PM Trudeau says foreign interference special rapporteur to be named soon, as Liberal filibuster persists

A week after committing to name a new special rapporteur to take on assessing the allegations of federal election interference by China and the issue of foreign meddling overall, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadians should know who he's picked "in the coming days or week."

"We know how important it is for Canadians to have confidence in our system and to have the right independent expert, reassuring of that. Because this is not about what one political party says or another," Trudeau said, facing questions about the commitment from reporters during a media availability in Nova Scotia on Tuesday.

"It's about making sure that experts are stepping up to reinforce the integrity of our democratic processes. We are working to appoint that special rapporteur, that special independent expert in the coming days or week. We're working extremely quickly on that," Trudeau said.

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That is essentially the same timeline he offered when he announced last Monday that the Liberals planned to tap an independent expert to take on making recommendations on combatting interference and strengthening Canada's democracy.

One of the yet-to-be-selected independent official's first orders of business will be to recommend to the federal government whether a formal inquiry or other form of probe or judicial review is the best next step.

Noting the mixed views among Canadians and experts around a public inquiry, Trudeau has vowed that the Liberals would "abide by" the guidance of the person chosen on whether an inquiry is needed and, if so, what its mandate and scope should be.

"This is a serious issue that we have always taken seriously and therefore, we're making sure that Canadians will continue to have confidence by appointing an independent expert to look at the entire landscape around national security and election interference from Beijing and other places as well," Trudeau said. 

This move, made as part of a suite of new measures aimed at addressing Canadians' concerns over alleged election meddling by China during the last two federal campaigns, has not satisfied opposition parties.

They still want an inquiry called, and at minimum have been pushing for the prime minister to work with other parties in Parliament to come to an agreement on who the rapporteur should be. Trudeau has previously indicated that he was willing to consult the opposition parties on deciding which "eminent Canadian" takes on this new role.

In a letter responding to what his office said was an invitation by cabinet to suggest names for who could take on the role of special rapporteur, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said Tuesday that his party wouldn’t be submitting any names of candidates until Trudeau confirmed he'll call a public inquiry. He also wants the prime minister to commit to allowing the House of Commons to decide who would lead it.

"This is the only way to restore public confidence in our electoral system. Parliament is asking for this inquiry through a motion passed at the PROC committee and we believe that is what the public is asking for as well. Thus, it is no longer up to a special rapporteur to determine whether to investigate," Blanchet wrote to Trudeau in French.

TRUDEAU HAS 'INSPIRED A LOT OF SUSPICION': POILIEVRE

While confirming that "there was attempted interference from Beijing into our electoral processes," Trudeau once again sought to assure Canadians on Tuesday that ultimately the outcomes of the 2019 and 2021 elections were not affected.

Asked by a reporter during an event on the other side of the country on Tuesday whether he was concerned about Conservative supporters viewing the electoral system as unfair, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Trudeau has "inspired a lot of suspicion" by refusing to answer questions about "his knowledge of Beijing's interference to help him in two successful successive elections." 

Poilievre once again called out Trudeau for not calling a public inquiry and said Canadians want to know what he has to hide, after the prime minister repeatedly declined to offer details about what he knew and when in relation to some of the allegations being reported. 

"If we want to restore faith in our democracy, we have to answer the questions and bring in transparency so Canadians know what happened, and we get direct action to make sure it never happens again," Poilievre said during an announcement in British Columbia.

LIBERAL FILIBUSTER PERSISTS AT PROC

In the meantime, a Liberal-led filibuster is ongoing at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) over an opposition-led push to call top staffers to testify as part of its ongoing study of foreign interference.

PROC's study was sparked by now-under-investigation leaks from intelligence officials to The Globe and Mail and Global News, alleging specific efforts from China to interfere in the last two federal elections.

The latest push is to see Trudeau's chief of staff Katie Telford and other backroom campaign officials testify as this committee continues its probe, alongside the new investigations being undertaken by two national security bodies: the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA).

Now into its second week, the Liberals have dragged on debate, putting off the vote on whether to call staffers by suggesting ways to pare down the proposal, voicing concerns about putting officials in such a position given the national security implications, while speaking at length about the issue of foreign interference generally.

"Obviously the Canadian public would love to know, everybody would love to know what our intelligence institutions, what our executive branch of government, our cabinet knew? When they knew it? How they knew it? And what they did about it," said Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld, one of a few members of Trudeau's caucus who was subbed in to take part in the hours-long meeting on Tuesday.

"But you know, who else would like to know that? China. China would love to know what did we know or what didn't we know? And how did we find that out? And then more importantly… What did we do about it? These are not things that can be talked about, in a public, an open forum," she said.

Suggesting that the concerns around foreign interference are not the most pressing issue that MPs are hearing about from their constituents, Liberal MP Wayne Long asked his colleagues to "not create a scandal where a scandal doesn't exist."

"Let the rapporteur do its work. And truthfully, I can't wait to see who's appointed, because I'll bet you it's going to be somebody hopefully—and knocking on wood here—that all parties are going to be able to say 'oh, okay, oh… we respect them. Okay… we just, you know, wasted a week and a half in PROC here.'"

When getting moments between Liberal monologues, Conservative MPs are imploring the committee to call the vote.

"It's been now more than 14 hours, over four days, that the Liberal MPs on this committee have been filibustering. Drowning on for hours and hours and hours, on a very simple motion… It really begs the question, what does this prime minister have to hide? How much longer are you guys across the way going to continue this? Let's get it to a vote," said Conservative MP Michael Cooper around mid-day Tuesday. 

As of 5 p.m. ET the filibuster continued, with PROC Chair and Liberal MP Bardish Chagger quipping just before a late-afternoon "health break" that she hopes MPs "will come to an understanding, or a way to call the question."

"And I, too, look forward to that happening."