'Political attacks' won't help Canada counter foreign interference, PM says to question of testifying

Asked Wednesday whether he'd be willing to testify before a parliamentary committee seized with assessing the Liberals' handling of foreign interference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dodged the question, saying that 'political attacks' won't help Canada counter the 'very serious issue' of China's election meddling.

Asked Wednesday whether he'd be willing to testify before a parliamentary committee seized with assessing the Liberals' handling of foreign interference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dodged the question, saying that "political attacks" won't help Canada counter the "very serious issue" of China's election meddling.

The Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) that's been studying foreign interference for months—stemming from reporting alleging specific attempts by Beijing to alter the outcomes of the 2019 and 2021 federal elections—is at a standstill over an opposition-backed attempt to call Trudeau's chief of staff Katie Telford to testify.

On Tuesday, Liberal MPs spent nearly 12 hours filibustering at the committee, speaking at length on a range of tangentially-relevant topics to talk out the clock. During numerous monologues, Trudeau's MPs voiced their opposition to the push to see senior staff from major parties appear to shed light on what they were briefed on, or flagged to federal officials, regarding efforts by China to interfere in the last two campaigns.

Having staff face questions at a parliamentary committee goes against the tradition of ministerial accountability, Liberals noted, while pointing to ardent efforts by the previous Conservative government—including then-minister of democratic reform Pierre Poilievre—to fight attempts to have staff testify.

The longest-yet stretch of procedural obstruction undertaken by Trudeau's caucus wrapped up around 10 p.m. with the Liberal committee chair hoping the two sides would find a way to come to a vote so they can move on.

The next morning, a reporter asked the prime minister with the Liberals blocking the committee from calling Telford to testify, whether he'd be willing to appear.

Trudeau didn't directly answer. Instead he spoke around the issue by pointing to the various measures he's recently committed to undertaking to see the issue explored further while reassuring Canadians that "there was no impact from Chinese interference on to the outcome of our elections."