The rejection of a full public inquiry is likely to further erode faith in elections that is already wavering.
The bottom line is that a report that exonerates the prime minister was rejected by the leader of the opposition before it was even released. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre refused to take part and has described Johnston as Trudeau’s “ski buddy,” “cottage neighbour” and “family friend.” Former leader Erin O’Toole — hardly a “smash the machine” rabble rouser — protested on Tuesday that he was interviewed by the special rapporteur last week, when the report was already in French translation.
The focus of the first report reviewed events surrounding the 2019 and 2021 elections. Johnston concluded “there is no basis to lack confidence in their results” but said that there were “serious shortcomings” in the way intelligence is communicated from security agencies to government.
He said the foreign interference controversy arose from reports by Global News and The Globe and Mail that he said were largely based on limited intelligence. “I have had the opportunity to review a more comprehensive set of intelligence and conduct interviews with experts, and have in certain circumstances, drawn rather different conclusions from what was reported,” he wrote. “It is exceptionally rare to draw conclusions, much less take action, from any single intelligence report.
China was focused on assisting pro-China candidates and marginalizing anti-China candidates and did not engage in party preferences, he concluded. While there was online misinformation posted about Conservative MP Kenny Chiu’s proposal for a foreign-agent registry, there is no evidence that misinformation was state-sponsored, Johnston wrote.
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