Tom Mulcair: David Johnston should leave graciously while he still can

Last Thursday the NDP gave notice of an opposition motion that will be debated today and voted upon later this week.

That motion calls on David Johnston to step aside from his role as Special Rapporteur, and would require the government to urgently establish a public commission of inquiry. Crucially, it also states that the inquiry would be led by an individual selected with unanimous support from all recognized parties in the House,

It is rare for an opposition motion to have this much importance.

The issue that was supposed to be at the heart of Johnston’s botched report was the defence of our democratic institutions. This motion would put that back, front and centre.

As if it weren’t sad enough to see the magnificent career of an outstanding public servant end in a tailspin, Johnston appears to have decided to dig in.

'I WILL NOT BE DISSUADED'

Within 24 hours of the publication of the opposition motion, Johnston wrote an opinion piece in The Globe and Mail.

In that article Johnston rehashed large chunks of the foggy reasoning of his report. Then he said this:

“While I identified serious shortcomings in the way we respond to foreign interference, the work is not done. And I will not be dissuaded from completing it. That is the job I undertook, and I feel obligated to complete it to the highest possible standard. Then I will leave it to Canadians to judge this contribution to safeguarding our democracy.”

In the context of his mandate that was supposed to be all about defending Canadian democracy, it is no small irony Johnston appears to believe that he’s more important than the will of the elected members of Parliament.

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When Johnston was first named, some opposed his appointment because of his friendship with the Trudeau family. I know Johnston well and have always respected him. I thought that many of these criticisms were petty and indeed puerile. I was convinced Johnston would do the same type of high level work he’d once done for Stephen Harper who needed advice on how to investigate the past dealings of Brian Mulroney.

Johnston had famously said that the Airbus part of the Mulroney affair was “well-tilled soil”. That upset many journalists, commentators and ordinary Canadians who’d wanted to know the truth about that entire matter. The Oliphant Commission was established and, while finding fault with Mulroney, it had to stay clear of that explosive part of the file. No doubt impressed with his skills, Harper later named Johnston governor general.

It therefore came as no surprise that Justin Trudeau would call upon those same skills to help him get through the biggest scandal of his nearly eight years as prime minister. It was a call that I applauded, knowing Johnston as I do.

Then all hell broke loose at the Pierre Trudeau Foundation, where Johnston held a key role right up until his appointment as Special Rapporteur.

There had clearly been an attempt to gain influence, through that foundation, by donations from frontmen for the Chinese Communist Party. The president and CEO, along with several Board members, resigned when those who’d been present at the time refused to withdraw from discussions.

When it became clear that he was going to have to look at the goings-on at the Foundation, Johnston had only one thing to do, resign as Special Rapporteur. It’s a basic rule of natural justice that you can’t be a judge in your own case. Johnston once taught law. It’s a rule he knows perfectly well.

Instead of resigning, of course, Johnston persisted and signed.

His press conference was abysmal. He turned regularly to the lawyer who accompanied him. It turns out that she was a long-time donor to the Liberal party. That’s something he should’ve checked but apparently didn’t or, if he did, it didn’t click that this would cause a further perception that the fix was in.

The report was so weak as to be almost laughable. Just too secret for Johnston to discuss in any detail but it turns out that he also had a whole team from that lawyer’s firm working with him on the report. What they got to see was no doubt more than what MPs were allowed to look at.

Johnston pleaded his professional credentials as a lawyer when asked if a judge shouldn’t have done this work. But one of the first things a judge would do is put any witnesses under oath. That apparently never happened here.

• Don Martin: David Johnston's reputation is but a smouldering ruin

Instead, we have the vague and totally inadequate statement that the good people who all work for Trudeau said they’d turned everything over. Really?

And, the real kicker, Johnston had not found any cases of Trudeau or his ministers failing to act. One can just imagine the scene, Johnston asking Trudeau’s Chief of staff Katie Telford if Trudeau ever failed to act (on Michael Chong? On Erin O’Toole?…). Of course he found nothing.

Johnston’s public hearings are mostly meaningless attempts to substitute for a real inquiry. He would have Canadians follow him as he roots out alleged failures of the intelligence sharing rulebook in Ottawa. It’s a mighty distraction that will lead nowhere.

Johnston envisions himself hearing from diaspora communities and sharing his experience and pearls of wisdom. More window dressing intended to substitute for a real inquiry.

CANADA, JOHNSTON AND CHINA

A Montreal newspaper which I write for ran a picture last weekend of one of Johnston’s meetings with President Xi. In that picture, I’m seen sitting there with Johnston as he’d invited me on that official visit after I left the NDP leadership.

I learned a lot about Johnston, about diplomacy and about China during the trip. On the night of our official dinner with Xi and senior officials, the Chinese president left the table unexpectedly during the meal. He later returned and I thought nothing of it until we left and none of our electronics worked any more.

It turns out that Liu Xiaobo, the long imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Chinese human rights activist had just died. He had fought to end communist one party rule in China. He had succumbed to cancer.

Why our electronics were targeted remains unclear. We spoke amongst ourselves but never really had a full opportunity to debrief. We surmised that there was official concern about reaction against the death of someone who had supported the Tiananmen Square protests. Johnston’s strong personal and family relations with China and the Chinese regime did not appear dampened by these events. For me it was a wake-up call.

TRUDEAU AND CHINA

Trudeau tried and failed to begin negotiations for a free trade deal with China. On his second trip, Canadian journalists were roughed-up by Chinese security and the whole thing turned into a debacle.

Trudeau is not alone in believing you can have a normal business relationship with China. Harper penned a Foreign Investor Protection Agreement with Beijing that should never have been signed.

Canadian companies such as now-bankrupt tech giant Nortel have known what it’s like to have their secrets stolen and shipped off to China, where companies like Huawei were then free to profit from them. That naïveté is, fortunately, becoming a thing of the past.

Canada is right to want to have reciprocity with China. Our economies are in many respects complementary and enhanced trade can be beneficial to both of our countries. But reciprocity in trade demands reciprocal respect.

Some of our closest allies: the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom have formed an alliance that markedly excludes us even though we are an important Pacific power. It should be a warning to all Canadians that those close friends don’t see us as being trustworthy when it comes to dealing with China.

It is time to reset our relationship with this important world power. The naive obsequiousness of the past can no longer be our guide.

As for Johnston, if indeed a majority of the House of Commons says he has to step down, he’ll have no choice but he shouldn’t wait to be shoved. He should leave graciously while he still can.

Tom Mulcair was the leader of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada between 2012 and 2017