Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Canadian author and psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson, as well as American media personality Tucker Carlson, of being funded by Russia without providing any evidence to substantiate his claims.
While testifying at the ongoing foreign interference inquiry on Wednesday, Justin Trudeau accused the two conservative media personalities of being on the Russian payroll.
He noted a recent US Department of Justice indictment which implicated the conservative media company Tenet Media was involved in a foreign influence scheme perpetrated by employees of Russia’s state broadcaster “Russia Today.”
“We’ve recently seen that RT is currently funding bloggers and other YouTube personalities of the right, such as Jordan Peterson, other names that are well known, Tucker Carlson as well, to amplify messages that are destabilizing democracies,” Trudeau testified.
Neither Peterson nor Carlson were named in the DOJ indictment.
Peterson took to X, denying the accusation and joking about the absurdity of the claims.
“Hey, Russians! Where the hell is my money?! Justin Trudeau strikes again, whiffing at a foul ball,” Peterson said on X. “Rubles are stuffed in my mattress. Comfortable. Tee hee Justin Trudeau.”
Carlson did not respond to True North’s requests for comment before the deadline provided.
Trudeau was asked about the potential that Russia instigated the Freedom Convoy in 2022 “from the outset,” a connection made by a CBC journalist during an interview with Trudeau’s Public Safety Minister at the time, Marco Mendicino. Mendicino left the assertion unchallenged during the interview.
“The propaganda and disinformation, misinformation activities on the part of Russia have been fairly constant in our social media, in our Canadian democracy,” Trudeau said. “On the part of Russia to say that one is directly linked to the other (Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Freedom Convoy), I wouldn’t feel comfortable to say that if I did have more concrete evidence to make that connection.”
Despite saying he wouldn’t assert that there was a connection between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Freedom Convoy without “concrete evidence,” Trudeau did not provide evidence that Peterson and Carlson were on the Russian state payroll and did not respond to True North’s requests for comment.
Trudeau said that Russian influence amounts to amplifying existing debates in the West, which could cause further divisions.
“Russia amplified the chaos and the disputes and conflict in Canada, surrounding the convoy, they’re very opportunistic in that sense that they will amplify any disagreement or differences of opinion, especially in our democratic process and our democracy,” Trudeau said at the hearing.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Trudeau of lying about Pierre’s ability to know if members of his caucus were implicated in foreign interference during his testimony on Wednesday.
Trudeau said that by refusing to read the confidential, unredacted version of a National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians report on foreign interference, he was incapable of knowing who in his party was acting as an agent to adversarial foreign governments.
“I have the name of a number of parliamentarians, former parliamentarians and or candidates in the Conservative Party of Canada who are engaged or at high risk of or for whom there is clear intelligence around foreign interference,” Trudeau said.
Poilievre has refused to read the NSICOP report because doing so would prevent him from sharing the names of MPs who are accused of knowingly abetting foreign state actors whose names are being shielded by the government.
In a statement released on X, Poilievre said he had consulted with several intelligence agencies and government officials under the CSIS Act which allows for him to be briefed without having to be sworn to secrecy.
He also said his Chief of Staff has received the confidential briefings Trudeau is accusing the Conservatives of ignoring.
“At no time has the government told me or my Chief of Staff of any current or former Conservative parliamentarian or candidate knowingly participating in foreign interference,” Poilievre said. “If Justin Trudeau has evidence to the contrary, he should share it with the public.”