(OTTAWA) Former Governor General David Johnston has delivered his final — and confidential — report on foreign interference to the Prime Minister, ending his mandate as special rapporteur on the issue.
Mr Johnston had announced his intention to step down as special rapporteur on foreign interference on June 9, citing the “highly partisan” climate surrounding his appointment and his work.
Before leaving, he had to submit a “brief final report”, which was done on Monday.
The former governor general was named special rapporteur on foreign interference in March by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as the government faced pressure from all quarters to respond to allegations that China had tried to interfere in the last two federal elections.
In May, in his preliminary report, Mr Johnston concluded that a public and independent inquiry was not the best way to address the problem of foreign interference, due to the highly confidential nature of the information involved. .
The opposition parties, which had been calling for a public inquiry for several weeks, strongly denounced Mr. Johnston’s recommendation, and in the same breath questioned his independence.
Following the announcement of Mr. Johnston’s resignation, discussions took place behind the scenes in Ottawa regarding the possible terms of reference for a possible public inquiry.
In a statement released late Monday, the Office of the Independent Special Rapporteur said Johnston had added a “supplement” to the confidential annex to his first report. The content of this new section will therefore not be made public.
For its part, the federal government thanked Mr. Johnston for his work “on this important file”.