David Johnston concluded his tenure as special rapporteur by submitting his last report on foreign interference to the prime minister Monday evening. The report was marked as confidential..Earlier this month, Johnston said he resigned because of the increasingly partisan atmosphere surrounding his work. .Johnston committed to delivering a final report to the government by the end of June..Instead of publicly releasing his last report, a brief cover letter consisting of two paragraphs was released and addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau..In March, Trudeau appointed Johnston as special rapporteur on foreign interference. He was assigned the task of guiding the government in addressing it. .The Liberal government faced growing pressure to act after media reports, citing unnamed national security sources, accused China of meddling in the past two federal elections, in 2019 and 2021..David Vigneault, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, assured a House committee in March the 2019 and 2021 elections were fair. All political party leaders also expressed their confidence in the election results. .However, opposition party leaders requested a public inquiry. Johnston was tasked with evaluating if this was the most suitable course of action, with a deadline for his report set for May 23..Instead, Johnston proposed conducting public hearings to educate Canadians on the nature of foreign interference and effective management strategies. .Johnston’s initial report determined a public inquiry would not be beneficial due to national security laws and the handling of classified information..Three special advisors were appointed to assist in the hearings, each bringing expertise in national security intelligence, law, and diaspora communities. .The hearings were scheduled to include testimonies from government representatives, national security officials, and members of the Chinese diaspora..A majority of MPs passed a non-binding NDP motion calling on Johnston to step down after the report was made public. .Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre repeatedly accused him of being too close to Trudeau to review the government objectively. Johnston was friends with Pierre Elliott Trudeau and even went on ski trips with the Trudeau family when Justin was a teenager..“I have concluded that, given the highly partisan atmosphere around my appointment and work, my leadership has had the opposite effect,” Johnston wrote in his resignation letter..Johnston told Trudeau to work with the opposition parties to appoint a “respected person with national security experience” to finish the investigation into foreign interference.
David Johnston concluded his tenure as special rapporteur by submitting his last report on foreign interference to the prime minister Monday evening. The report was marked as confidential..Earlier this month, Johnston said he resigned because of the increasingly partisan atmosphere surrounding his work. .Johnston committed to delivering a final report to the government by the end of June..Instead of publicly releasing his last report, a brief cover letter consisting of two paragraphs was released and addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau..In March, Trudeau appointed Johnston as special rapporteur on foreign interference. He was assigned the task of guiding the government in addressing it. .The Liberal government faced growing pressure to act after media reports, citing unnamed national security sources, accused China of meddling in the past two federal elections, in 2019 and 2021..David Vigneault, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, assured a House committee in March the 2019 and 2021 elections were fair. All political party leaders also expressed their confidence in the election results. .However, opposition party leaders requested a public inquiry. Johnston was tasked with evaluating if this was the most suitable course of action, with a deadline for his report set for May 23..Instead, Johnston proposed conducting public hearings to educate Canadians on the nature of foreign interference and effective management strategies. .Johnston’s initial report determined a public inquiry would not be beneficial due to national security laws and the handling of classified information..Three special advisors were appointed to assist in the hearings, each bringing expertise in national security intelligence, law, and diaspora communities. .The hearings were scheduled to include testimonies from government representatives, national security officials, and members of the Chinese diaspora..A majority of MPs passed a non-binding NDP motion calling on Johnston to step down after the report was made public. .Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre repeatedly accused him of being too close to Trudeau to review the government objectively. Johnston was friends with Pierre Elliott Trudeau and even went on ski trips with the Trudeau family when Justin was a teenager..“I have concluded that, given the highly partisan atmosphere around my appointment and work, my leadership has had the opposite effect,” Johnston wrote in his resignation letter..Johnston told Trudeau to work with the opposition parties to appoint a “respected person with national security experience” to finish the investigation into foreign interference.
