Special Rapporteur David Johnston does not bow to pressure and declines to recommend a public and independent investigation into foreign interference, although there is “not a shred of doubt” that foreign governments are trying to influence Canadian candidates and voters.
“When I was appointed, I initially thought it very likely that a public inquiry would be recommended. However, given the documents and information that are at the heart of all public inquiries, I am more inclined to conclude that this could not have taken place publicly,” writes Mr Johnston in his long-awaited 65-page report, released on Tuesday.
He explains that “the sensitivity of the information” and “the risk of harm in the event of disclosure” would force an investigation “almost exclusively behind closed doors”, which could also “unnecessarily delay” the submission of a final report and the implementation of necessary corrective measures.
Mr Johnston proposes instead “public hearings” where the opinions of experts and representatives of the diaspora are sought.
The aim will be to “speak publicly with the Canadian people on these issues and listen to what they have to say”. In particular, they will focus on “serious deficiencies in the sharing and processing of information”.
Information gets lost in the bureaucratic labyrinth
“Information that should be brought to the attention of a minister or the prime minister does not reach him because it gets lost in the maze of government documents,” Johnston said.
“Documents are published, but nobody keeps track of who received or read them. This means that certain information can be sent to different consumers, but is not always actually consumed,” he describes.
This happened, for example, in the case of Conservative MP Michael Chong, whose Hong Kong family was allegedly the target of Beijing’s intimidation. The intelligence services had forwarded the information to the government, but never gotten to Justin Trudeau or the ministers involved.
“This is arguably the most prominent, but not the only example of poor information flow and mishandling between organisations, the civil service and ministers,” writes Johnston.
According to Mr Johnston, “a lot of work has already been done”, not only by the bodies set up by the government since 2016, but also under their leadership.
Since being appointed special rapporteur by Justin Trudeau in March, he says he has met more than 30 senior officials and intelligence experts who have given him a clear picture of the situation and its context.
In his opinion, the media behind the scandal would not have had a portrait. In his report, he debunks several of the reports of election interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections that have been published in recent months and are based on intelligence leaks.
“It turned out that several of the leaked documents, which raise valid questions, were misinterpreted in some media reports,” he writes.
Johnston also met with a number of ministers and opposition party leaders, with the exception of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who turned down his offer.
Finally, the Special Rapporteur advocates that “every effort should be made to identify and hold accountable those who disclose information”, a plea shared by the Prime Minister himself. To support his point, Mr. Johnston stresses that “we cannot rule out malevolence”.