PM says he’s trying to get Poilievre names of Tories linked to foreign interference

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has asked national security services to find a way to share information with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre about foreign interference affecting his caucus, he said Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Trudeau told a public inquiry that he has been given the names of past and present Conservative parliamentarians and candidates who are linked to foreign interference.

Trudeau said members from other parties, including the Liberals, have also been flagged.

While responding to a question from Poilievre in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Trudeau said he’s working to ensure the Opposition leader gets more information.

“The leader of the Opposition has failed at his responsibility to keep his own MPs safe from foreign interference,” Trudeau said.

“So I have asked the security services to figure out a way to give some information to the leader of the Opposition so that he can actually fulfil his responsibility of protecting Canadians, including those within his own caucus.”

Trudeau said security officials might even be able to share some names of Conservative parliamentarians and party members who are involved in or vulnerable to foreign meddling.

Despite urging from all other party leaders, Poilievre has refused to get top-level security clearance that would enable him to get top-secret briefings from agencies including the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Poilievre has argued that doing so would amount to a gag order and would prevent him from holding the government to account publicly.

Earlier this month, he accused Trudeau of lying to the federal inquiry on foreign interference, even though the prime minister gave his testimony under oath.

He doubled down on that assertion this week at a press conference in Ottawa.

“We told him to release the names, and we know he’d release the names if he had them. This is the prime minister who releases information on foreign interference whenever it suits his political purposes,” Poilievre said.

“He names names when it serves his purposes. And so we said, we’ve got nothing to hide.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2024.

Nojoud Al Mallees and Laura Osman, The Canadian Press