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Foreign interference inquiry must get access to all cabinet confidences, former spies say

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Centre Block’s Peace Tower is seen on Parliament Hill as a Parliamentary Protective Services officer walks past, on June 17.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

An organization representing retired Canadian spies says a public inquiry into Beijing foreign-interference operations must be given access to all cabinet documents and transcripts of discussions to determine whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was ever informed of China’s attempts to meddle in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

The Pillar Society, which represents retired Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers and former members of the RCMP Security Service, has joined calls for a public inquiry and expressed concern that further delay could end up scuttling one.

“The momentum that was there in the spring may have lapsed a bit and I think Canadians won’t be well-served if we don’t end up having an inquiry,” said Dan Stanton, a former manager in counterintelligence at CSIS who is a member of the Pillar Society’s board of directors.

Mr. Stanton, who is now director of the national-security program at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute, said the inquiry must have access to all cabinet documents and discussions about China, from which “I think we will find the answers of whether anyone briefed the Prime Minister or not.”

“Did he get wind of the fact that these ridings were being targeted by the PRC [People’s Republic of China] because they were Conservative and I think those answers are going to be possibly in the cabinet papers. To simply say he wasn’t briefed doesn’t really answer the question of was he aware of it.” he said.

Mr. Stanton said there is frustration within the intelligence community because cabinet ministers and senior officials say they did not read secret and top-secret documents that outlined the extent of China’s interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

“What was really disheartening in the testimony that was given where it seemed that very senior people including cabinet ministers didn’t read the reports because nobody phoned them to say. ‘You need to read this,’” he said.

Testimony before a parliamentary committee in June revealed that a July, 2021 CSIS assessment warning that Beijing was targeting Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong and his relatives in China was sent to Mr. Trudeau’s national-security adviser at the time, as well as three deputy ministers.

The three deputy ministers did not read the assessment. Mr. Trudeau’s then-acting national-security adviser, David Morrison, acknowledged he read the July, 2021 memo, but said he didn’t brief Mr. Trudeau because he did not regard the document as a call to action.

Then-public safety minister Bill Blair also received a May, 2021 top-secret document outlining the threats to Mr. Chong, but he didn’t read it either. Mr. Blair testified that he didn’t receive the note and said it would have been up to CSIS director David Vigneault to bring it to his attention.

Mr. Chong said in an interview that the Pillar Society has identified the key failure of the Liberal government to treat Chinese state interference as a serious national-security issue despite repeated warnings from CSIS.

“These are not documents written by an academic or civil society group. These are documents presented to the government by the head of our national-security agency,” he said. “And that is why we need an independent public inquiry.”

Mr. Stanton said there are signs the government is beginning to take foreign interference seriously. He lauded the recent creation of a cabinet committee on national security, and that newly appointed Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc retained the portfolios of Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs.

All-party talks on launching an official public inquiry into foreign interference by China are dragging into late summer. It’s been almost two months since the government opened the door to a public inquiry in the aftermath of former governor-general David Johnston’s abrupt resignation as special rapporteur on Chinese state interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

The political parties have agreed to terms of reference for the inquiry, but the government had yet to name a judge to head the commission. More formal terms of reference would be developed later with input from whomever is selected to head the inquiry.

The initial terms of reference, agreed to by the political parties, called for a commissioner or commissioners to submit an initial report by Dec. 7 that provides an assessment of foreign interference by China, Russia and other foreign state or non-state actors, including any potential impacts on the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. The inquiry would also look at the flow of foreign-interference assessments to senior government decision-makers, including elected officials.

The terms of reference also envisioned a second and final report no later than the end of December, 2024, that would assess the capacity of federal departments and agencies to “detect, deter and counter any form of foreign interference directly or indirectly targeting Canada’s democratic processes,” according to a copy seen by The Globe and Mail.

The final report would also make recommendations for better protecting Canada’s democratic processes from foreign interference. Opposition party leaders, who have received security clearances, would be allowed to review unredacted versions of the commissioner’s reports.

 

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‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

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REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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