The RCMP says it has “shut down illegal police activity in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia” connected to so-called Chinese “police stations” — but it hasn’t said whether it has made any arrests.
In April, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told a parliamentary committee the federal police service had taken decisive action to close down the alleged stations.
Why the hell are they so secret?
Who are they sucking up to?
The community organizations in the Montreal area being investigated by the RMCP for hosting suspected Chinese police stations have had formal ties since at least 2016 to a Chinese regime entity which the Canadian government says is involved in espionage.
The federal police force indicated in March it’s investigating Centre Sino-Québec de la Rive-Sud (CSQRS) and its sister organization in Montreal, the Service à la famille chinoise du Grand Montréal (SFCGM), two not-for-profits which have been tending to the needs of Chinese immigrants for decades.
You could fill a newspaper’s obituary page with all the institutions Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have marred, stomped over like defiant toddlers in the throes of a tantrum and ultimately dealt crippling blows it will take years to recover from, if ever.
The latest: governors general, and the once bipartisanly esteemed David Johnston. The special rapporteur could’ve easily retired in relative peace, but instead Trudeau recruited him back to public life to serve as what very much looks like his puppet.
All these years he’s been in China’s pocket.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has said he won’t end his party’s deal with the Liberals and potentially trigger an election, until confidence in the electoral process is restored.
Don’t hold your breath.
A new Léger poll for the National Post suggests Singh’s hope is analogous to the old trope that the beatings will continue until morale improves.
OTTAWA — Barely one in four Canadians have faith in former governor general David Johnston’s credibility and impartiality as special rapporteur on foreign interference, a new poll by Léger for National Post shows, while nearly half are unimpressed with the Liberal government’s general handling of the foreign interference issue.
I was surprised, saddened and puzzled when former governor general David Johnston, who was clearly in a perceived conflict of interest, accepted the prime minister’s request to become a “special rapporteur.” Surprised he would make such an obvious mistake, saddened he would risk tarnishing his reputation as a dedicated and effective governor general and puzzled about his motivation. Those reactions intensified when his preliminary report rejected a public inquiry called for by a majority vote in Parliament and over 70 per cent of Canadians. I was also disappointed that it defended the government on virtually every issue while criticizing the media, the security services and the Conservative party. It also made clear his conviction he has no conflict of interest, notwithstanding much evidence and a widespread perception to the contrary.
Right through the 2021 federal election campaign, senior Trudeau government officials knew that the Chinese government and its operatives in Canada were running a sophisticated disinformation and voter suppression campaign targeting the Conservative Party and its candidates, former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole told me on Tuesday.
That much was clear from the briefing the Canadian Security Intelligence Service made available to him last Friday, O’Toole told me. But what remains unclear is why none of these officials said anything — and that’s just one key question that remains unresolved following last week’s report on Beijing’s election-interference operations by “independent special rapporteur” David Johnston.
This revelation should result in arrests except we’re ruled by corrupt men.
A government holds power in a democracy only on loan from the public. The onus is therefore always on the government to show that it is worthy of the public’s trust. It is the price of power.
A government is not entitled to the presumption of innocence. If a breach should open in the public’s trust in government, the onus is on the government to repair it. It is not on the public to trust it.
Last Thursday the NDP gave notice of an opposition motion that will be debated today and voted upon later this week.
That motion calls on David Johnston to step aside from his role as Special Rapporteur, and would require the government to urgently establish a public commission of inquiry. Crucially, it also states that the inquiry would be led by an individual selected with unanimous support from all recognized parties in the House,
It is rare for an opposition motion to have this much importance.
I get that Mulcair may feel compelled to talk up Jaggy’s “heroics” but let’s face it the motion has no teeth and Trudeau and his Special Crony will ignore it.
OTTAWA — Two former executives in Canada’s intelligence services told MPs that despite Special Rapporteur David Johnston’s concerns, a public inquiry can be held into foreign interference while still keeping classified information secret.
Dan Stanton, a former CSIS officer and manager, said holding a public inquiry is entirely possible, citing examples such as the inquiries into the Maher Arar affair and the Air India bombing, which took place despite the sensitive information involved.
OTTAWA—Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre dared NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh Tuesday to bring down the government over a lack of a public inquiry into foreign interference, an issue that Poilievre’s predecessor brought into sharper focus by disclosing new details about how he and the party were targeted by Beijing.
Former Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole’s decision to reveal elements of what he was told by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) last week came as MPs were debating an NDP motion calling on the special rapporteur for foreign interference, David Johnston, to step down from the job and for the government to do what he didn’t — call a public inquiry.
Deal's a deal, @TheJagmeetSingh tells reporters, vows never to renege on pact to keep @JustinTrudeau in office 'til 2025 regardless: "There is not a threat here." https://t.co/k0GJDWj7it #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/hq4LMZNK9F
— Blacklock's Reporter (@mindingottawa) May 31, 2023
h/t Mauser
For those who have been involved in politics, there is a handy “rulebook” – “how to defuse a political crisis 101.”
Too bad the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not read it.
That is the only conclusion one can come to after watching the release of the report from former Governor General David Johnston on Chinese interference in Canada’s democracy.
Former Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) found an “active campaign of voter suppression” by China against him and his party in the 2021 election.
O’Toole made the comments Tuesday from the floor of the House of Commons, within which MPs are protected by parliamentary privilege from civil or criminal prosecution under freedom of speech provisions. His speech comes after a briefing with CSIS last week.
The decision as to whether to hold a public inquiry on any topic, including the very important issue of foreign interference in Canada’s democracy, belongs to the prime minister. It cannot be transferred to an unelected, unaccountable appointee, regardless of that person’s credentials or experience. The ongoing noise about The Right Honourable David Johnston’s appointment to this position is an unfortunate distraction of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s making.
Special Rapporteur David Johnston has refused to take questions from MPs on the House of Commons public accounts committee regarding his previous work at the Trudeau Foundation, leading members of the committee to threaten to issue him a summons.
“We have a meeting scheduled for a week today with individuals who have been involved with the Trudeau Foundation,” said Conservative MP and Committee Chair John Williamson at a meeting of the committee on May 29, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “I regret to inform you all, I have three who have declined, including the Right Honourable David Johnston.”
