NDP MP says interference report has cast suspicion on all MPs, calls on House to release names
MP Jenny Kwan says report has put the 'reputation of the whole House' under a 'cloud of suspicion'
An NDP MP is calling on the House of Commons to find a way to release the names of the MPs implicated in a foreign interference report released earlier this month.
Jenny Kwan raised a question of privilege in the House on Tuesday, suggesting that the report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) had damaged the reputation of all sitting members.
That report alleged, based on intelligence reports, that some parliamentarians have been "semi-witting or witting" participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in Canadian politics. The unredacted version of the report did not specifically name any MP.
Kwan said that while the names of the MPs identified in the report remain secret, Canadians will lose trust in their elected officials.
"The report did not provide any names and as such all 338 members of this House, including those who have since left this chamber, are under a cloud of suspicion," Kwan said Tuesday.
She said the matter should be referred to the House procedures committee to explore possible ways of releasing the names from the report without compromising national security.
"In the face of such alarming revelation without knowledge of who the elected official is associated with each allegation, it means that all members are tainted and that the reputation of the whole House is put in question," Kwan said.
The Conservatives have been pressing the Liberals to release the names of the MPs in the report. But Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc has insisted that it would violate national security law, even suggesting that he could be arrested for revealing top secret information.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mark Flynn confirmed during a House committee meeting on Tuesday that if a government minister were to release the names of MPs in the NSICOP report, they would be charged with a crime.
"Anyone who reveals classified information is subject to the law equally and obviously, in this case, those names are classified at this time and to reveal them publicly would be a criminal offence," Flynn told MPs on the public accounts committee.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said the Liberal government can release the names on the floor of the House of Commons, where MPs enjoy parliamentary privilege.
When asked by CBC News about the possibility that the names could be released in the House of Commons, Flynn indicated that it was a potential grey area.
"That's a question that should be asked, due to the complexities of parliamentary privilege, of a legal expert," Flynn said following Tuesday's committee.
Former CSIS director Richard Fadden told CBC News Network's Power & Politics on Tuesday that Parliament needs to be more involved in looking at potential MPs' involvement in foreign interference following the NSICOP report.
"What I find striking about this is there's no parliamentary group looking at this at all," Fadden told host David Cochrane.
Like Kwan, Fadden suggested that a House committee could look into the issue and take advice from judges and other legal experts about what could be released publicly.
"This isn't entirely a security and intelligence issue or a national security issue, it's an accountability issue," he said.
Fadden also suggested that leaders could read the NSICOP report and deal with any MPs in their caucus that are implicated.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May have received security clearance and viewed the unredacted version of the report.
During separate news conferences last week, May and Singh presented different impressions of what they gleaned from the report.
May said she was relieved to learn that none of her House of Commons colleagues knowingly betrayed their country, while Singh said he was more alarmed after reading the report
Singh did suggest he didn't have to worry about members of his caucus. But speaking to Power & Politics on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cast doubt on that suggestion.
"I would be wary of any party leader drawing any sort of conclusion like that," Trudeau said.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says he has begun the process of getting the proper security clearance to review the unredacted report. But he criticized May and Singh for speaking so openly about it, saying that he wouldn't be speculating about what's in the report once he's seen its contents.
"I want to make sure that there is no case of MPs being compromised in my caucus. That's the only thing I need to know," he told reporters on Tuesday.
So far, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has resisted calls to obtain a security clearance to read the classified report, suggesting that it would hinder his ability to hold the government accountable on foreign interference.
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With files from Stephen Hoff