LILLEY: Liberal response to MPs working with foreign governments - boo hoo, get over it! (2024)

The Liberal view on finding out which MPs are working with foreign governments – boo hoo, get over it.

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That’s not just the Liberal attitude, that’s a direct quote from a Liberal MP during a committee hearing Thursday morning. Jennifer O’Connell serves as Liberal MP for Pickering-Uxbridge and is also the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety.

As Conservative MP Frank Caputo was questioning Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc on the issue of which MPs have been found to have worked with hostile foreign governments, O’Connell started heckling. She was trying to yell over Caputo during his brief question time with LeBlanc which led fellow Conservative MP Garnett Genuis to call on the chair to deal with O’Connell who was breaking the rules.

“Oh, boo hoo, get over it!” O’Connell called out.

Those words, that attitude, expressed by O’Connell are indicative of the entire Liberal attitude to foreign interference. They have been fighting against the release of information since this story emerged almost two years ago and continue to fight against the release of information.

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On Wednesday, we learned that the Trudeau government has denied more than 1,000 documents in whole or in part that were requested by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.

This is the committee that the government has been talking up as the best place to deal with the issue of foreign interference for the last two years. Yet, when that same committee came out with a damning report on Monday saying MPs wittingly took part in foreign interference and worked with foreign governments to advance the interests of another country, the Liberals downplayed the report as not complete.

For the last two days, the Conservatives have been asking the government to release the names of the current MPs who have been caught working with foreign governments. On Wednesday in Question Period, the Liberals showed complete contempt for Parliament by bringing up unrelated topics like the economy, when asked about some sitting members who may have been engaged in treason.

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Thursday morning at the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, LeBlanc was pressured by Caputo several times to release the names of those involved.

“So, people who are alleged, and in some cases, according to our intelligence communities, to have committed some of the most serious offenses known to Canadian law, are you prepared to release those names? Yes or no?” Caputo asked.

“No, Mr. Chair,” was LeBlanc terse reply.

“You will not release the names of members, elected members, operating in the House of Commons. Do you think Canadians have a right to know yes or no?” Caputo asked.

“I think it’s important for Canadians to understand that these names are contained in intelligence reports. In some cases, it’s uncorroborated or unverified intelligence information,” LeBlanc said.

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“So, the idea that there’s a perfect list of names that is entirely reliable that should be released to the public, is simply irresponsible.”

Caputo pushed LeBlanc further saying that the report released this week doesn’t equivocate the way the government has and that voters deserve to know this information before they cast their ballots in the next election. LeBlanc disagreed and said to let the RCMP look into this knowing full well how slow the RCMP is and how difficult it is for charges to be laid based on intelligence information.

Justin Trudeau was informed about foreign interference during the 2021 election while the campaign was still on. He was told of concerns about China interfering in the nomination of Han Dong but did nothing during the election nor after.

Trudeau has fought every attempt to investigate the issue of foreign interference and every attempt to release more information. He’s doing that now by refusing to release the names of MPs who face these allegations.

The government claims it’s not fair to those MPs.

You know what also isn’t fair?

Asking voters to cast their ballots without knowing this information.

The Liberals will pay dearly for all of this come the next election and all I’ll have to say to them is boo hoo, get over it.

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