Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on June 4.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Update: The federal government will not release the names of parliamentarians who were accused in a national-security watchdog report of knowingly working with foreign states to meddle in Canadian democracy, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said on June 6. Read more here.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the Liberal Party will conduct an internal follow-up after a watchdog’s report said some parliamentarians are wittingly aiding foreign interference, but the government offered few indications any effort will be made to name or prosecute these individuals.
A report released Monday by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, which was set up by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to provide increased civilian oversight on security matters, said a number of federal politicians, whom it declined to identify, are collaborating with countries such as India and China.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, however, declined to even comment specifically on the revelations in the report. He was repeatedly asked Tuesday whether the government would ensure those parliamentarians colluding with foreign governments would be identified or face charges. Mr. LeBlanc said Canadians should trust authorities are working hard.
“I have a lot of confidence in Canadians. And I believe they fully understand that there are professionals in our security and intelligence agencies, and at the RCMP, that are constantly working hard to protect Canadians, and detect and dismantle any organizations that are trying to interfere with our democracy in a concerning way, or who try to get involved in our democratic processes,” he told reporters.
The national-security committee report Monday is the latest to outline deficiencies in how the government addresses meddling by foreign powers in Canadian democracy. The committee, made up of MPs from all major parties as well as senators, detailed collaborations between federal politicians and foreign governments, including “communicating frequently with foreign missions before or during a political campaign to obtain support from community groups or businesses which the diplomatic missions promise to quietly mobilize in a candidate’s favour.”
Ms. Freeland, asked whether she was comfortable sitting in the same caucus room as an MP who might be collaborating with foreign powers, talked of a “great battle” taking place in the world today between democracies and authoritarian leaders. “And this battle exists in our country, too. There are countries that want to compromise our democracy,” she said, speaking in French. “It is a serious, serious problem that there are MPs in our House of Commons who are part of this.”
She said it’s incumbent on her political party, the Liberals, to conduct an internal review. “It must be a question of national interest, of national security, and for me and for us, obviously as a political party, we must and we will follow this up internally.”
A guide to foreign interference and China’s suspected influence in Canada
Still, Ms. Freeland was unwilling to commit to removing MPs in the Liberal caucus if they were found to have colluded with foreign powers. “The guarantee I can give to Canadians is our government takes foreign interference very, very seriously,” she said.
Mr. LeBlanc declined to elaborate on Ms. Freeland’s remarks, suggesting reporters talk to her for details.
Ms. Freeland’s office did not immediately respond to a request for further information.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said anyone who knowingly worked with a foreign government should be removed from Parliament.
The national-security committee also reported Monday that some parliamentarians are “accepting knowingly, or through willful blindness, funds or benefits from foreign missions or their proxies which have been layered or otherwise disguised to conceal their source.”
It said some federal politicians are giving foreign diplomats information on the work or opinions of fellow parliamentarians, knowing it will be used to put pressure on MPs to change their positions. And it said some parliamentarians are following the direction of foreign officials to improperly influence colleagues or parliamentary business, or giving information learned in confidence from the government to a foreign intelligence officer.
Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong called on the government to supply details of alleged wrongdoing to his party. He said the Conservatives would investigate any information they received.
“We strongly condemn any parliamentarian that would betray Canada in favour of a foreign state. Parliamentarians’ duty is to the people of Canada,” he said.
The Conservative MP was asked whether his party will conduct an internal review of the allegations. Mr. Chong noted that his party does not have access to the names of parliamentarians collaborating with foreign powers. However, he noted, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would have access to their names. “If individuals involved are brought to our attention, we will take appropriate action,” Mr. Chong said.
Stephanie Carvin, a former national-security analyst and associate professor of international relations at Carleton University, said all party leaders should request classified briefings on the national-security watchdog’s report and then use the information to conduct internal reviews of their parties.
“Parties should be informed if there are these concerns. I don’t think it is unreasonable for parties to tap certain parliamentarians on the shoulder and ask if they are aware of the origins or consequences of their actions. Ultimately, they decide who the candidates are, not national-security agencies.”
Monday’s report was the result of the watchdog examining 4,000 documents totalling more than 33,000 pages, and briefings with officials from organizations such as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Communications Security Establishment, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the department of Global Affairs, as well as interviews with people including the Prime Minister.
The report said the instances of federal politicians collaborating with foreign states may be illegal but they are unlikely to lead to criminal charges because of a “long-standing issue of protecting classified information and methods in judicial processes.”
Ward Elcock, a former director of CSIS between 1994 and 2004, said there are numerous reasons why Canada might not prosecute parliamentarians colluding with foreign powers.
He said he could recall at least two cases during his tenure where MPs were aiding foreign powers but did not end up being charged. In one of these instances, “we were pretty dead sure that in fact the individual had accepted money for activities.”
But intelligence, Mr. Elcock said, is not enough if it does not meet strict rules for evidence. Lack of evidence, therefore, is one reason for not prosecuting. Or, there may be a fear of using evidence that would expose its sources or methods.
“If it’s information you derived from, say a foreign diplomat who has been turned, or it’s implants that have been put in an embassy that give you communications from that embassy, you also have to weigh whether losing those sources of information justifies a prosecution.”