After reading the explosive report on foreign interference, Jagmeet Singh corroborated claims that elected officials in Canada worked with India and China, even going so far as to call them “traitors to the country.”
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“I am more alarmed today than yesterday after reading the report,” and the fact of having read it makes its conclusions “even more solid,” said the leader of the NDP during an eventful press briefing on Thursday. afternoon.
“In short, a number of MPs have knowingly aided foreign governments, sometimes to the detriment of Canada and Canadians.”
Importantly, these elected officials could sit in the House of Commons as well as at the provincial or municipal level. Neither their name nor their number is known, and Mr. Singh refrained from naming anyone.
“I have no reason to take more action for my party, but it is clear that we must take action to continue working against foreign interference in general in Parliament.”
The guilty must pay
Elected officials at all levels “have benefited from foreign interference”, and “some of these acts seem absolutely criminal and should be the subject of prosecution”, he opined, his tone serious.
In his eyes, the parties and the government must find a way to “let the MPs cited in this report know that we know what they are doing”. “I think it can be done in a way that does not compromise national security,” Mr. Singh said.
Among the questions that remain unanswered is that relating to the timeliness of the allegations: are we talking about current deputies or former elected officials?
Without answering it, and without even having the right to answer it, Mr. Singh suggested that some of the elected officials mentioned would still be in office, but not necessarily in Federal Parliament.
“If there are still no consequences for MPs who knowingly help foreign governments act against Canadian interests, we will continue to be an easy target. The removal of MPs who knowingly participate in foreign interference would have a deterrent effect on this type of behavior,” he said.
A contrast with May
Her statements contrast with those of the leader of the Green Party, Elizabeth May, who said she was “reassured” yesterday by the content of the secret report to which she was able to access.
Ms May’s comments cast some doubt on the seriousness of the allegations, but Mr Singh’s could turn things around.
Like Ms. May, Mr. Singh was able to read the unredacted version of the report of the select committee of high-security parliamentarians, but did not see the intelligence evidence that informs its findings.
The NDP leader said he himself was a target of attempted interference by foreign powers. Remember that Jagmeet Singh, of Sikh faith, is banned from entering India.
Mr. Singh, the third party leader to read the unredacted report, accused Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre of “putting the interest of their party before that of their country: Mr. Trudeau for having seen certain information without having acted, and Mr. Poilievre because he refuses to obtain his security clearance to read the report.
