The Liberals find it “offensive” that opposition parties are questioning the loyalty of special rapporteur David Johnston, who is clinging to his post even though a majority of parliamentarians are calling on him to resign.
“I believe it is unfair, and downright offensive, to question Mr. Johnston’s allegiance. His fifty-year career in public service proves his loyalty to Canada,” Liberal Minister Bill Blair chanted during question period in Ottawa on Thursday.
He was hitting back at Conservative MP and former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Andrew Scheer, who accused the special rapporteur of “working for the same Liberal government that profited from Beijing’s interference in the election. »
His colleague, the leader of the official opposition Pierre Poilievre, for his part, once again described the former governor general as a “friend of skiing, neighbor of the chalet and member of the Trudeau foundation”. “Mr Johnston said he doesn’t work for Parliament, he works for the Government and the Prime Minister!” »
Bloc Québécois House Leader Alain Therrien made a similar criticism. “One man, the Prime Minister, stands against the will of the will of the people […] with only companion David Johnston, an unelected who, by his own admission, reports only to the Prime Minister, ”he said.
The debates again reached a level of intensity that displeased the Speaker of the House of Commons. At the end of his patience, Anthony Rota decided on a few occasions to give the floor to the last elected members of the list to punish the opposition deputies who shouted during the government’s responses.
David Johnston remains rapporteur
The day before, the Liberals suffered a predictable defeat in a Commons vote, after which a majority of elected officials adopted a New Democratic Party (NDP) motion calling for the resignation of the special rapporteur on foreign interference. , David Johnson.
The ex-Governor General reacted to the vote by saying that he “deeply respects the right of the House of Commons to express its opinion” but that his mandate “emanates from the government”.
“I have a duty to continue this work until the end of my mandate”, persists Mr. Johnston.
Under his mandate, he must in particular take the next five months to study ways to improve the flow of intelligence to the federal government, and will conduct public consultations with experts and members of the Chinese diaspora.
David Johnston’s response is far from reassuring the opposition parties in Ottawa. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, signatory of an agreement with the Liberal Party to keep the Trudeau government in power until 2025, spoke Thursday to criticize the “lack of seriousness” of this statement.
“The problem from the start is that Mr Johnston responds to the Prime Minister and his communiqué [en réponse au vote du Parlement] confirms it, ”criticizes Mr. Singh, who prides himself on not going as far as the Conservative Party and the Bloc Québécois in personal attacks on Mr. Johnston.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that these two parties were creating an “extremely toxic situation” in the federal Parliament.
His conclusions dismissed
On May 23, the special rapporteur chosen by the Prime Minister, David Johnston, concluded in a 65-page report that a public inquiry into foreign interference is not necessary. After reviewing the undisclosed evidence, he concluded that recent media allegations about foreign interference are either untrue or exaggerated.
He said he had confirmed with a former Supreme Court judge that he was not in a conflict of interest. However, Frank Iacobucci was also a member of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, which the Conservatives do not fail to point out. This foundation is immersed in its own scandal in connection with a donation from Chinese businessmen initially intended for the University of Montreal and negotiated before the accession to power of Justin Trudeau.
“David Johnston did exactly what the Prime Minister expected of him. He implemented the Prime Minister’s plan and, above all, he protected him from a public inquiry,” added Quebec Conservative MP Luc Berthold.
In the absence of the Prime Minister and several members of his cabinet, it was the Minister of Sports, Pascale St-Onge, who rose to give the reply, chanting that “David Johnston is always devoted to Canada, to the Canadians and to serve the public well. »
She repeated that the government would like to see the Bloc Québécois and the Conservative Party read the confidential appendix to the Johnston report to be sure of its validity. The offer, however, comes with the commitment that they will not reveal its contents, a condition which they do not like.