Liberals say foreign meddling inquiry should look into MP allegations
The Liberals support an effort to have the foreign interference inquiry investigate allegations against MPs, Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Monday.
He told the House of Commons that government MPs would support a Bloc Québécois motion that calls on the inquiry to dig into findings by a national security committee that some MPs "wittingly" participated in foreign meddling.
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians released its bombshell findings in a report last week.
LeBlanc previously said the government wouldn't release the names of accused MPs, saying intelligence reports can contain unverified information and it's up to the RCMP to lay charges where appropriate.
The Conservatives and NDP have both penned letters to LeBlanc saying the inquiry led by Quebec judge Marie-Josée Hogue must be asked to report on the allegations.
The Conservatives said they want the commission to issue a "finding of fact" for each case in which an MP or Senator is alleged to have knowingly participated in interference. The party said in a press release it’s crucial the Liberal government "provide full, unredacted information so they can independently access these accusations."
The NDP asked the government to ensure the Hogue Commission looks into the parliamentarians who participated in meddling and into findings involving interference by China and India in the Conservative Party’s leadership races.
During question period on Monday, LeBlanc told MPs that senior officials have already begun discussions with the Hogue Commission about expanding its work.
"We're going to support the motion precisely because we think the Hogue Commission offers us an appropriate forum whereby the allegations that surfaced (from the committee) can be examined," he told reporters after question period.
LeBlanc said the commission has the appropriate security clearances to review the intelligence.
"If the commission wants to work with the government, we believe they do, we would obviously be very, very anxious to ensure that they have all the resources and the time necessary to do this work," he said.
He added that the government will collaborate with the commission if it says it needs any changes to its terms of reference, including report deadlines.
During question period, Conservative MP Michael Cooper said once Hogue has made the findings of fact, she should release the names of parliamentarians who knowingly "collaborated with hostile foreign states."
LeBlanc declined to answer when asked whether Hogue should release those names, if she finds the individuals participated in meddling knowingly. He said the question was too hypothetical to responsibly answer it.
The NDP, Bloc and Green Party have asked for access to the classified version of the report, which was already provided to cabinet ministers and the prime minister.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters that if the report shows any NDP MP knowingly participated in meddling, he would immediately remove them from the NDP caucus. "I expect other party leaders to do the same thing," he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2024
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Government to increase carbon tax on April 1, Guilbeault says
The federal government has 'no intention' of pausing the next planned increase to the carbon price, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault confirms.
Debate gets testy as MPs consider confidence motion in PM Trudeau
MPs debated the first non-confidence motion of the fall House of Commons sitting today, seeing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre push once again for a snap election. But with votes secured to keep them afloat, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals were quick to turn the discussion into a referendum on the Conservative alternative.
EXCLUSIVE Image released of mysterious object shot down over Yukon in 2023
An image of the unidentified object shot down over Canada's Yukon territory in February 2023 has been obtained by CTVNews.ca.
Boosting Canadian seniors’ benefits would cost a 'chunk of change,' says PBO
Canada’s budget watchdog says the federal government may not meet its fiscal anchors if it acquiesces to the Bloc Quebecois' demand to expand seniors benefits in exchange for keeping the minority Liberals in power.
'I have nothing to do with this': B.C. man says he had no idea his name was linked to global fraud scheme
Â鶹´«Ã½ and the Investigative Journalism Foundation spoke with a Canadian who claims his identity was stolen and used to set up a series of companies peddling fraudulent investment schemes.
A city councillor in British Columbia says an online mob of "extremists" and "politically motivated hackers" is responsible for uncovering and publicizing a photo of him wearing a blackface costume to a Halloween party in 2007.
We've all had neighbours we didn't like, but two people from Sault Ste. Marie have been awarded more than half a million dollars for the 'extreme' behaviour of the people who lived next to them.
Questions are being raised over the use of body cameras in stores as a way to combat crime.
An 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in a caught-on-video incident in Mississauga earlier this month is now facing auto theft charges in Toronto.
Local Spotlight
An ordinary day on the job delivering mail in East Elmwood quickly turned dramatic for Canada Post letter carrier Jared Plourde. A woman on his route was calling out in distress.
Fire has destroyed a barn and 17,000 plants at a family-owned business in Lower Coverdale, N.B.
Before influencers on social media, Canada’s Jeanne Beker was bringing the world of high fashion down to earth and as Calgary’s Glenbow Museum gets a major make-over, it will include a new exhibition showcasing the pop culture icon.
A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.
A Nova Scotian YouTuber has launched a mini-truck bookmobile.
Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.