Vote on Telford foreign interference testimony will not be a confidence matter: Trudeau – National | 24CA News
The minority Liberal authorities won’t make a Conservative movement calling on the prime minister’s chief of employees to testify on international election interference a matter of confidence, Justin Trudeau says.
For weeks, Conservatives have tried to get Katie Telford to look as a witness at a parliamentary committee investigating international election interference. After failing to achieve a vote on their movement, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre tabled a movement within the House of Commons on Monday that calls on Telford and a number of other different officers to look as a witness at a distinct committee learning the identical topic.
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Conservatives push movement calling on Katie Telford to testify on international interference
Conservatives say Telford has precious data relating to when Trudeau was briefed on allegations of Chinese interference in Canadian elections and society, a difficulty that has been captured in ongoing studies revealed by Global News and The Globe and Mail.
A vote on the movement within the House of Commons is anticipated after query interval on Tuesday afternoon.
“No, it’s not going to be a confidence motion. Obviously, it goes to how important the issue of foreign interference is, and I’m actually pleased to contrast the approach that we’ve taken,” Trudeau mentioned.
He added that the phrases of reference for the particular rapporteur place the federal government introduced final week can be popping out on Tuesday. Former governor normal David Johnston was named to the publish, and can, amongst different issues, assess whether or not a public inquiry into the allegations is required. Trudeau has been underneath stress to name one, however has handed off that call to Johnston.
“People will see that there is an expert process that will dig in to this in a nonpartisan way, and people can contrast this with the kind of political circus that Mr. Poilievre is trying to generate.”
Conservatives argued Telford, who has been a prime aide to Trudeau since earlier than he grew to become prime minister in 2015, can reply key questions on briefings on election interference Trudeau obtained and what actions — if any — he took in response.
The Conservatives and the Bloc Quebecois each appear ready to vote in favour of the movement.
But the New Democrats, who’re supporting the Liberals by means of a supply-and-confidence settlement, haven’t dedicated to doing the identical — regardless of its members agreeing Telford should testify.
Instead, they tabled their very own movement on Monday that seeks a broad public inquiry into international interference that appears past China to different alleged meddling by actors like Russia and Iran. Conservatives have rejected calls to increase the probe.
Poilievre and different Conservative MPs on Monday challenged NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh on whether or not he’ll assist their movement or proceed to assist the Liberals with their “cover-up.”
Speaking to reporters exterior the House of Commons on Monday, Liberal House Leader Mark Holland wouldn’t rule out the potential of turning the Conservative movement right into a confidence vote. That would pressure the NDP to decide on whether or not to throw out the supply-and-confidence settlement over compelling Telford’s testimony.
The settlement, reached in early March 2022, does deal with conditions wherein the federal government declares a confidence vote on different issues. It requires the Liberals to tell the NDP of a confidence vote as quickly as attainable, and the NDP to debate with the Liberals how its MPs intend to vote earlier than saying so publicly, “to permit discussions” to happen.
The Liberal authorities has been underneath immense stress to clarify what it knew about international interference within the 2021 election after The Globe and Mail reported final month that intelligence sources mentioned China tried to intervene in that marketing campaign to assist the Liberals win one other minority authorities.
That report got here after months of revelations from Global News about allegations of Chinese interference within the 2019 election.
— with information from Sean Boynton
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
