No Confidence Vote on Tory’s Foreign Interference Motion to Have Telford Testify, Trudeau Says

Katie Telford, Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, leaves after a meeting of the Liberal Caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

A Conservative Party motion that seeks to order Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s top adviser to testify on foreign interference by Beijing will not be decided through a vote of confidence, says Trudeau.

The prime minister made the comments to reporters in Ottawa on March 21 before chairing a cabinet meeting.

“No, this is not going to be a confidence motion,” Trudeau said, adding that it goes to show “how important the issue of foreign interference is” for his Liberal government.

Trudeau also said his government’s approach on the issue can be contrasted with what he called a “political circus” led by Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.

Poilievre sponsored a motion tabled in the House on March 20 that, if passed, will call on the Commons Standing Committee on Ethics to undertake a study on allegations of Beijing’s interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

The motion will also compel Trudeau’s Chief of Staff Katie Telford to testify under oath on her own before the committee for three hours by April 14 at the latest.

MPs will vote on the motion in the House after question period on March 21.

The Liberal government has thus far been strongly opposed to Telford testifying in committee on foreign election interference.

All opposition members on the Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) recently voiced support for a motion that would have ordered Telford to testify on foreign interference in the past two federal elections, but Liberal committee members filibustered several meetings to delay the motion going to a vote.

If passed in the House today, the Conservatives’ motion would move the study of foreign interference from PROC—which is chaired by a Liberal MP—to the Conservative-chaired Commons ethics committee.

NDP Hold ‘Deciding Vote’

Trudeau’s comments on the Conservatives’ motion come less than a day after Liberal Government House Leader Mark Holland told reporters that cabinet was still having “discussions” on whether or not the Liberals would make the Conservative motion a matter of confidence.

Holland told reporters in Ottawa on March 20 that the government was still “having ongoing discussions and dialogue” about making it a confidence motion, which would’ve forced the NDP to either vote against it or break their supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberal government by voting in favour.

MPs debated the Conservatives’ motion on March 20 after it was introduced in the House.

A number of Bloc Québécois MPs voiced support for the motion, while some NDP MPs said the motion should seek to order a broader committee study on foreign interference rather than focusing on Beijing’s reported interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

Poilievre has called on the NDP to support the motion, saying they hold the “deciding vote.”

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.