Trudeau Says He Has ‘Total Confidence’ in Johnston After Decision on Public Inquiry

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to reporters ahead of a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 19, 2023. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday he has “total confidence” in the work being done by special rapporteur David Johnston, who earlier in the day recommended against holding a public inquiry into allegations of foreign interference in Canada’s elections.

“I committed to listening very carefully and abiding by the recommendations that the former governor general made, and he explained and justified his thought processes by it and we will be following his recommendations,” Trudeau told reporters.

The prime minister appointed Johnston to be the special rapporteur on March 15 following multiple media reports suggesting widespread interference by the Chinese regime. Instead of launching a public inquiry, which opposition leaders repeatedly called for, the prime minister said he would heed the recommendations of Johnston.

Johnston said Tuesday that a public inquiry could not be held because the classified information informing his decision could not be revealed to the public. The former governor general said he had been favourable to the idea of holding an inquiry before he started the review, but conversations with senior security and elected officials and reviews of intelligence files changed his mind.

The prime minister said he supported Johnston’s suggestion of public hearings into election interference, as well as his recommendation about an open dialogue with the foreign diaspora that is often targeted by foreign interference.

Trudeau also said that Canadians were concerned with foreign interference, as well as misinformation and disinformation. He said an essential part of the country’s democracy is “robust debates” about whether the government is doing enough to keep Canadians safe, but that the debates must be based on an “understanding of the true facts.”

“I certainly hope that all party leaders will avail themselves of the opportunity to understand the facts of the situation as we continue important debates on how to best keep Canadians, our businesses, our research institutions, and especially our democracy safe,” Trudeau said.

Trudeau Dismisses Allegation of Johnston Bias

Trudeau was asked by reporters whether Johnston could remain impartial in his role as special rapporteur, given that he was friends with Trudeau’s family growing up and was also previously a member of the Trudeau Foundation. Earlier in the day, Johnston defended his appointment by claiming that while he went on five ski trips with the Trudeau family decades ago, he had no unofficial contact with the prime minister since he became an MP in 2008.

“I saw him a few times as a kid. I got to know him after he was appointed governor general by Stephen Harper once I was already a parliamentarian,” Trudeau told reporters. “Quite frankly, the quality and the calibre, not just of his decades of extraordinary service to this country, but the quality and calibre of the report he’s put forward leaves me in total confidence in his ability to continue to do this important work for Canadians.”

Trudeau said he has sent letters to all party leaders offering to get them security clearances, allowing them to review the pieces of intelligence Johnston read when crafting the report. Trudeau said he believes Canadians would not expect any of their leaders to “choose ignorance when they can choose to have the facts laid out for them.”

“And I can assure you in our democracy, there are always going to be plenty of things to criticize the government on and to challenge us to do better. But let us please [be] grounded in an understanding of the true facts and not choose to risk weakening Canadians’ confidence in our institutions by building partisan attacks on things that are patently untrue,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters he would “not be silenced” and would not participate in any of Johnston’s public hearings or seek to join the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, a joint parliamentary committee that will review Johnston’s conclusions.

Poilievre also said it was “incredible” that Johnston did not mention the Trudeau Foundation in his report, released on May 23. “Now, Johnson is part of the Trudeau foundation, so, of course, he wouldn’t want to investigate himself. But, frankly, that’s why he should have recused himself,” he said before reiterating his calls for a full public inquiry into foreign interference.

Trudeau has previously defended Johnston as the right candidate for the job and pushed back on Poilievre’s criticism, accusing the Conservatives of engaging in “horrific partisan attacks against a man of extraordinary integrity.”