NDP Won’t Break Agreement with Liberals Over Request to Remove Johnston, Says Singh

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 30, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang)

The NDP will not break its supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberal government should Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ignore the party’s calls for David Johnston to be removed as special rapporteur on foreign election interference, says NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.

Singh spoke to reporters a day after his party introduced a motion in the House of Commons calling on the government to remove Johnston from the position due to what Singh says was a “clear appearance of bias.”

However, Singh told reporters in Ottawa on May 30 that the NDP will not pull its support of the Liberal government on confidence votes even if it does not heed the party’s call for Johnston’s removal, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

“It is no longer useful to have Mr. Johnson in that position,” Singh said. “We’re going to push for that, but I would question the approach of creating the conditions for an election or triggering an election as not serious about protecting our democracy.”

“If we want to protect our democracy, I would think the approach should be ‘let’s put in place new measures.’ What are the new steps to protect against foreign interference?”

Singh also told reporters that he would like to see the government implement a “series of steps” that “would show some real seriousness about protecting our electoral system.”

He also criticized other opposition parties, saying they were treating foreign interference allegations as “a game to trigger an election.”

“I don’t see how it’s logical if the goal is to protect our democracy to then trigger an election when we’re worried about foreign interference,” Singh said.

Criticism

The NDP leader’s comments on the matter come less than a week after Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre said “it’s up to Jagmeet Singh” to force the government to call for a public inquiry into foreign election interference allegations.

“Is Jagmeet Singh going to stay in his coalition with Trudeau and help him cover up this latest scandal?” Poilievre said while speaking to reporters in Toronto on May 24.

Johnston’s May 23 report summarizes his findings on foreign election interference following the launch of his investigation in March. He recommended that Ottawa should not call for a public inquiry into Beijing’s meddling in Canada’s elections and institutions due to the confidential nature of intelligence information that would need to be presented.

The special rapporteur instead recommended a number of public hearings be held to address the possible interference actions.

The House will vote on the NDP’s motion calling on Johnston to be removed on May 31.