Carney calls Poilievre 'irresponsible' for security clearance refusal after reports of meddling in leadership
Conservative leader says he 'won the leadership fair and square'
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's refusal to get his security clearance is back in the spotlight on the campaign trail following reports the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) learned that India helped organize support for his leadership bid.
The Globe and Mail reported Tuesday that CSIS learned that Indian proxies were involved in raising money and organizing within the South Asian community for Poilievre during the leadership race, which he went on to win in 2022.
Sources confirmed the story to Radio-Canada. They were not authorized to speak publicly about the classified information.
Those sources said CSIS's assessment does not indicate whether these efforts were extensive or highly organized. They said the intelligence service has no evidence that Poilievre and his team were aware of the alleged efforts.
Radio-Canada reported late last year that Indian consular agents allegedly attempted to derail Patrick Brown's campaign in that 2022 leadership race. Brown, who was disqualified from the race, has made it clear he does not believe foreign interference influenced its outcome.
Poilievre won handily on the first ballot with 68 per cent of the available points.
According to the Globe's reporting, CSIS didn't share the information with Poilievre because he didn't have the necessary security clearance.
The Conservative leader has long rejected calls to go through that process, arguing that he wouldn't be able to freely speak or criticize the government based on the top secret information.
"What I will not do is commit to the oath of secrecy that the Liberals want to impose on me. They don't want me to be able to speak about these matters," he said Tuesday during a stop in Vaughan, Ont.
"They will bring you into a dark room and say, 'We will give you some breadcrumbs of intel and then we will tell you you can't talk about any of this stuff anymore.'"
Poilievre's political opponents have suggested that while he wouldn't be able to go public with information from secure briefings, he could still act on the information.
Classified information in Canada is protected by the Security of Information Act. Outside of disclosing information on the floor of the House of Commons — where MPs enjoy parliamentary privilege protecting them from arrest — anyone who leaks information could face jail time.
Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue, who oversaw the foreign inquiry the Conservatives had fought for, wrote in her report that party leaders have "unique powers and responsibilities" to act on foreign meddling threats, such as by removing an MP from certain roles or not promoting them in the first place.
She did say, however, that there are challenges for party leaders who receive intelligence, "particularly if they are told that, due to secrecy concerns, there are limits to how they can use it."
"That said, taking action may be prudent, even if it is unfair. It all depends on the specific circumstances," she wrote in her report earlier this year.
Poilievre takes aim at Carney's previous business dealings
During Tuesday's news conference, Poilievre noted that he received clearance when he was a minister more than a decade ago. As a privy councillor, Poilievre has taken oaths to the Crown, however security clearances in Canada require renewal.
"I won the leadership fair and square," he said.
Poilievre then went on the offensive, suggesting Carney's recent position with Brookfield Asset Management, which has a loan with the Bank of China, should raise national security concerns. Carney resigned as chair of the board to run for the Liberal leadership earlier this year.
Carney, who has his security clearance, has already put his assets into a blind trust and said he's working with the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to put up conflict of interest screens.
However, given the unelected official's quick ascension to the prime minister's office and the snap election, that information might not be made public until after Canadians vote.
The initial compliance process for a new prime minister only has to be completed within 120 days of their appointment
"Given that China has murdered our people, taken our people hostage, how will [Carney] ever stand up to foreign interference when he is so financially compromised?" said Poilievre.
At his own campaign stop in Halifax earlier in the day, Liberal Leader Mark Carney took the opportunity to slam Poilievre for rejecting calls and opportunities to obtain his security clearance.
"I find it beyond baffling, I find it down right irresponsible, that the leader of the Opposition, day after day, month after month, year after year, refuses to obtain his security clearance," he said.
"As a normal course, in peacetime, when times are tranquil, that's unacceptable then. But at this point in our history, when we face the greatest threats that we faced in generations in most of our lifetimes, he has to answer for that."
Responding to Poilievre's comments about Brookfield, Carney's camp said the Conservative leader is panicking and is just trying to distract with "dramatic claims."
Poilievre has faced pressure from his political rivals for months to get his clearance to review information regarding foreign interference and his party.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who has been cleared, accused Poilievre of putting his party's interests ahead of the country's.
"To me that disqualifies you as a prime minister candidate," he said from Toronto. "That's not someone we can trust to stand up to foreign interference."
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, who also went through the security process, said he "never felt muzzled in my whole life."
He suggested both the Liberals and Conservatives have a lax approach to foreign interference.
"It seems like going on vacation but leaving the garage door open," he said Tuesday during a media availability. "Anybody can go in, intervene, cheat, influence, and we will act as if it doesn't exist."
CSIS had been looking to share info with Poilievre
Calls for Poilievre's security clearance ramped up last fall after then prime minister Justin Trudeau told the public inquiry studying foreign interference that he had "the names 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."
Poilievre pushed back and said the prime minister should name the individuals he alluded to during his testimony.
Trudeau then said he had asked intelligence services to find a way to brief Poilievre about foreign interference allegations involving his party — and possibly to share "some names" with the Conservative leader.
CSIS said in December that it was looking to share "some information to the leader of the Official Opposition through a threat reduction measure." TRMs are aimed at reducing specific threats to Canada's security.
But a spokesperson for Poilievre said that the Conservative leader wouldn't be able to act upon the information he received from the CSIS briefing and rejected the terms of that meeting.
The public inquiry into foreign interference named China and India as the most active foreign interference adversaries in Canada.
Hogue wrote in her final report earlier this year that India through proxies "may have, and may continue to be, clandestinely providing illicit financial support to various Canadian politicians in an attempt to secure the election of pro-India candidates or gain influence over candidates who take office."
However, she went on to write the intelligence she reviewed "does not necessarily indicate that the elected officials or candidates involved were aware of the interference attempts, or that the attempts necessarily succeeded. "
Among her 51 recommendations, Hogue said leaders of all federal political parties represented in the House of Commons "should be encouraged and given the opportunity to obtain top secret security clearances as soon as possible after they become leaders."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
