Johnston was ready to testify at committee before MP requests
“We have not had reluctance on the part of the right honourable David Johnston to appear,”She added that after a motion and witness list had been approved earlier this year, a call was made in late April to Johnston to request him to appear on June 6.
But due to the report being underway, Chagger said he had told the committee he would not be able to testify until it had been released.On Tuesday, opposition MPs submitted a letter requesting Thursday’s meeting to discuss having Johnston appear, while also criticizing the former governor general’s stance on a public inquiry.
That same day, he recommended against a public inquiry into allegations of Chinese interference, while saying public hearings during his report on the topic should be held.“David Johnston’s decision is a slap in the face to diaspora groups who are subject to abuse and intimidated by hostile foreign governments and all Canadians rightly concerned about foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections and future elections,” the letter reads.
“The summons guarantees that he appears for three hours and it also removes some of the variables … that if the can’s kicked down the road weeks and weeks, then we could find ourselves in a position where we don’t have the opportunity to ask these vital questions.”Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull criticized the move, saying it was “not a good faith attempt at getting to the bottom of this.
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