Canada’s spy agency says it will disclose “some information” about foreign interference to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who has resisted getting the national security clearance he needs to review classified documents about the issue because it would muzzle him.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) told CBC News on Saturday that it’s determined “the disclosure of some information to the leader of the Official Opposition through a threat reduction measure is appropriate.”
Classified information is typically shared only with people who have an appropriate security clearance and a relevant need to know, CSIS said in a statement.
But under a threat reduction measure, “certain information can be disclosed to reduce a threat,” and plans are being “finalized” to convey the information to Poilievre, the agency said.
In October, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he asked intelligence services to find a way to brief Poilievre about foreign interference allegations involving his party — and possibly to share “some names” with the Conservative leader.
“It would be easier if he got his security clearance, but I’ve asked them to give him some information nonetheless,” Trudeau said at the time.
Poilievre has so far refused to go through the screening process to obtain a security clearance that would allow him to view the information Trudeau has referred to over the past two months.
While responding to a question during question period, Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre should get security clearance to read foreign interference documents. Miller said Poilievre ‘needs to grow a pair’ but later withdrew the statement at the House Speaker’s request.
The Opposition leader has argued against getting that clearance by saying he would be bound by secrecy laws and couldn’t speak openly or challenge the Liberal government. Poilievre has also said his chief of staff, Ian Todd, has received classified briefings.
A spokesperson for Poilievre said the federal government “has now flip-flopped and admitted what Mr. Poilievre has been saying all along is correct.”
“The leader of the Official Opposition does not need to get a security clearance and swear an oath of secrecy in order to be briefed,” Sebastian Skamski said in a statement to CBC News on Saturday evening.
Skamski also said the briefing “will occur in the near future.”
India and the Conservative Party
In June, an intelligence watchdog body made up of MPs and senators who are sworn to secrecy — the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians — released an unclassified version of a report it put together on foreign interference in Canada’s elections.
That report, based on intelligence parliamentarians were able to see and hear, said foreign actors from India and the People’s Republic of China allegedly interfered in more than one race for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Most of the details were redacted from the report for national security reasons.
Radio-Canada reported on Monday, based on confidential sources, that agents of the Indian government allegedly interfered with Patrick Brown’s 2022 run for leadership of the Conservative Party.
This week, Brown, who is the mayor of Brampton, Ont., testified at the House of Commons safety committee and said an Indian consul general — a senior member of India’s foreign service in Canada — expressed concerns about Brown’s use of the term “Sikh nation.”
According to Brown, the consul general made an “angry phone call” to his campaign co-chair, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner.
The Radio-Canada sources alleged that Rempel Garner was pressured to withdraw her support for Brown in the 2022 leadership race.
Rempel Garner categorically denies that allegation and said in a written statement to Radio-Canada that she left Brown’s campaign completely of her own volition.
“In no instance was I coerced in any manner, by anyone, at any time,” she said. “I am an experienced parliamentarian, seasoned communicator, and former cabinet minister who has proven more than capable of developing senior grade positions entirely based on my own read of a situation … to suggest that I’m not is ridiculous.”
In response to questions from Radio-Canada, Poilievre’s office said it has “no knowledge” of any attempts by Indian government representatives to undermine Brown’s campaign.
