Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and the Official Opposition, released the following statement on election interference:
“For months, Justin Trudeau has repeatedly denied and downplayed serious allegations about foreign interference in our democracy. He has attacked whistleblowers raising the alarm about these serious threats, instead of coming clean. He has claimed these reports are inaccurate but has yet to provide any answers himself. Most recently, he even shamefully argued the media’s raising of serious questions was somehow ‘racist.’
“Canadians need to hear the truth about these allegations. Conservatives will support efforts to get to the bottom of this, including supporting a truly independent public inquiry. But this inquiry must meet the following conditions:
- The person heading this public inquiry must be agreed upon by the House leaders of all the officially recognized parties in the House of Commons.
- The establishment of a public inquiry should not interfere with current and continued efforts of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) – including the calling of witnesses and production documents.
- The text of the NDP motion should be amended to include all parties, as it currently only identifies Liberals and Conservatives.
- The public inquiry must also investigate abuse of diaspora groups by foreign governments.
“In the time that it will take to establish and conduct a public inquiry, and produce a report, there may well be another election that could be targeted by foreign interference. We will not allow Justin Trudeau and his NDP allies to hide this crucial investigation behind closed doors, away from the public eye.
“Justin Trudeau’s handpicked appointee to write the report on election interference, Morris Rosenberg, was the head of the Trudeau Foundation who oversaw $200,000 in donations allegedly directed by the Communist Party in Beijing. Given that so many of the allegations centre around Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party, we cannot let Justin Trudeau singlehandedly pick the investigator.
“The NDP must stop their obstruction and stop protecting their Liberal coalition partner. They must support efforts to bring Katie Telford, other senior government officials and Morris Rosenberg in front of the Committee to provide answers on foreign interference. Justin Trudeau should order his government to fully cooperate with PROC, the parliamentary committee that has been tasked with investigating election interference, to look into this issue.
“Sunlight is the best disinfectant. It’s time for Justin Trudeau to come clean and be transparent with Canadians.”