LILLEY: Yes, Pierre Poilievre can get a security clearance, he already has
May 25 2023
Saved because so many lefties were bamboozled by this.
Re-printed without permission.
Brian Lilley
Published May 25, 2023 • Last updated May 25, 2023 • 3 minute read
One of the most bizarre claims being made around the issue of China’s interference into Canada’s democracy is that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre can’t pass a security clearance. This is one of the claims being made about Poilievre by Trudeau supporters trying to cast doubt on all aspects of China’s interference and it’s completely without merit.
Poilievre, as a former cabinet minister, is a member of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and could be briefed on any matter the government felt he needed to know about.
As the former minister of two different departments, Poilievre would have received security clearances to review documents of his own department and to discuss and vote on issues at cabinet. The idea that there’s something keeping him from getting a security clearance is ludicrous, yet Trudeau supporters keep making this claim.
So, why won’t Poilievre take a briefing on what Justin Trudeau’s “special rapporteur” David Johnston has seen? Because, as Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet put it, it’s a “dumb trap.”
“We offered you to see everything, you saw everything, you cannot say a word — this is a secret,” is how Blanchet described how the federal offer for opposition leaders to review sensitive material would play out.
“Then they will tell everybody, ‘Everything is fixed because the leaders of the Opposition parties have seen something, which they can do nothing about.”’
That is essentially the position of Poilievre.
Given that Blanchet shares the same view, you can hardly dismiss it, as some TruAnon supporters have done, as being a far-right talking point. The Bloc Quebecois is very much a left-leaning party, and they are just as concerned about being briefed in a way that ensures it shuts them up.
Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that his MPs on the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) would be given the green light to review the intelligence but like Blanchet, he would not review it himself. Those MPs from the Conservatives and the Bloc are sworn to secrecy regarding any information they review at the committee.
This is the same committee, by the way chaired by Liberal David McGuinty, which has raised the alarm about China’s interference in Canada and been ignored by the prime minister.
“The threat is real, if often hidden. If it is not addressed in a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach, foreign interference will slowly erode the foundations of our fundamental institutions, including our system of democracy itself,” the 2019 annual report submitted by the committee to the prime minister said.
The report called for “a comprehensive strategy to counter foreign interference and build institutional and public resiliency,” and then laid out concrete measures the government could take. Instead of acting, though, Trudeau ignored the report, something he admitted in March as leaks from the intelligence community put foreign interference on the front page.
“We have to do a better job on following up on those recommendations. I fully accept that,” Trudeau said.
Yet, time and again, he uses the NSICOP committee as a shield by pointing out that he established this committee when the Harper Conservatives had refused to do so. That’s great if you establish the committee but if they review the intelligence, issue a report with recommendations and he ignores them, then what good is the committee?
Now Trudeau, backed by Johnston, is calling on the opposition leaders to be brought into this same committee process so that he can silence their voices on this file and continue to ignore the committee.
“Mr. Poilievre is choosing to sit behind a veil of ignorance,” Trudeau said Wednesday. “He doesn’t want the facts to get in the way of a good political argument or a personal attack.”
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No, Poilievre is refusing to be drawn into legitimizing Trudeau’s plan. Trudeau refuses to allow any investigation of China’s interference outside of systems he controls like Johnston or NSICOP.
This is not a regular committee which reports to Parliament, it is established by the prime minister, with members and the chair appointed by the prime minister and which reports to the prime minister.
For Canadians to have trust, there needs to be an independent investigation, not one orchestrated by the prime minister. Enough with the silly games, call a public inquiry.