Singh says public inquiry into alleged election interference could protect secret information
CBC
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says a public inquiry into allegations of Chinese interference in Canada's federal elections could include an in-camera component to address concerns about exposing top-secret information.
Singh and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre have been pushing the idea of an open inquiry on foreign election interference.
Some critics argue, however, that national security would prevent a public inquiry from having open access to all government information.
Taking questions on Monday, Singh said an in-camera portion is standard for inquiries.
"So there are certain things that may be so important that we don't want it in the public discourse because it could undermine the work of our agencies. That's understandable," he said.
"That is a normal course of action, given we're a G7 nation ... We don't want countries to know the details of how our spy agency is operating or the resources that we have."
Singh said an independent person should decide when to take the discussion behind closed doors.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not said for certain whether he supports a public inquiry. Trudeau is holding a media availability at 5: 15 p.m. ET on foreign election interference.
Fred Delorey, who ran the Conservatives' 2021 federal campaign, told CBC News Network's Power & Politics last week that an inquiry into alleged foreign election meddling would be "very challenging."
"A public inquiry would be great political theatre. It would be a lot of fun, it would be great television," Delorey said. "But I don't know what we'd actually get."
Delorey and others have suggested the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), a special committee that includes both MPs and senators with top security clearance, would be the best venue for an investigation.
Singh said he'd still like to see a public inquiry.
"We want the public to know that we're taking steps to assess exactly what happened, how broad this is, and then take steps to recommend how we can prevent this from happening in the future," said Singh.
"That should be the goal."
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