Rapporteur David Johnson, Eminent Canadian

[Ron in Regina]

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Thursday that he has chosen not to meet with former governor general David Johnston, who is investigating allegations that China has meddled in Canada's elections and other matters, while former party staffers called for political unity over foreign interference.

In March, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named Johnston a special rapporteur to look into possible gaps in the federal government's response to foreign interference and recommend whether a public inquiry is needed.

Poilievre said Johnston is unable to do that work independently because he used to be a member of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, which is under scrutiny for accepting a donation reportedly linked to the Chinese government.

Poilievre told reporters Thursday that he sent a letter to Johnston asking how he can investigate the organization independently, but did not receive a response.

"He is Justin Trudeau's ski buddy, his cottage neighbour, his family friend and a member of the Trudeau Foundation, which got $140,000 from Beijing," Poilievre said.

"He has a fake job and he's unable to do it impartially. He needs to simply hand it over and allow an independent public inquiry into Beijing's interference."

'Fake job:' Poilievre won't meet watchdog investigating foreign interference — The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Thursday that he has chosen not to meet with former governor general David Johnston, who is investigating allegations that China has meddled in Canada's elections and other matters, while former party staffers called for political unity over...

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Trudeau has said appointing Johnston was intended to take the partisan politics out of the debate, but his appointment remains a talking point for opposition leaders.

Poilievre said Canada needs to move on from the "special rapporteur distraction" and get on with a public inquiry to investigate allegations of Chinese foreign interference.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh did meet with Johnston alongside Vancouver-area MP Jenny Kwan, who had not yet been advised that she was a potential target of foreign interference.

David Johnston’s “mandate” in the special rapporteur role includes looking at what Trudeau, his staff and his cabinet ministers knew about attempted foreign interference, and what they did about it. The government says he has access to classified documents to support that investigation.

He is expected to issue recommendations on whether a public inquiry is necessary by next week on Tuesday May 23rd, 2023 which is the first day back to work after the May Long Weekend…but he has until the end of October to complete his review.

The Liberal government has been under immense pressure to explain not only what it knew about foreign interference in recent elections, but also how it is protecting Canada’s democratic institutions.

For months now, opposition MPs have been demanding a public inquiry be called. Trudeau, in turn, tapped Johnston to make that call, and ordered a slew of investigations into the allegations.

Canadians “want the facts” when it comes to suspected Chinese interference in the nation and what the government knows about it, experts say.

Whether that should play out in a forum such as a public inquiry will be decided by special rapporteur David Johnston, who will present his recommendation on the issue next week.

The recommendation will come following months of reporting by Global News and the Globe and Mail into allegations of attempts by Beijing to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

Canadians 'want the facts' as Johnston's call on interference inquiry looms: experts — Global News

David Johnston has until May 23 to decide whether a public inquiry or another independent process is needed to examine allegations of Chinese interference in Canada.

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Johnston will have until May 23 to make the call on whether a public inquiry is needed, or whether a “different” kind of independent process such as a judicial review is more appropriate.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Thursday that he has chosen not to meet with former governor general David Johnston, who is investigating allegations that China has meddled in Canada's elections and other matters, while former party staffers called for political unity over foreign interference.

Wonder what he's hiding. Don't wonder too hard, mind.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Johnston must report by Tuesday on whether he thinks the Trudeau government should call a public inquiry on the matter. The government has already stated publicly that it will follow Johnston’s advice, which is why anything short of a recommendation for a full, forensic investigation will be an embarrassment to Johnston and his reputation and a get-out-of-jail-free card for Trudeau.

Today, though, Trudeau supporters are raging online over the fact that Poilievre didn’t meet with Johnston to discuss foreign interference. Poilievre has been clear for some time now that he thinks there needs to be an independent public inquiry. He’s also been clear that he doesn’t think Johnston is independent.

Johnston, given his ties to Trudeau, should have said no to taking on the job of advising the government on this issue when the PM called in March. It’s just far too cosy and Poilievre is correct to point that out.

LILLEY: Poilievre's right, PM gave Johnston 'fake job' on China — Toronto Sun

Tory leader says Trudeau's 'special rapporteur' won't get to the bottom of China's interference in Canada.

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Trudeau and Johnston have described each other as friends. It’s a relationship that goes back decades to when Trudeau was a child and Johnston and his family would go on ski trips with Pierre Trudeau and his family.

“His three boys were the same age as our five daughters, so we were kind of a ski party from time to time at Mont Tremblant,” Johnston told CTV in 2016.

In the same interview, Johnston described how he and his wife Sharon became “good friends” with the younger Trudeau when his family moved into Rideau Cottage, which is on the grounds of the Governor General’s official residence. Beyond that, Johnston was a member of the Trudeau Foundation, the group of people who appoint the board and he also received a significant grant from the Trudeau government to set up his own foundation as he left office.

Even if David Johnston’s decisions are completely independent of the above relationship, and even if Justin Trudeau accepts & follows these decisions if they are truly independent…the appearance of the potential for them not to be taints the who exercise in Special RapaNui status in this whole Goat-Rodeo. He’s just the wrong person for the job, assuming the job is actually exposing foreign election interference & not just buying time for the Liberal Party to weasel out from another scandal to the next one.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Even if David Johnston’s decisions are completely independent of the above relationship, and even if Justin Trudeau accepts & follows these decisions if they are truly independent…the appearance of the potential for them not to be taints the who exercise in Special RapaNui status in this whole Goat-Rodeo.

The attached video below might state what I was trying to stumble through above and much more eloquent manner. Perhaps with less flair and humour, but more clarity.

He’s just the wrong person for the job, assuming the job is actually exposing foreign election interference & not just buying time for the Liberal Party to weasel out from another scandal to the next one.

 

[petros]

Grab 13 random (truly random, no representation) people off the streets (1 from ea province/territory) to decide what is bullshit, what isn't and what to do about it.

 

[Ron in Regina]

EDITORIAL: Meddling inquiry must be open, transparent — Toronto Sun

Given that a public inquiry into foreign interference with Canada’s democratic institutions — including the 2019 and 2021 federal elections — now appears inevitable, the issue of how it will impact on Canada’s national security must be critically examined. If past behaviour is the best indicator...

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Given that a public inquiry into foreign interference with Canada’s democratic institutions — including the 2019 and 2021 federal elections — now appears inevitable, the issue of how it will impact on Canada’s national security must be critically examined.

If past behaviour is the best indicator of future conduct, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals will invoke national security as the reason that some relevant areas of examination cannot be made public.

To some extent, this concern is valid.

No one wants public testimony or evidence at an inquiry to endanger Canada’s national security, expose ongoing investigations or risk lives.

But weighed against that is the reality that governments of all political stripes, all over the world, routinely invoke so-called national security issues, not to protect their citizens, but to cover up their incompetence or wrongdoing.

Canada’s public inquiry into foreign interference, to be credible, must avoid that trap.

Whoever heads it — and that individual must be jointly approved by the opposition parties and the government, not just chosen by Trudeau — must be committed to revealing as much information as possible to the public, without endangering genuine national security concerns.

It’s now apparent that excessive secrecy by the Trudeau government failed to alert Canadians to the size of the ongoing threat posed by foreign interference in Canada’s democratic institutions, revealed by a series of reports in the Globe and Mail and Global News, based on their sources within Canada’s security and intelligence community.

 

[Taxslave2]

Any investigation will have to be made by a turdOWE stooge. Otherwise, the truth may leak out.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Tuesday is the deadline for the initial repporteur to the PM of recommendations from the Special Rapa-Nui on foreign interference…which in turn is to then be disseminated from the PMO to the opposition leaders…this coming Tuesday May 23rd so in just a few days, & the next business day.

 

[petros]

Tuesday is the deadline for the initial repporteur to the PM of recommendations from the Special Rapa-Nui on foreign interference…which in turn is to then be disseminated from the PMO to the opposition leaders…this coming Tuesday May 23rd so in just a few days, & the next business day.

Breakfast with Trudeau holiday hours.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the Conservatives’ personal attacks against former governor general David Johnston — who is set to reveal Tuesday whether he believes a public inquiry into foreign interference is necessary — are “unseemly.”

When pressed on the optics of tapping Johnston for the special rapporteur role, and whether LeBlanc understands the choice could get in the way of Canadians’ confidence in Johnston’s reports and recommendations, LeBlanc said he “hope(s) not.” (???)

Johnston is set to make his recommendation about a public inquiry this week, but his work will continue until October, with the goals of assessing the extent and impact of foreign interference in Canada’s elections, and reviewing the government’s response to foreign interference, among other objectives laid out in his mandate.

LeBlanc said while he doesn’t know what Johnston will recommend, the government is “committee.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has released foreign interference special rapporteur David Johnston's mandate, which instructs the former governor general to determine by May 23 whether a public inquiry is necessary???

Personal attacks on David Johnston by Conservatives are 'unseemly,' minister says — CTV News

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the Conservatives' personal attacks against former governor general David Johnston — who is set to reveal Tuesday whether he believes a public inquiry into foreign interference is necessary — are 'unseemly.'

apple.news

 

[Ron in Regina]

To get away from the copy and paste for a bit…nothing this PM does even surprises me anymore. Basically there’s three ways that you can go:

1) David Johnston says that we need a public inquiry, & Trudeau actually agrees with it. This would be the most surprising outcome in all honesty, but it would’ve still achieved the outcome of trying to put this off over time in the hope that the scandal with fade into the background like all of the others…but it just didn’t this time.

2) David Johnston says that we need a public inquiry, & Trudeau decides not to do it anyway, in spite of everything that he said in the media. This would not surprise me at all, but don’t expect me not to point out the hypocrisy repeatedly.

3) David Johnston says that we do not need a public inquiry, & Trudeau uses that for Justin-ification for not having one. This is actually the one that I predict will happen, but I hope I’m wrong.

 

[pgs]

To get away from the copy and paste for a bit…nothing this PM does even surprises me anymore. Basically there’s three ways that you can go:

1) David Johnston says that we need a public inquiry, & Trudeau actually agrees with it. This would be the most surprising outcome in all honesty, but it would’ve still achieved the outcome of trying to put this off over time in the hope that the scandal with fade into the background like all of the others…but it just didn’t this time.

2) David Johnston says that we need a public inquiry, & Trudeau decides not to do it anyway, in spite of everything that he said in the media. This would not surprise me at all, but don’t expect me not to point out the hypocrisy repeatedly.

3) David Johnston says that we do not need a public inquiry, & Trudeau uses that for Justin-ification for not having one. This is actually the one that I predict will happen, but I hope I’m wrong.

They will have an inquiry with the PMO setting the condititions and scope insuring a nothing burger .

 

[Ron in Regina]

They will have an inquiry with the PMO setting the condititions and scope insuring a nothing burger .

They’ll call it a “Wide” or “Broad” scope looking it’s foreign interference going back to 1876 and how it’s affected the Spotted Owl and todays Gender dysphoria and how it made native French speaking Inuit ‘feel’ so, like the inquiry into the Emergencies Act, it’ll be focussed in so many directions pertaining to all kinds of irrelevant crap, that whatever results they’re able to come up with in the short time limit that they will be given will be so water down, and so mishmashed with so many other things that it will be the equivalent of nothing. I hear you.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Even today (Sunday May 21st, 2023) the Liberals are still trying to throw CSIS under the bus for not informing him about foreign interference in our elections, which was proven false WEEKS ago….but not every Canadian follows politics closely.

This is from a couple weeks ago that dispelled Mendocino’s claims from earlier today:

The Trudeau NDP/Libs only expelled the Chinese Diplomat after the lies about CSIS not informing the PMO about the Chinese interference back in 2019 actually did happen:

The Special Rapporteur’s office (?) issued a news release Friday confirming that his first report will be released on Tuesday. The office has set up a two-hour briefing for journalists to review material under embargo.

The recommendations are scheduled to be released publicly at noon when Mr. Johnston holds a news conference in Ottawa to discuss the report.

All three major opposition parties have called on the government to immediately create a public inquiry on the issue, but Mr. Trudeau has said he wants to hear Mr. Johnston’s recommendations before making a decision…which bought Trudeau a couple months for this latest scandal to fade away like the others, but it didn’t…

Mr. Johnston’s mandate is to provide a series of reports on foreign interference. The mandate does not specifically name China. It says the review should assess the extent and impact of foreign interference and review the federal government’s information and actions about the threat of foreign interference both historically and in relation to the 2019 and 2021 federal campaigns. Smoke & Mirrors & ‘Look over there!’ Type stuff.

 

[Ron in Regina]

After eight days – or is that 657 days? – the Liberals have finally acted against China’s meddling in Canada’s politics.

It took Ottawa a long time to come to the necessary conclusion to expel diplomat Zhao Wei for his role in targeting Conservative MP Michael Chong’s family members in Hong Kong, in order to punish the Canadian politician for opposing Beijing’s oppression of its Uyghur minority.

Starting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and moving on from there, the Liberals have tried to sidle past the controversy over China’s interference in two successive federal elections by trying to create uncertainty and doubt about what, if anything, happened. Sure, there’s foreign interference all the time, they have said, from many different directions. Who’s to say what happened? And what about Russia? Etc…? Look over there!!

That line of patter has been demolished by the revelations, reported by The Globe earlier this month, that Mr. Chong’s family in China was targeted.

The government’s own actions, eight days after that story broke, are proof that China’s illegal actions are a real danger to Canadian democracy. Eight days in May have made all the difference between the government being able to deny and to delay, and finally having to acknowledge the threat posed by Beijing.

But the expulsion of a single Chinese diplomat can be only properly seen as the start of Ottawa’s response, and the bare beginning of an answer to what transpired (or more precisely, did not transpire) within the Liberal government since the summer of 2021, when the revelations about Mr. Chong were being communicated.

For a start: With whom was the brief on Mr. Chong shared? Mr. Trudeau initially blamed the Canadian Security Intelligence Service for not sharing that information outside of the agency. That statement was quickly proven false, with the current national security adviser, Jody Thomas, telling Mr. Chong that one of her predecessors was indeed in the loop. Whoopsies!

Globe editorial: The Liberals’ eight days in May

That’s how long it took the government to finally go from inaction to action on China’s interference in Canada’s democracy, and to acknowledge the threat posed by it

www.theglobeandmail.com

The Prime Minister said he was relying on the “best information” he had at the time while still insisting that the report on the threat posed to Mr. Chong’s family “never made it to me, to my office or to the minister at the time.”

Yet the national security adviser provides advice to the Prime Minister on security and intelligence issues and is an associate secretary in the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic arm of the Prime Minister’s Office. Quite literally, the national security adviser (who received the report concerning Mr. Chong) is part of a department that reports to the Prime Minister’s office, which Mr. Trudeau somehow contends did not receive the report.

Who knew what in July, 2021, is an important question, but so is who knew what later. Nearly two years (657 days to be precise) passed between date on the CSIS report of July 21, 2021, and the expulsion of Mr. Zhao. Mr. Trudeau says he only became aware of the report after The Globe broke the news this month. Did the report simply gather dust in the intervening two years?

Clarity on Mr. Chong’s situation is, of course, only one part of the answers needed on China’s meddling. There remain the broader questions about China’s actions during the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. No party is contending that Beijing’s malfeasance changed who formed government, but the clear possibility exists that the Conservatives could have lost seats. The party itself has said that up to nine seats may have been affected.

What has been done to counter Beijing’s moves, beyond this week’s expulsion? The Liberals have been tight-lipped, perhaps because there is very little to say. On the question of a foreign-agent registry, for instance, the government is proceeding at a creeping pace.

Most of all, Canadians deserve to be told what Mr. Trudeau knew about China’s interference efforts, when he knew it, and what he did about it.

Luckily, the revelations about China’s attempted intimidation of Mr. Chong, and the Liberals’ long overdue actions, come as special rapporteur David Johnston enters the final stretch of his one-man deliberations on whether to recommend that the government call a public inquiry.

His deadline is TOMORROW, on May 23.

It should be crystal clear to him (and to all Canadians) that only a public inquiry can unravel the many unanswered questions about China’s illegal meddling in this country’s politics….now if an election is called before the public inquiry, if it happens, presents its results, that’s a different scandal fore a future (October?) date.

 

[Ron in Regina]

The U.K.'s active database of foreign representatives indicates there are 124 Chinese diplomats working on British soil—50 fewer than there are in Canada despite having a much larger population of 67.3 million, with 4.7 million people identifying as ethnic Chinese in Britain.

Canada's population is 37 million, with 1.7 million identifying as ethnic Chinese. Our demographics are similar to Australia, yet Canada has nearly three times as many Chinese foreign representatives. Australia has granted diplomatic credentials to 64 Chinese officials, compared to Canada's 176.

That statistic raised Robert Daly's eyebrows.

"You would expect Canada to be closer to Australia," said Daly, a former U.S. diplomat to China, who provides analysis for the Wilson Center's Kissinger Institute on China and the United States.

"China sees those two countries as similar. Both of them have a lot of resources that China wants to import. Both of them have very large diasporas, both of them host a lot of Chinese students. Only one of them is, of course, close to the United States of America geographically. And that may very well be a factor," Daly said.

The number of Chinese diplomats, consuls and attaches south of the 49th parallel is almost identical to the number north of it. The most recent data from 2020, shows that the U.S. accredited 178 Chinese nationals, just two more than current Canadian numbers. It's a surprising statistic given that the population of the U.S. is 10 times the size of Canada. America is also China's top trading partner and the most popular immigration destination for Chinese nationals.

Why does Canada have a disproportionately high number of Chinese diplomats? — CTV News

As former governor general David Johnston prepares to release his report on foreign interference Tuesday, new data provided by Global Affairs Canada sheds light on the breadth of China's diplomatic presence.

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[petros]

Trudeau is a pussy. Mao Mao

 

[Ron in Regina]

To get away from the copy and paste for a bit…nothing this PM does even surprises me anymore. Basically there’s three ways that you can go:

1) David Johnston says that we need a public inquiry, & Trudeau actually agrees with it. This would be the most surprising outcome in all honesty, but it would’ve still achieved the outcome of trying to put this off over time in the hope that the scandal with fade into the background like all of the others…but it just didn’t this time.

2) David Johnston says that we need a public inquiry, & Trudeau decides not to do it anyway, in spite of everything that he said in the media. This would not surprise me at all, but don’t expect me not to point out the hypocrisy repeatedly.

3) David Johnston says that we do not need a public inquiry, & Trudeau uses that for Justin-ification for not having one. This is actually the one that I predict will happen, but I hope I’m wrong.

David Johnston’s His deadline is in just over 18 hours, on May 23 at Noon Ottawa time.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Extra-Special rapporteur David Johnston will release his decision (which really means absolutely nothing because ultimately, this is Justin Trudeau‘s decision ) Tuesday on whether the federal Liberals should hold a public inquiry into allegations of foreign interference in Canadian elections….in 14 & 1/2 hours from now….

Special rapporteur David Johnston set to deliver decision on public inquiry on foreign interference Tuesday — National Post

The decision comes after months of revelations in the media, based on leaks from intelligence sources

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A public inquiry is just one option; Johnston could recommend instead that he continue his own investigation and include his findings in his report that is due in October. But the experts say that position would be “untenable” for him and for the federal government….etc…

“It’s going to look like he’s covering something up on the government’s behalf if he doesn’t allow a public inquiry,” said Lori Turnbull, professor of Political Science at Dalhousie University.

If Johnston recommends an inquiry, experts will be taking a close look at its scope, its method of work and its timeline. And they already say the devil will be in the details.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Six hours until, in theory, some kind of answer to an obvious (hopefully) plan of action…