Calls to Former Diplomats Were Not Meant as Pressure, Liberal MPs Insist

Conservative MPs Leona Alleslev, Pierre Paul-Hus and Michael Barrett sit across from Liberal MPs before an emergency meeting of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development to discuss a request to undertake a study of undue pressure on former career diplomats, in Ottawa on July 30, 2019. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

OTTAWA—The choice to reach out to two former ambassadors to China was part of an effort to make sure experts were sufficiently informed, not to pressure them into toeing the line, Liberal MPs said Tuesday as they shut down opposition efforts to investigate the matter.

Members of the governing party who comprise a majority on the Commons foreign affairs committee were on hand to fend off allegations that the Prime Minister’s Office had attempted to pressure two former ambassadors to China over their public statements about Canada’s ongoing dispute with the Chinese regime.