For me, the three hours of testimony by David Johnston — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “independent special rapporteur” on foreign interference — before a House of Commons committee, jumped the shark an hour into the proceedings.
What was all that bullshit about a “Man of Integrity?”
It’s tradition, some might say politeness, that when a witness appears before a parliamentary committee, MPs welcome the witness. They shake hands and thank them for coming.
So perhaps it was a sign of things to come — or perhaps a sign of declining times — when all but one Conservative (Wellington—Halton Hills MP Michael Chong) bypassed the custom Tuesday when David Johnston, the former governor general and the government’s current independent special rapporteur on foreign interference, appeared before the procedure and house affairs committee.
For a man touted as a sort of “Mr. Canada” he sure holds us all in contempt.
All he did was run cover for Trudeau in a most unseemly fashion.
He is deeply corrupted by his ChiCom association.
David Johnston believes he is the man to get to grips with foreign interference in Canada. The will of Parliament and the wishes of the public be damned.
In a calm and measured three-hour appearance before MPs Tuesday, the prime minister’s special rapporteur proved not only that he can be awfully stubborn, but also, perhaps, a little naïve and self-important.
Canadians are twice as likely to support a formal inquiry into foreign interference, as opposed to public hearings, according to new polling from Nanos Research for CTV News.
Nearly six in 10 Canadians say they prefer the idea of a formal public inquiry headed by a judge with full subpoena powers, according to the survey.
Meanwhile, a quarter of respondents say they would prefer the public hearings option “to shine more light on the problem of foreign interference and the threat it poses.”
It’s quite the bombshell. It’s a 77-page investigative report on Beijing’s influence operations in Canada’s democratic institutions. It examines the Chinese Communist Party’s sinister engagements with this country’s political processes, universities, civil society, corporate sector, Chinese-language news media and social media.
Rich in documentary evidence and fact-based analysis, the report also relies on expert advice and named informants, except in cases where the security of individuals and entities would be put at risk. It’s titled Murky Waters: Beijing’s Influence in Canadian Democratic and Electoral Processes.
Oh my! Have a look at who is on the board of David Johnston’s so called “non partisan” charity The Rideau Hall Foundation. It’s only the literal who’s who of CCP creme of the captured crop bootlicker$. It’s so in our bloody faces, ABSOLUTELY CIRCLE JERK AAAAMAZINE I tell ya.… pic.twitter.com/Jfd3NQq5t9
— Laura Love (@Panopticonomy) June 7, 2023
There wasn’t much chance going in that David Johnston was going to win over MPs reviewing his report on foreign interference. And when he left, he hadn’t provided much reassurance for Canadians that he got to the bottom of things.
The government’s special rapporteur on foreign interference had to expect that his appearance at a Commons committee would bring more questions about his impartiality, and those of his staff. And it did.
Trudeau asked a fellow member of Canada’s China Class to whitewash their entanglement with the Communist Regime.
Former governor general David Johnston has revealed he’s been using not one, but two reputation-management firms to do his work looking into foreign interference in Canada’s democracy. He might need a couple more.
For more than three hours on Tuesday, Johnston was plunged into the politics he’s tried to stay above during his long career in public service and academia.
His mission was to defend the work he’s done to date for Justin Trudeau’s government, looking into the white-hot issue of whether this country is vulnerable to foreign interference in its elections, notably from China.
David Johnston says China interference findings may have been based on incomplete intelligence
Former governor-general David Johnston conceded Tuesday that his findings that China did not orchestrate a campaign against the Conservative Party may have been based on incomplete intelligence, casting doubt on the special rapporteur’s report that a public inquiry into Beijing interference in Canadian democracy is not warranted.
In testimony before the Commons committee on procedure and House affairs, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh pressed Mr. Johnston to explain a contradiction between his report and what former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole told Parliament last week.
After all, how much intelligence is needed for a whitewash?
It was a lamentable spectacle, watching the once-admired David Johnston, glassy-eyed and defiant, struggling to see the obvious conflicts
A recent episode of the excellent podcast The Rest is History explored the world of freemasonry, debating whether the masons are “a secret cabal of devil worshippers that run the world” or a “fraternity of like-minded individuals who enjoy eccentric rituals.”
Johnston did not interview Han Dong for foreign interference report
… David Johnston, a former governor general appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to review allegations of foreign meddling, told a House of Commons’ committee Tuesday that he did not interview Don Valley North MP Han Dong during his two-month probe.
That’s despite finding that “there clearly were strange practices, unusual practices going on” during Dong’s 2019 nomination contest in the safe Liberal riding. Johnston said his team did not conclude that those “strange practices” could be attributed to the People’s Republic of China, though his report noted suspicions that they could be.
As mentioned this will be a couple of hours of how dare you question my integrity blah blah blah …
David Johnston’s lead counsel on foreign interference probe attended Trudeau fundraiser in 2021
The lead counsel for special rapporteur David Johnston, who oversees the government-appointed probe into Chinese foreign interference, has not only donated exclusively to the Liberal Party but also attended a private fundraiser where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was the guest of honour.
Elections Canada records show that Toronto lawyer Sheila Block participated in a private Zoom webinar fundraiser in late March, 2021, billed as a “Virtual Conversation with Anita Anand and Justin Trudeau.” Ms. Anand, now Defence Minister, was minister responsible for public services and procurement at the time.
h/t DM
The Trudeau Foundation has investments in Chinese companies Baidu and Tencent, a former board member told MPs on a parliamentary committee. Both companies have been subjects of security warnings.
The Trudeau Foundation was created with a $125 million endowment from the federal government in 2001 in memory of former prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, to provide grants and academic scholarships.
David Johnston is set to appear at a House of Commons committee investigating claims of foreign interference as calls continue for his resignation as the government’s special rapporteur.
The 81-year-old former governor general will be at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) for three hours on Tuesday, beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern.
This will be 3 hours of “How dare you impugn my integrity” mixed with “That information is unable to be released to the public” and “China been berry berry good to me.”
Newly released documents say the intelligence community’s relationship with its key watchdog has been particularly strained over the last year due to a “level of resistance” to scrutiny.
The assessment appears in briefing materials prepared for Canada’s top public servant in advance of a late January meeting with the chair of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says that despite special rapporteur David Johnston’s personal credibility, the appearance of bias in favour of the Liberal government is undermining the very work that he’s trying to accomplish.
“I believe he’s a person that is very credible and has worked for the country in a way that is really honourable,” Singh said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live Sunday.
“The problem we’re up against, though, is the work he’s supposed to do is restore confidence in our electoral system, and the appearance of bias is so strong now that he can no longer do that work. The trust necessary is eroded because of the appearance of bias,” Singh told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.
