good to see you on this Sunday the prime minister is facing some new questions about foreign interference in Canada after two federal leaders jug meet Singh and Elizabeth May offered up different interpretations of the report by the National Security and intelligence Committee of parliamentarians there are a number of the conclusions of the National Security and intelligence Committee of parliamentarians report uh that we uh don’t entirely align with and that actually is uh demonstrated by the fact that two party leaders both Elizabeth May and jmet Singh who read the that report uh in its entirety come to differing conclusions on the interpretation of what it means it was the Prime Minister just this morning in Switzerland those different interpretations he’s talking about have led to even more questions about what exactly is in this report the parts that we can’t see and what Canadians should take away from it for more on the government’s response I spoke with the minister for Public Safety Dominic Leblon a bit earlier Min Leblon thanks for making the time good morning Rosemary we now have heard from two leaders the NDP and the green party uh leader who have seen these UND unredacted report J meet Singh says he’s more alarmed than ever Elizabeth May says she’s relieved what are Canadians supposed to do with these two different conclusions well you’ll understand that I I don’t think it’s helpful for me to comment on what leaders of the political parties that have taken the security clearance and accepted to read the unredacted report what their impressions are of the report I’m very glad that Mr Singh and Miss May read the report I wish Mr PV would do the same thing I think that they come to the conversation with a context As Leaders of political parties that Mr PV will not have we think Rosemary that one of the best ways to perhaps reassure Canadians uh around these different versions or around some of the stuff that’s been in the public space is to let Justice ug do her work and review all of these documents and she can come to conclusions it’s an independent court of appeal judge who’s already seed seized of these matters I I I get that but in the interim Canadians are forced now to parse what everybody else is saying about the report why has your government let things get to this point and what are you going to do to provide more clarity so you’ll forgive me Ros our government hasn’t let anything get to this point you have an independent committee of parliamentarians senators and MPS from all political parties that issue a report uh and then the report has now been out for two weeks and we don’t have any clarity about who they are alleging are are doing these acts and now we have different Impressions from other party leaders about what they’re seeing that’s the part that the government could be um acting on or taking some leadership on yeah we’ve taken leadership on the issue of foreign interference over many years but we’re not able by law to announce a series of names and the opposition and PS particularly the conservatives that pretend we can just get up and read a list of names and all the names on this supposed list would be equal one to the other it’s completely irresponsible and it’s illegal so there’s a lot of simplification going on I I take the comments of Miss May and and Mr Singh obviously very seriously I too have read the unredacted uh version of the report and I’ve read many many Aus intelligence documents in this area I also know that the cont text is important some information changes over time as different information comes in that’s that’s why we think that Justice hug may be just because she is seized of these matters already all of the appropriate security uh circumstances are in place we think that may be a very useful way and Parliament voted with the exception of the green party unanimously to have her do this work but but but you understand that Justice ug may also choose not to name uh the individuals in this report for the same concerns that you’ve made so what like are we just supposed to live under this sort of cloud of Suspicion because no one can find a way and I understand there’s security limitations but no one can find a way to address this and reassure Canadians but but again so it’s it’s hypothetical Rosemary but if a court of appeal Justice uh Quebec Court of Appeal Justice is also not able to announce a list of names I think it shows the fakery on the part of the conservatives that Pretend This is a magic solution I I think that the intelligence Services the RCMP continue to look at all of these matters I have a lot of confidence that in cases that reach a certain threshold or that warrant that kind of intervention they’re perfectly able in their independent judgment to do this work and we think that political leaders that are able to themselves look as Mr Singh and Miss May did at the unredacted report can take their responsibility as Party leaders that’s something that certainly the liberal party is always anxious to do uh and I have a lot of confidence in the processes that are in place but no other democracy stands up and reads a list of names of people who show up in intelligence report I understand that and I and and I I I totally get that and I think Canadians probably to too but surely there must be something else that can be done to sort of reassure people about what we are dealing with um to so that they know that the people who are elected officials on Parliament Hill are not suspect surely there’s something that some Middle Ground here another process that we could examine or that the government could come up with is that not your responsibility and so I totally share that concern you’re absolutely right Rosemary that is a reasonable concern that we as a government obviously share um we think that the intelligence services and the RCMP can do a significant work in this regard um we also think that political leaders can take their responsibilities um so I have a lot of confidence in the process to disrupt uh and to counter this foreign interference but another thing so just this week uh this past week Rosemary a number of caucuses were briefed by officials uh of the uh of CIS of the security and intelligence services and the sergeant ad arms about exactly what constitutes foreign interference how they cannot be unwit perhaps drawn into what may turn out to be uh a circumstance of foreign interference so parliamentarians MPS and Senators also have an obligation as does the government to make available to them the best advice possible uh so they can they can protect themselves from what is a a circumstance taking place in Western democracies I had a conversation with the US Homeland Security secretary about exactly this context in the United States two weeks ago um jug meet sing says the Prime Minister has failed to act on what is in the report when I pressed him on that to understand whether that meant that the Prime Minister uh knows names or the names might be people within the liberal caucus he obviously didn’t say anything because he would have been in trouble but is there something that the Prime Minister should be acting on based on what is in this report that he hasn’t acted on so I I have uh every confidence that the Prime Minister has taken his responsibilities very seriously is on top of all these issues as as I said Rosemary our government is the only government that has put in place any measures to detect and disrupt foreign interference which CEUs has said started over 11 years ago when Mr PV strangely enough was Minister responsible for Democratic institutions so the conservatives frankly come to the conversation uh quite late uh our government has continued to strengthen and evolve the measures the hug report and the National Security and intelligence Committee of parliamentarians report frankly give us also additional advice on how we can strengthen these measures and that’s the work we’re going to continue to do as well well let me ask you one question about some of that part of it and that is the bill C70 the foreign agent registry and has other changes as well there are some concerns as you know by Civil Society groups that maybe now you’re moving too quickly to try and get this into place before the next election um what do you say to those who who think that maybe there’s not enough scrutiny being done on on the bill so obvious viously we think that the legislation that passed the House of Commons last week uh with unanimous support strikes the right balance in terms of giving intelligence Services the tools they need in a digital Communications world to do their work the foreign influence uh transparency registry is an important thing that other parties have called for for a number of years so we think Parliament came together uh in a very in a very important way it was a nonpartisan effort nothing removed the obligation of the security services to get judicial warrants so the judicial oversight remains in place the charter rights and the Privacy rights that Canadians understandably expect to be respected are in exactly the same position as it was before the as they were before the legislation was passed so it doesn’t weaken any of those protections or the oversight but it gives new Tools in an evolving threat environment for the security services to do the work that Canadians and parliamentarians should want them to do okay Minister leblan we’ll leave it there thank you for your time have a great weekend Rosemary thank you
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he takes the comments of leaders who have read the unredacted NSICOP report very seriously but also wishes Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre had taken steps to obtain security clearance so he could read it as well. LeBlanc also said ‘by law’ the government cannot release the names of MPs implicated in the documents.
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