Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has named his special rapporteur to issue recommendations and work with a suite of foreign interference probes: former governor general David Johnston.
The Prime Minister’s Office says Johnston was appointed after consultations with all parties in the House of Commons.
He will have a “wide mandate” to look into allegations of interference in the past two elections and make recommendations to the government on what to do about addressing such threats, the PMO said in a statement. That mandate is still being finalized and will be made public, it added.
Trudeau said Johnston “brings integrity and a wealth of experience and skills” to the role, “and I am confident that he will conduct an impartial review to ensure all necessary steps are being taken to keep our democracy safe and uphold and strengthen confidence in it.”
Johnston was named governor general by then-prime minister Stephen Harper in 2010, and his term was extended when Trudeau was elected.
He left Rideau Hall in 2017 and currently serves as the Leaders’ Debates Commissioner, which arranges debates during Canada’s federal elections. He will step down from that position to take on the rapporteur role, the PMO said.
Trudeau announced last week he would name an “eminent Canadian” to the independent role amid growing pressure from opposition parties to call a public inquiry into the allegations and the broader issue of how Canada counters foreign interference.
Whether an inquiry should be called, or if a different kind of independent process like a judicial review is more appropriate, will be one of the questions Johnston will have to decide.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has previously scoffed at the idea of a special rapporteur, saying it sounds like a “fake job,” and doubled down on the need for a public inquiry in the name of transparency.
His party did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Johnston’s appointment.
In a statement, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet avoided criticizing Johnston personally but reiterated his call for a public inquiry, which he accused Trudeau of “stubbornly” avoiding.
“There is no justification for using the special rapporteur’s mandate — the details and duration of which we don’t yet know — to keep Parliament and the population in the dark,” he said in French.
Rachel Blaney, party whip for the New Democrats, said in a statement that the NDP respects Johnston’s commitment to public service.
“It’s crucial that the government allows his work to be broad in scope and unfettered,” she said. “Canadians deserve answers to the serious allegations of foreign interference, and this is a meaningful step in that direction.”
The party added that the Liberals did not run Johnston’s name by them before announcing the appointment.
The Liberals have been pressed to explain what officials knew about foreign interference attempts in the 2021 election after the Globe and Mail reported last month that intelligence sources said China attempted to interfere in that campaign to help the Liberals win another minority government.
That report came after months of revelations from Global News about allegations of Chinese interference in the 2019 election.
An independent panel of experts tasked with reviewing both elections determined the votes were free and fair, and that attempts at foreign interference did not influence the overall results. Despite acknowledging such attempts occurred, the panel said none rose to the level that required a warning to the public.
Yet a recent independent report on the panel’s 2021 findings recommended the government lower the threshold for when a public warning is necessary.
The House of Commons standing committee on procedure and House affairs has been digging into whether foreign interference impacted the 2019 election since those revelations began emerging last year, and recently voted to expand their probe to include the 2021 election following the Globe’s report.
Yet that work has come to a halt this week, with a Conservative motion to call Trudeau’s chief of staff Katie Telford to testify getting blocked by days of filibustering by Liberal members.
Last week, in addition to announcing the special rapporteur role, Trudeau tasked both the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and the independent National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) to undertake “urgent work” within their mandates to study foreign interference.
NSICOP includes MPs from multiple parties, as well as one senator. NSIRA, made up of independent experts, is tasked with reviewing the actions of Canada’s intelligence agencies.
Both NSICOP and NSIRA are given access to classified and top-secret intelligence information that bars them from doing their work in public. NSICOP files a report from its work that then goes to the Prime Minister’s Office, which can redact any information in that report before it is tabled in the House of Commons. NSIRA will also provide a public report of its assessments of the actions taken by government bodies handling intelligence on the matter of foreign interference.
Opposition parties have said those probes lack the transparency required to restore Canadians’ faith in their democratic institutions.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, meanwhile, announced on Friday that public consultations will be held until May 9 on setting up a new public registry for agents who work on behalf of foreign states, similar to ones established in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
No timeline has been set for when that registry will be up and running.
Mendicino will also establish “a counter-foreign interference coordinator” to oversee the work and recommendations coming from the various agencies and committees.
—With files from Aaron D’Andrea
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