Trudeau says opposition parties should “buy in” before public inquiry into foreign interference

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would not announce further steps to investigate allegations of foreign interference until the other parties “buy in” to the process, claiming “toxic” partisan games could hamper the independence of the proceedings.

“Over the past month, the opposition parties have played terrible, partisan and toxic games with an independent and serious process,” Trudeau told reporters on June 28.

“So while we make proposals to the other parties on how we can proceed to restore Canadians’ confidence in our ability to fight foreign interference, we will make sure, before we start any subsequent process, that there is a full buy -in is by the other parties about how it is going to happen and who is going to do it.”

The prime minister said he did not want the person working on the dossier to be subjected to “the same partisan toxic energy” that David Johnston saw when he was appointed special rapporteur amid media reports of rampant Beijing meddling in Canada, including in the country’s elections.

Former Governor General Johnston drew criticism from all opposition parties when he was elected by Trudeau to the position of foreign interference inquiry on March 15. He cited a “very partisan atmosphere” leading up to his June 9 resignation.

Objections to his nomination included his past ties to the Trudeau family, as well as his own dealings with China, as cited by several opposition parties.

Secretary of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc has been negotiating with the Conservatives, New Democrats, Bloc Quebecois and Green Party on how best to address the issue. On June 14, Conservative leader Pierre Poilièvre and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh both said they would soon begin talks on the terms of reference for a public inquiry into foreign interference.

On June 20, Poilièvre said in a letter to Leblanc that the Prime Minister should first launch a public inquiry, and then the Conservatives would propose people to lead it. “Once the Prime Minister does this, we will provide you with a shortlist of names to lead the investigation and work with all opposition parties to ensure they are acceptable across all party lines,” Poilièvre wrote.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.