The story the two men are telling now is vastly different from happier times.
Were Justin Trudeau and David Johnston telling the truth about their friendship this week or were they telling the truth in 2010, 2016 or 2017?
“Canada’s China Class”
Rex Murphy: David Johnston takes the blame for Trudeau’s assault on democracy
The decision not to call a public inquiry was wrong, is wrong, and will be wrong forever
There have been so many Liberal scandals that the public’s supply of justified outrage has been long exhausted. David Johnston should never have been given the (dubious) authority to make the determination he has made. Only in a spavined Parliament — robbed of its central power of the confidence vote by the cynical and nefarious deal between Jagmeet Singh and Justin Trudeau — could the travesty of the past few days been possible.
The Singh-Trudeau pact is itself anti-democratic.
Singh Asks Trudeau for Certain Conditions Before Getting Security Clearance
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is asking the prime minister to allow more members of his party to be briefed on foreign interference attempts, after the leaders of the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois declined to obtain the required security clearance.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday, Singh said he wants those two spots given to members of his team who would accompany him in the briefings.
Singh also asked Trudeau for a briefing on how much he can and cannot say after reviewing the intelligence.
Garbage. Singh has one job, crash Trudeau’s government.
Chinese Hackers Targeted US Infrastructure, Warn Five Eyes, Including Canada
State-sponsored hackers from China have been targeting U.S. critical infrastructure, cybersecurity officials from around the world, including Canada, warned Wednesday in a co-ordinated effort to root out the perpetrators.
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security was just one of several international agencies, all of them part of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, that took part in amplifying the alert issued by the U.S. National Security Agency.
I doubt they need to look hard Canada, Junior’s handlers have likely handed it all over.
Public inquiry would restore trust in Ottawa’s handling of Beijing election meddling, legal experts say
Canadians would have greater trust in the government’s handling of Chinese state interference if Ottawa appointed a judge – with full subpoena powers – rather than relying on the advice of former governor-general David Johnston, according to former lead counsel of two major public inquiries.
Paul Cavalluzzo, who was lead commission counsel for the Maher Arar inquiry, and Mark Freiman, who was lead counsel for the Air India inquiry, say a full-scale public inquiry into China’s meddling in Canadian politics would help restore public faith that Ottawa is taking the matter seriously.
John Ivison: Disturbing details about China’s interference that Johnston discovered — and downplayed
In response to the G7 leaders’ communique, issued after last weekend’s meeting in Hiroshima, China sent out a riposte that said “gone are the days when a handful of Western countries can just willfully meddle in other countries’ internal affairs.”
China, of course, would never engage in the tactics of imperialist running dogs.
When you’ve lost the Star …. Johnston’s report into foreign interference failed to provide the needed transparency. An inquiry is needed.
Democracy is built on trust.
It’s the opening line in David Johnston’s first report on foreign interference in our electoral process and it was repeated by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his response to that report.
But that trust is built on public confidence that can only come from transparency. On that count, Canadians had no reason to be more confident in the government’s vigilance and response to Chinese interference after hearing from Johnston.
This was a Banana Republic Farce. Johnston is in China’s pocket as is the Liberal party.
Johnston has professed that it would be “wonderful” if all Canadians learned to speak Chinese — his three daughters have done so, having attended several universities in China. When he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Nanjing University in 2012, Johnston had already made more than a dozen visits to China. As president of the University of Waterloo, Johnston oversaw the establishment of one of China’s propaganda-and-espionage Confucius Institutes. He has met Xi Jinping several times and has accompanied several trade delegations to China.
Assuming Singh continues to support Junior then I am on for a march on Ottawa.
Johnston must ‘answer’ on interference report at committee, opposition MPs say
David Johnston must “answer” as to why he recommended against a public inquiry to probe foreign interference, opposition MPs investigating the allegations say.
Conservative, Bloc Québécois and NDP members of the House of Commons’ procedure and House affairs committee signed a letter Tuesday requesting a meeting to discuss having the 81-year-old former governor general Johnston testify before it.
The essence of Johnston’s report: Trust me, there’s no story here
“I asked the Prime Minister and Ministers if they were aware of any orchestrated effort to elect a LPC minority. They were not.” ` Moron
Give David Johnston credit for one thing. It takes no small amount of courage, when your impartiality has been called into question and when the whole world is expecting you to call for a public inquiry into Chinese interference in Canadian elections – if only to demonstrate your impartiality – to then reject a public inquiry.
Don Martin: David Johnston’s reputation is but a smouldering ruin
… Sorry, but the perception prevails of them as neighbourly chums in the Laurentian Elite backed by evidence suggesting due diligence was deliberately lacking as he put together his report.
For example, Johnston didn’t reach out to former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole until last week. This was the former leader most vocal about Chinese electoral interference, yet Johnston’s report was already on its way to the printers for translation, by the time an O’Toole interview was booked.
Johnston also took great pains to probe and question the accuracy of news reports yet failed to examine the Trudeau Foundation’s role in the controversy after it received substantial money from Chinese benefactors looking to buy friends in high places.
And his conclusion that senior Liberals didn’t know about Chinese efforts to help elect a Liberal minority mandate was based on merely asking the prime minister if that was the case. Not surprisingly, Trudeau said it wasn’t.
Terry Glavin: David Johnston escapes inquiry into his own China dealings
The former governor general is a poster boy for ‘elite capture’
In the uproar over revelations earlier this month that Beijing’s meddling in Canadian politics involved a secret plan to target the family of Conservative Party Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Chong, His Excellency Cong Peiwu, China’s ambassador in Ottawa, had some advice for the Trudeau government.
“China strongly urges the Canadian side to immediately stop this self-directed political farce,” Cong said, further urging Parliament to mind its manners and “not go further down the wrong and dangerous path.”
‘A trap’: Opposition rejects Trudeau’s security clearance offer to access confidential annex of Johnston WHITEWASH
OTTAWA – The leaders of the two largest federal opposition parties are rejecting Justin Trudeau’s invitation to receive security clearances in order to review the confidential annex of special rapporteur David Johnston’s report, prompting the prime minister to accuse them of hiding behind “a veil of ignorance.”
On Tuesday, while pointing to the real threat that foreign election interference poses and the need to address some serious intelligence gaps, Johnston recommended against a public inquiry into the federal government’s handling of the issue. He instead plans to conduct more forward-looking public hearings.
Poilievre calls on Singh to force a foreign interference inquiry
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to drop the NDP’s support for the Liberals in the House of Commons to force the government to call a public inquiry into foreign political interference.
Former governor general David Johnston, now special rapporteur on foreign interference, tabled a report Tuesday recommending the government not move forward with a public inquiry, citing the sensitive nature of the intelligence an inquiry would have to examine.
Parliament has spoken: We need an independent public inquiry
Parliament has already spoken on the need for an independent public inquiry into China’s meddling in Canada’s electoral system. Opposition parties united to vote in favour of an inquiry, with the (non-binding) motion passing 172-149. The will of Parliament is clear – and it is equally clear that former governor-general David Johnston’s report on foreign interference defies that will.
To have any legitimacy, such defiance would have to lay out indisputable proof that the federal government responded prudently and quickly to China’s provocations. Instead, Mr. Johnston insists that any evidence is classified, and Canadians must simply take his word for it.
Johnston’s Report on Election Interference Is Gaslighting Canadians
Well, there we have it. Former Governor General David Johnston has delivered his much-awaited report on China’s interference in our federal elections. It is fairly thorough, looking at the intelligence process in Canada, the importance of democracy, how governments make decisions, etc., etc., etc. And in the end, Johnston recommended against creating a public inquiry into this matter.
David Johnston—from the Trudeau Foundation—wanted to make sure he wasn’t in a conflict of interest in judging the Beijing’s interference in the Trudeau Foundation.
So he got an opinion from someone who is part of the Trudeau Foundation. pic.twitter.com/55uCToFifz
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) May 23, 2023