The NSICOP Report

The NSICOP released a special report on foreign interference in Canadian politics and it was much more useful than the public inquiry that was completed earlier this year.

The public inquiry was not very useful because it did not follow the money. That is how we are going to find out just how badly compromised our politics is by foreign actors, both governmental and non-governmental. Instead we got a report that did not tell us much of anything useful.

The NSICOP report on the other hand flat out told us that more than a few parliamentarians were witting and unwitting helpers of foreign actors in influencing our politics. They did not go into details because to do so would break more than a few national security laws but the message is clear. Some of our elected officials have both knowingly and unknowingly allowed themselves to be supported by foreign actors.

That is a very serious situation and it bears much more scrutiny. If we had a fully functioning Parliament all of the parties would be working together to get to the bottom of it and then coming up with new laws and regulations to reduce foreign interference in all of its forms.

Of course we do not have a fully functioning Parliament and I will not go into details as to why.

What I did find interesting was the thundering silence on the findings of the report from the CPC when it was published. It took them 24 hours to finally come up with an attack line and that attack line was that the government should release the names of the MPs. Of course they cannot do that because to do so would be breaking the law. So the CPC can safely continue to demand the release of those names knowing that the government cannot comply.

I do have a question as to why the Conservatives took this tack. I have stated before that none of the Federal parties would come out smelling like a rose if the names were released because I can pretty much guarantee that some past and current MP's, of all political stripes, have benefited in some way from foreign interference. 

So does the fact they took this tack indicate that one or more of the Conservatives MPs on the NSICOP informed Pierre Poilievre of the names and him seeing that his name was not mentioned or a very prominent Liberals being mentioned lead to their reaction? Or is this just Pierre Poilievre being himself and throwing shit at the wall hoping it would stick knowing that the government has no defence because they cannot legally release the names?

For now I am going to give the Conservative MPs the benefit of the doubt. The second option is typical Pierre Poilievre and I cannot yet think that the Conservative members of the committee can break the law so readily.

Of course, we cannot talk about this without talking about the media reaction, which has been as predictable as the tides. I have noticed that many in the media have parroted the Conservative talking points while downplaying the fact the government cannot release the names without breaking the law. Indeed, I saw one news report last week that completely omitted that fact. 

As I stated in my last post the government has to cut off all public financial support going to our media. The fact one news organization completely omitted the legal reasons for not releasing the names is obvious and overt misinformation. It is the right of the media to tell stories as they see fit. It says so right in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, it is also the right of Canadians not to have their tax dollars to go to organizations that lie to them. 

In the end foreign interference will continue in our politics because no real measures have been taken to measure the true extent of it and its impacts in our politics, probably because all parties know they would be badly hurt if the truth were to really come out. As well, do not expect any of those MPs named in the report to ever see the inside of a courtroom as a result of the report findings. It's just not going to happen.