Johnston to decide on calling foreign interference public inquiry today
CBC
Former governor general David Johnston will issue a decision today on whether Canada needs a public inquiry into foreign interference.
Johnston's verdict will come in a report to be released Tuesday. He is expected to hold a news conference around noon.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Johnston as independent special rapporteur on foreign interference in March after a series of stories from The Globe and Mail and Global News reported a range of Chinese government operations to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections and to influence policymakers and institutions. One story from the Globe and Mail, citing a national security source, said Beijing sought the election of a Liberal minority government in 2021.
The stories cited unnamed national security officials. The RCMP is investigating the source of the leaks.
All opposition parties have called for a public inquiry into the matter. The Liberal government has said it will call an inquiry if Johnston recommends one.
Johnston has spoken with several party leaders and the prime minister on foreign interference, but Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre refused to meet with him. The Conservatives have criticized Johnston's appointment, pointing out the former governor general's friendly relationship with the Trudeau family and his former position as a member of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.
The Trudeau government has taken a number of steps on foreign interference in response to the controversy, including launching consultations on a foreign agents registry. A government source told CBC News that the government will table a bill to establish such a registry later this year. It also expelled a Chinese diplomat, Zhao Wei. National security sources said in a Globe and Mail story that Zhao was assigned to target Conservative MP Michael Chong and Chong's family in China.
The government ordered national security agencies to share intelligence with parliamentarians under threat directly in the wake of the Chong story.
The government and national security organizations have been under fire over the presence of Chinese overseas "police stations" operating in Canada. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the police stations have been shut down, but the RCMP says investigations into them are still ongoing.
A former Liberal MP, Han Dong, faced allegations in a series of Global News stories that he participated in foreign interference efforts by Beijing. Dong left the Liberal Party in the wake of the allegations, and is suing Global over the allegations.
Johnston served as governor general from 2010 to 2017. His terms of reference as independent special rapporteur give him broad powers to investigate foreign interference, including the ability to review classified documents. The Prime Minister's Office said it expects Johnston to complete his tenure on Oct. 31, 2023.
Experts say an inquiry would allow for a detailed, transparent conversation about what kind of threat Canada is actually facing.
"The way that the conversation has evolved over the past few months has really aggravated and made more stark partisan divides in the country," said Artur Wilczynski, a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa.
"That, in my opinion, has not contributed to an effective defence of Canadian democracy and has not contributed to an effective governmental response to the threats of foreign interference."
The Alberta government has suspended a loan program at Picture Butte Feeder Cooperative, the province's largest cattle financing cooperative, after an inspection alleged a number of financial mismanagement and regulatory issues.
If you look up at the sky late, late Thursday in the Toronto area, there's a chance you'll be able to see a total lunar eclipse and what's called a blood moon.
When wintertime calls, go where it's warm.
Colby Leamon had lost a close family member, and was looking for a dog to provide emotional support.
The cost of a 24-pack of beer could increase $3 to $5 because of 25 per cent tariffs on aluminum exported to the United States, according to a craft brewery in northern Ontario.
Fire tore through a seafood processing plant in Cape John, N.S., on Wednesday night.
Another of New Brunswick's new municipal councils has become embroiled in drama and bitter conflict.
Tardiness is nothing new at Via Rail, but late arrivals are reaching historic levels in a key corridor since passenger trains have been forced to slow down at hundreds of rail crossings operated by CN Rail.
Walmart Canada will stop selling machetes — a type of weapon frequently used in violent crimes — in stores across the country, after Manitoba's government pressured the retailer to restrict online sales.
The parents of two 15-year-old girls at Evan Hardy Collegiate in Saskatoon say they went to police and the school multiple times between June and August 2024 with concerns about escalating online threats from the student now accused of setting one of the girls on fire in a school hallway.
After more than two years of developing an official plan, the City of Charlottetown is getting close to voting on adopting it. Some residents have concerns with higher density housing the plan could make way for, but others are welcoming it.
Premier Danielle Smith is once again headed to the U.S. later this month to continue her diplomatic approach to tariff talks amid a trade war with the United States.
Point Roberts, a U.S. community in Washington state, is so Canadian that it advertises its gas prices in litres as well as gallons.