife on Parliament Hill on Tuesday, and the Bloc Québécois tried to find out more during the question period, its leader going so far as to instill doubt in liberal minds, in “this Parliament partly under influence,” he said.
“I particularly invite the Liberal caucus to look at each other and say that there are possibly people among them under foreign influence, and during their next caucus, to talk to each other so that we can identify who it is,” asserted Yves-François Blanchet.
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Public Safety
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc reiterated the call for caution that he had made the day before. “You have to be very careful when talking about intelligence details in a public context,” he argued, saying he had confidence in national security agencies.
“The Prime Minister is failing to protect our democracy,” worried New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh, criticizing Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre for a “refusal to condemn the Indian government of [Narendra] Modi.”
PHOTO SPENCER COLBY, THE CANADIAN PRESS
New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh
The Conservative Party did not ask any questions on the issue of interference during Tuesday’s session.
“This is a serious, serious problem,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said at a press conference Tuesday morning. She also maintained “that as a political party, we must and we will follow up internally.”
PHOTO SPENCER COLBY, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister
According to the report released Monday by the CPSNR, “certain parliamentarians are, according to the intelligence services, half-consenting or voluntary participants in the interference efforts of foreign states in the country’s politics.”
Deputies would have done so by providing confidential information to representatives of the Government of India, we read in the document from this committee composed of elected officials and senators who have a top secret level security clearance. , in addition to being bound to secrecy in perpetuity.
The classified version of the report was submitted to the Prime Minister on March 22.