A report claims certain parliamentarians colluded with foreign states — could they be charged?

Some parliamentarians were accused this week of conspiring with foreign governments, but their exact numbers and their identities remain a mystery to the public — and to many of their colleagues.

The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) — a group of MPs and senators who hold top secret security clearances and are permanently bound to secrecy under the Security of Information Act — released a heavily redacted report on foreign political interference Monday.

In it, NSICOP alleged that some MPs and senators are "wittingly" helping foreign governments like China and India meddle in Canadian politics.

The allegation sparked outrage and expressions of distrust on Parliament Hill, and the Conservatives called on the Liberal government to reveal the identities of the parliamentarians under suspicion.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc has been refusing to do so, saying it would be inappropriate to release the names and citing his obligations under the Security of Information Act.

NSICOP chair David McGuinty said the committee's "hands are tied" and it can't divulge the identities of the parliamentarians cited in the report. He said it's now up to the RCMP to decide what happens next.

The RCMP says it won't comment on whether there is an active criminal investigation into any parliamentarian. The police service did confirm there are active investigations into a broad range of foreign interference efforts in Canada, "including matters which intersect with democratic institutions."

The report says the committee members have reviewed intelligence indicating that certain parliamentarians are or have been "'semi-witting or witting' participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in Canadian politics." The report says those parliamentarians' alleged actions include:

The report names China and India as two of the countries allegedly conspiring with Canadian parliamentarians.

National security and intelligence expert Wesley Wark said he was nauseated by the alleged actions detailed in the report — actions he said "absolutely" rise to the level of treason in some instances.

"The treason offences in the Criminal Code, which have been around for a long time, involve for example the unlawful communication of information to a foreign state in peacetime," Wark told CBC's Power & Politics. "You have a piece of the Criminal Code that is there, on the shelf, ready to be used."

But while the NSICOP report itself says some of the activity detailed may be illegal, it also argues criminal charges are unlikely "owing to Canada's failure to address the long-standing issue of protecting classified information and methods in judicial processes."

In other words, Canada's security services struggle to turn intelligence into evidence.

It's a "huge issue," said Michelle Tessier, who served as deputy director of operations at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) from 2018 to 2023.