Canadians were already having difficulty sorting out fact from fiction in the matter of foreign interference without Jagmeet Singh and Elizabeth May adding to their confusion by offering contradictory interpretations of this classified report which has been sowing discord in Ottawa since ten days. While the leader of the Green Party of Canada declared herself “extremely relieved” after reading the unredacted version of the report of the Committee of Parliamentarians on National Security and Intelligence (CPSNR), the leader of the New Democratic Party expressed said “more worried” than he had been before reading it. Go figure!
According to Mme May, no member currently sitting in the House of Commons named in this report “can be described as someone who decided to knowingly betray Canada in favor of a foreign government.” Mr. Singh comes to a completely different conclusion. “The findings made public [dans le rapport non caviardé] suggest that a number of MPs had participated in unethical, in some cases illegal or criminal, activities. After reading the unredacted version, I agree with this conclusion, he blurted out. They are indeed traitors to this country. »
If Mr. Singh was so shaken by what he read, it is because the report indicates that he himself, as a member of the Canadian Sikh community, was the target of efforts to interference by a foreign state. Many Canadian Sikhs demand the creation of an independent state of Khalistan in the Punjab region of India. Mr. Singh witnesses the Indian government’s intimidation of this community, which has approximately 800,000 members in Canada. The 2023 murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in the suburbs of Vancouver, whom Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself linked to the Indian government, brutally demonstrated the extent to which foreign interference is poisoning Canadian democratic life.
“India considers that part of this community [sikhe] fuels anti-Indian sentiment and represents a threat to India’s stability and national security, reads the initial report filed in May by the public inquiry into foreign interference chaired by Justice Marie -Josée Hogue. It does not distinguish between the legitimate promotion of pro-Khalistan political interests and the relatively uncommon pro-Khalistan violent extremism. She believes that anyone aligned with Khalistani separatism is a threat to India. »
However, the report of the Committee of Parliamentarians on National Security and Intelligence mentions “elected representatives” who “knowingly began helping foreign state actors shortly after their election.” The public version of the CPSNR report then explains that three sentences were deleted in order to remove damaging or privileged information. These sentences “gave examples of MPs who worked to influence their colleagues on India’s behalf and who proactively provided confidential information to Indian officials.”
The House of Commons adopted this week a motion from the Bloc Québécois which invites Judge Hogue to broaden her investigation to look into the cases of the parliamentarians named in the unredacted CPSNR report. The Minister of Public Safety, Dominic LeBlanc, suggested that the Hogue commission already has “the necessary authorities” to look into these deputies and senators. But the Liberals ended up voting for the Bloc motion, no doubt in the hope that it would spare the Trudeau government the need to respond to the recommendations of the CPSNR report.
The latter was handed over to the government last March, three months before its redacted version was made public. “What is clear as far as I am concerned is that Justin Trudeau knew it and did nothing,” Mr. Singh said this week. And Pierre Poilievre does not even want to learn about the serious allegations affecting his own party. »
In fact, the Conservative leader still refuses to obtain the security clearance that would allow him to read the unredacted report, on the pretext that this would force him to remain silent about its contents. However, the statements of Mr. Singh and Mr.me May demonstrate that this is not necessarily the case.
The House of Commons also adopted Bill C-70 this week, which provides for the creation of a registry of foreign agents of influence. The Senate is expected to approve this bill before the end of the month. However, it is far from certain that this mechanism can be put in place before the next federal election. Mr. LeBlanc indicated that the government would need at least a year to establish its Registry for Transparency in Matters of Foreign Influence, a body that it has long hesitated to create for fear of fueling possible stigmatization of members. of certain cultural communities. Another proof, if ever there was one, of the lack of seriousness with which this government treats this issue, which is fundamental to the integrity of the Canadian democratic process.
There is still danger in the house.