The Liberal Members of Parliament (MPs) continued their plan to prevent the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Katie Telford, from testifying before the House of Commons committee on March 14th. The opposition parties, including the Conservatives, Bloc Québécois, and NDP, are seeking to hear Telford’s testimony regarding Chinese foreign interference. As part of their filibuster, the Liberal MPs spent an entire day speaking, avoiding a vote on a motion supported by all opposition parties.
The opposition MPs are hoping to gain insight into what the government knew about Chinese interference and when they knew it. The Liberals, on the other hand, spent their time attacking the credibility of the national security leaks and relaying anecdotes.
During his filibuster time, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Greg Fergus likened the current situation to that of Maher Ahar, a Canadian-Syrian citizen who was wrongly linked to Al Qaeda and was later tortured in Syria. The Liberals also defended the principle of ministerial accountability, arguing that political staff should not be required to testify before committees.
Conservative MP Michael Cooper brought forward previous and current motions to have Telford testify, but they were defeated by the Liberals with the help of the NDP. However, the NDP withdrew their support after more national security leaks came to light.
The allegations reported include Telford requesting an assessment on interference by the Chinese Communist Party as early as 2017 and that a sitting Liberal MP was part of a Chinese interference network.
All opposition parties are requesting a public inquiry, but the prime minister has opted to appoint a special rapporteur on the issue of foreign interference instead. The PROC meeting, which was previously suspended, ran all day and into the evening.