Trudeau Accuses Opposition Parties of ‘Partisan Games’ as MPs Prepare to Vote on Johnston’s Removal

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing federal opposition parties of playing “partisan games” as the House of Commons prepares to vote on an NDP motion that, if passed, will call upon the Liberal government to remove David Johnston as the special rapporteur on foreign election interference.

Trudeau’s comments come amid refusals and delays by all opposition leaders to receive briefings of the secret intelligence information that Johnston says led him to recommend against calling for a public inquiry into foreign interference in his first report released on May 23.

“What we’ve highlighted is that that intelligence is available for the leaders of the opposition parties to avail themselves of, to understand what underpins the very good report that Mr. Johnston put out,” Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on May 31.

“The fact that they’re choosing to be able to continue to play partisan games instead of getting right into the actual facts of the matter show that they’re not taking foreign interference very seriously.”

Both Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre and Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet have refused to receive the briefing, saying they would be bound to a subsequent oath of secrecy.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has said that he is seeking assurances from the Liberal government that he will still be permitted to speak “freely” about his thoughts on the briefing should he choose to receive it.

All leaders have called on the government to remove Johnston as special rapporteur and to call a public inquiry into foreign interference allegations. Singh introduced a non-binding motion on May 29 saying Johnston should be removed because of a “clear appearance of bias.”

Trudeau has defended Johnston’s credibility and accused the opposition leaders of remaining willfully ignorant by refusing to review the intelligence briefings.

The House of Commons is set to vote on the NDP’s non-binding motion following question period on May 31.

Reporters also questioned Trudeau about the testimony of former CSIS executive Dan Stanton at a parliamentary committee on May 30, in which he said the government should call for a public inquiry in order to restore Canadians’ confidence in the electoral system.

“We didn’t appoint Dan to be the expert looking at this,” Trudeau said in response. “We looked at a whole bunch of different people who we would task with this job.”