Wednesday is caucus day on Parliament Hill and this week’s meetings must have been like no other. This time, it seems, the call is coming from inside the house. Earlier this week, we learned that some Parliamentarians are believed to have been helping hostile foreign actors interfere in Canadian electoral affairs.
MPs and Senators appear to have been willingly and knowingly working with foreign governments and actors, most notably China and India, in relationships that can benefit both the parliamentarians and the foreign governments. Information, it is alleged, has been exchanged to benefit the elected member and representatives of the foreign government. In cozy quid pro quo arrangements, vital information shared with a foreign government was supposedly traded for help from agents of that country in mobilizing its diaspora or offering other aid in electoral campaigns.
How many Parliamentarians? Well, we don’t know. The heavily redacted report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) implies maybe just a few were “wittingly” working with foreign actors. Well, what party do these few belong to? We’re not told.
Could they be sitting beside unknowing colleagues at the caucus meeting? Maybe. Could it be your MP, one who might be seeking re-election next year? Sure. The point is, we don’t know and we don’t know when we might.
This troubling report turns the foreign interference question on its head. No longer are we talking .
