Johnston's mandate as special rapporteur on foreign interference has been released
Johnston's mandate as special rapporteur on foreign interference has been released
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has released foreign interference special rapporteur David Johnston's mandate, which instructs the former governor general to determine by May 23 whether a public inquiry is necessary.
However, Johnston will have months more to dig into the broader issue of shoring up Canada's democracy.
"Mr. Johnston is to recommend any additional mechanisms or transparent processes, such as a formal public inquiry, he deems necessary to reinforce Canadians’ confidence in the integrity of our democratic institutions by May 23, 2023," said the Prime Minister's Office in a statement outlining the details of this new job.
As the independent rapporteur on the matter, Johnston is also being asked to:
Assess the "extent and impact of foreign interference" in Canada’s elections, including examining information related to the 2019 and 2021 federal elections "to determine what the government did to defend Canada against electoral interference."
Build on the work of a pair of national security review bodies -- the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) -- to "identify any outstanding issues requiring attention."
And, "identify innovative approaches and improvements in the way public agencies work together to combat foreign interference in our electoral processes."
The entirety of this work is to be completed by Oct. 31, 2023. This move comes as part of a suite of measures Trudeau pledged earlier this month in an effort to assuage Canadians' concerns about China's interference in the last two federal elections.
Johnston has been informed that he has to submit regular reports to the prime minister, and then Trudeau will share these reports with the leaders of the opposition and the Canadian public.
"To fulfill this mandate, he will be given complete access to any relevant records and documents, classified or unclassified," said the PMO.
"He will consult and work with institutions, agencies, and officials across the federal government – including the Communications Security Establishment, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Privy Council Office, and Elections Canada – as well as political parties represented in the House of Commons."
Trudeau had signalled that the terms of reference for this appointment would be coming today, pointing to it as a contrast to the "political circus" he thinks the Conservatives are leading the charge on in the House of Commons.
"I'm actually pleased to contrast the approach that we've taken… People will see that there is an expert process that will dig into this in a non-partisan way," said the prime minister.
Trudeau tapping Johnston became highly politicized by the Conservative and Bloc Quebecois parties, who were quick to question Johnston’s impartiality and potential conflict of interest given his connections to the Trudeau family and foundation. The NDP continue to push for a public inquiry, and had expressed hope that Johnston's recommendation in this regard would be issued in short order.
Amid the flurry of partisan fury over his appointment, Johnston issued a statement late last week saying he was "privileged to accept the appointment" and was working on finalizing his mandate with government officials.
"Any attempts at undermining our democracy are serious matters and it is essential that we take action to protect our institutions and uphold Canadians’ confidence in our democracy," Johnston said.
A New Democrat MP is trying to convince his colleagues to change the rules that govern the House of Commons in a series of ways he says would instill 'democratic controls' on the prime minister's 'unfettered' powers.
Monday morning, the Public Service Alliance of Canada announced it had reached a 'tentative' agreement with the federal government for the 120,000 picketing Treasury Board workers who, since April 19, had been engaged in one of the largest strikes in Canadian history. Here's a rundown of the developments from Parliament Hill as they happened.
The House committee studying foreign election interference heard from top 2019 and 2021 Liberal and Conservative campaign directors on Tuesday, with party officials from both camps speaking about the need for politicians to come together to address any "legislative gaps" ahead of the next vote.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
U.S President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have announced updates on a number of cross-border issues, after a day of meetings on Parliament Hill.
Danielle Smith's win in the Alberta election hands her the most starkly divided province confronting any premier in Canada, writes commentator Don Martin.
Special rapporteur David Johnston didn't recommend public inquiry knowing it was a pathetically insufficient response for a foreign democratic assault of this magnitude, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
To frame a few new illustrations on pages tucked inside a passport as proof of a Liberal plot to purge the Canadian historical record seems like a severe stretch, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is a bright former federal prosecutor, who was destined to be a star in Justin Trudeau's cabinet. But in an opinion column on CTVNews.ca, Don Martin argues Mendicino has taken a stunning fall from grace, stumbling badly on important issues just 18 months into the job.
It's the most peculiar of elections with the frontrunner and her main opponent being the same person, writes columnist Don Martin. 'In the looming Alberta showdown, it's Premier Danielle Smith versus her mouth.'
As more Canadians pass their family cottages down to the next generation, 'major shifts' in the ownership of recreational homes will occur, according to Re/Max. But amid concerns around the cost of housing, some may be wondering whether they can afford to keep that family cottage. Here's what younger generations need to know about inheriting a recreational property and the market today.
As wildfires continue to ravage across Canada, an expert warns that people who live through such natural disasters could experience serious mental health issues in the long term.
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada.
Pierre Poilievre is off to Manitoba to rally Conservative supporters ahead of a byelection that Maxime Bernier is hoping will send him back to Parliament. The far-right People's Party of Canada leader lost his Quebec seat in the 2019 federal vote and lost again in the 2021 election.
With firefighting resources in the Halifax-area spread thin amongst multiple fires that began Thursday afternoon, the municipality’s largest fire that started Sunday remains 50 per cent contained.
As the rainbow flag flew at schools across Ottawa on Thursday, the public school board says some parents kept their children home from school due to possible Pride activities.
The highlight of Game 1 for Jamal Murray came when he dribbled into the middle, planted his surgically repaired left knee in the paint, made a full clockwise turn, then faded away and swished a mid-range jumper.
Accessible Community Counselling and Employment Services, a charity that supports internationally trained engineers like Zaitsev, said the dropping of the Canadian experience requirement is a welcome development.
With firefighting resources in the Halifax-area spread thin amongst multiple fires that began Thursday afternoon, the municipality’s largest fire that started Sunday remains 50 per cent contained.
As wildfires continue to ravage across Canada, an expert warns that people who live through such natural disasters could experience serious mental health issues in the long term.
The wildfires plaguing residents in Alberta and Nova Scotia are part of a larger trend that's driving up the cost of home insurance as extreme weather becomes more common, insurance experts say.
Accessible Community Counselling and Employment Services, a charity that supports internationally trained engineers like Zaitsev, said the dropping of the Canadian experience requirement is a welcome development.
The elevated walkway in Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar that collapsed during a school field trip, sending 16 children and one adult to hospital, was last repaired a decade ago.
The U.S. Department of Justice has informed former Vice President Mike Pence 's legal team that it will not pursue criminal charges related to the discovery of classified documents at his Indiana home.
Nearly four years after Jeffrey Epstein's suicide, the AP has obtained more than 4,000 pages of documents related to his death from the federal Bureau of Prisons under the Freedom of Information Act.
Border Patrol medical staff declined to review the file of an 8-year-old girl with a chronic heart condition and rare blood disorder before she appeared to have a seizure and died on her ninth day in custody, an internal investigation found.
European Council President Charles Michel said on Thursday he hoped a broad European summit in Moldova would offer the opportunity for Azerbaijan and Armenia to show their willingness to find a solution to their conflict.
Clashes between police and supporters of Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko left nine people dead, the government said Friday, with authorities issuing a blanket ban on the use of several social media platforms in the aftermath of the violence.
The Biden administration is retaliating for Russia's suspension of the New START nuclear treaty, announcing Thursday it is revoking the visas of Russian nuclear inspectors, denying pending applications for new monitors and cancelling standard clearances for Russian aircraft to enter U.S. airspace.
Pierre Poilievre is off to Manitoba to rally Conservative supporters ahead of a byelection that Maxime Bernier is hoping will send him back to Parliament. The far-right People's Party of Canada leader lost his Quebec seat in the 2019 federal vote and lost again in the 2021 election.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is welcoming Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to Canada Friday as the federal Liberals keep quiet about a democratic backslide in his country.
Bill Blair is blaming Canadian Security Intelligence Service director David Vigneault for the fact he didn't receive a memo warning about the alleged targeting of Conservative MP Michael Chong and his family by a Chinese diplomat.
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada.
Racial bias built into a common medical test for lung function is likely leading to fewer Black patients getting care for breathing problems, a study published Thursday suggests.
Researchers at Carleton University's Department of Electronics in Ottawa created a ground-breaking testing device to detect early signs of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s through biomolecular activities in a person’s saliva.
Twitter's head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, told Reuters on Thursday that she has resigned from the social media company, which has faced criticism for lax protections against harmful content since billionaire Elon Musk acquired it in October.
Deep in an open coal mine in southern Greece, researchers have discovered the antiquities-rich country's oldest archaeological site, which dates to 700,000 years ago and is associated with modern humans' hominin ancestors. The find announced Thursday would drag the dawn of Greek archaeology back by as much as a quarter of a million years, although older hominin sites have been discovered elsewhere in Europe. The oldest, in Spain, dates to more than a million years ago.
More than 20 years after British comedian Ricky Gervais gave insufferable middle-manager David Brent global fame, an Australian version of the hit show 'The Office' is being made, this time with a female lead.
Netflix shareholders voted on Thursday to reject multi-million dollar pay packages for the company’s top executives including for co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters.
Early access for 'Diablo IV' began Thursday night -- but the rollout of the highly anticipated action role-playing video game didn't come without speedbumps, notably for PlayStation users.
The wildfires plaguing residents in Alberta and Nova Scotia are part of a larger trend that's driving up the cost of home insurance as extreme weather becomes more common, insurance experts say.
As more Canadians pass their family cottages down to the next generation, 'major shifts' in the ownership of recreational homes will occur, according to Re/Max. But amid concerns around the cost of housing, some may be wondering whether they can afford to keep that family cottage. Here's what younger generations need to know about inheriting a recreational property and the market today.
The latest sanctions, if any, that the NBA plans to levy against Memphis guard Ja Morant for his second instance of displaying a gun on social media will be announced shortly after the finals, Commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday.
Bianca Andreescu beckoned the partisan Court 14 crowd for noise as she looked to put the finishing touches on a second-round win over American wild-card Emma Navarro.
America apparently needs more car seats. So, when Volkswagen unveiled the ID. Buzz, a retro-styled electric van, last year, it noted that the version for the North American market would be longer and would have three rows of seats.
An Indianapolis 500 fan whose vehicle was damaged when a tire flew off a racecar and out of the track during the race will receive a new car, an Indianapolis Motor Speedway spokesperson said.
