NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has vowed to take action against any MP found to have “knowingly worked with a foreign government to undermine Canada,” following the recent National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) report. During a press conference on June 10, Mr. Singh stated that if an MP is found to have knowingly collaborated with a foreign power against Canadian interests, he will immediately remove them from his caucus.
If. it’s clear to me that they knowingly worked with a foreign government to undermine Canada, I will immediately remove them from caucus,” Mr. Singh said during the press conference. There’s no way I will approve them to run as a candidate, nor would I allow them to continue to sit in my caucus if they are named.
Mr. Singh also urged the leaders of other federal parties to remove any MPs named in the report, should there be clear evidence or intelligence that suggests an individual knowingly worked with a foreign government against Canada’s best interests.
The NSICOP report did not specifically name any of the implicated MPs or senators and stated that prosecution of these individuals is unlikely to take place due to Canada’s “failure to address the long-standing issue of protecting classified information and methods in judicial processes.” NSICOP chair and Liberal MP David McGuinty explained that the committee cannot release the names of the parliamentarians cited in the report, as members are bound by the Security of Information Act and waived their parliamentary privilege to sit on the committee.
In response to this issue, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stated on June 5, “We do not need secrets and confidentiality. That is what got us into this problem in the first place. We need the facts so that Canadians can judge.” Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc has also emphasized the importance of maintaining discretion when it comes to discussing intelligence information publicly.