Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would not announce any more steps on investigating allegations of foreign interference until the other parties “buy-in” to the process, claiming that “toxic” partisan games could hinder the independence of the procedure.
“Over the past month, the opposition parties played terrible, partisan, and toxic games with a process that was independent and serious in its approach,” Trudeau told reporters on June 28.
“So as we put forward proposals to the other parties on how we can move forward to restore Canadians’ confidence in our abilities to fight foreign interference, we will ensure, before we launch any next process, that there is full buy-in by the other parties on how it will be done and who will do it.”
The prime minister said he did not want to see the person working on the file be subject to the “same partisan toxic energy” that David Johnston was shown when he was made special rapporteur amid media reports on rampant interference by Beijing in Canada, including in the country’s elections.
The objections to his appointment included his past ties to the Trudeau family, as well as his own dealings with China, as cited by different opposition parties.
On June 20, Poilievre said in a letter to Leblanc that said the prime minister should call for public inquiry first, and then the Conservatives would suggest people to lead it. “Once the prime minister does this, we will provide you with a shortlist of names to lead the inquiry and work with all opposition parties to ensure they are acceptable across all party lines,” Poilievre wrote.
