NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he’s even more concerned about foreign interference in Canada’s democracy after reading the unredacted report from Parliament’s national security committee.
Singh opted to read the unredacted version of the report released last week by NSICOP and said he was “alarmed” by its contents.
“There are a number of MPs that have knowingly provided help to foreign governments, some to the detriment of Canada and Canadians,” said Singh. “Some of this behavior absolutely appears to be criminal, and should be prosecuted.”
While Singh did read a version of the NSICOP report with more information than the publicly available report, Singh still did not get access to the full report given to members who are a part of NSICOP.
Singh said he blames Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for knowing there was extensive foreign interference and refusing to take action.
“The prime minister has had access to intelligence that raises concerns about MPs knowingly benefitting foreign interference,” said Singh. “He has sent the message that he is willing to accept some level of foreign interference.”
Singh also criticized Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for refusing to read the report, saying that Poilievre is putting his party over his country.
“What is clear to me is Justin Trudeau knew and didn’t act, and Pierre Poilievre doesn’t even want to know about serious allegations touching his party,” said Singh. “To me that disqualifies him as a leader, and I do not buy his phony excuses.”
Bloc Québécois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet announced that he is seeking a security clearance to be able to read the unredacted NSICOP report, which would make Pierre Poilievre the sole major party leader to go without reading the report.
Poilievre has said that reading the report would prohibit him from being able to talk about matters contained in it, limiting his ability to act as an effective opposition leader.
In an interview with CTV News, former NDP leader Tom Mulcair said that if he were still the NDP’s leader, he would not have read it either
“I don’t want to be hamstrung as the leader of a party. I don’t want to be told that now that I’ve seen this I can’t say that. I agree completely with the call by Pierre Poilievre,” Mulcair said.
Singh told reporters that he would not be revealing the names of MPs implicated in the report, saying the it would compromise the ability of law enforcement and intelligence to do their jobs.
However, Singh said that there are a handful of MPs who wittingly collaborated with and helped foreign governments while receiving benefits in return.
Singh also says that the Conservative leadership contest, held in 2022, was subject to foreign interference by China and India.
Green Party leader Elizabeth May, having read the same NSICOP report as Singh had, said there was no list of treacherous MPs, and that the allegations had been overblown in the media.