Special rapporteur Johnston rejects call to 'step aside' after majority of MPs vote for him to resign

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's efforts to assure Canadians that his government is adequately addressing the threat of foreign interference took a hit on Wednesday, when the majority of MPs in the House of Commons voted for special rapporteur David Johnston to 'step aside,' a call Johnston quickly rejected.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's efforts to assure Canadians that his government is adequately addressing the threat of foreign interference took a hit on Wednesday, when the majority of MPs in the House of Commons voted for special rapporteur David Johnston to "step aside," a call Johnston quickly rejected.

Opposition MPs teamed up to pass an NDP motion calling for Johnston to remove himself from the role as rapporteur over recommending against a public inquiry, and in light of the "serious questions" raised about his mandate and conclusions.

The motion—passed by a vote of 174 to 150— also revives a call for the federal government to "urgently establish" a public inquiry, with specific parameters around what the inquiry would look like, from the scope spanning all foreign states and how the person helming it should be chosen, to the timeline for completion.

While a symbolic move, as the motion is non-binding and Johnston remains on the job, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Wednesday he hopes it sends a message to Trudeau that Johnston no longer has the confidence of the House of Commons to continue with his plans to hold public hearings and dig further into the inter-governmental intelligence-sharing gaps.

"There's really no reason now to continue with Mr. Johnston when it has become very clear—this is nothing personal about Mr. Johnston or his credibility—but the appearance of bias is too strong that it undermines the work that the prime minister hoped that Mr. Johnston would be able to do," Singh said.

While the NDP leader said he thinks the "honourable" thing for the former governor general to do would be to respect the will of the majority of MPs and step away from his role, Johnston made it clear Wednesday afternoon that he has no plans to stop investigating allegations of Chinese government interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections and the adequacy of the existing safeguards.

"When I accepted the mandate to act as Independent Special Rapporteur, I did so with full knowledge of the fact that the work ahead would be neither straightforward nor uncontroversial, " Johnston said in a statement. "I have delivered on the first part of my mandate with the report presented last week... That said, as I have indicated, there is much work yet to be done and a further public process is required."