Politics
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet has received the necessary security clearance to review classified national security files, his party has told Radio-Canada.
Poilievre now the only leader without top-secret clearance to view national security docs
Catharine Tunney · CBC News
· Posted: Oct 24, 2024 12:10 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet speaks with reporters before question period in Ottawa on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet has received the necessary security clearance to review classified national security files, his party has told Radio-Canada.
That makes Conservative Pierre Poilievre the only party leader in the House of Commons who doesn’t have the proper clearance to review top-secret documents, including intelligence the prime minister said he’s seen indicating Conservative parliamentarians are involved in or vulnerable to foreign interference.
Blanchet began the process in June, not long after the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) released a heavily redacted document alleging, based on intelligence reports, that some parliamentarians have helped foreign states interfere in Canadian politics.
Top-secret clearance allows Blanchet to read the unredacted version of that report and sit in on future briefings.
“All I want is to make sure before the election that there is no member of Parliament in my caucus which would have been involved in any way with a foreign power,” he said back in June.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh received their top-secret security clearances last year.
Poilievre has argued against getting that clearance, saying he would be bound by secrecy laws and couldn’t speak openly or challenge the government.
His refusal has triggered a fiery debate in Canadian politics after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified under oath last week that he’s seen intelligence about Conservative parliamentarians and party members who are engaged in or vulnerable to foreign interference.
“I have the names of a number of parliamentarians, former parliamentarians and/or candidates in the Conservative Party of Canada who are engaged, or at high risk of, or for whom there is clear intelligence around foreign interference,” he told the inquiry investigating foreign election meddling.
Trudeau suggests Poilievre might have something to hideDuring question period Wednesday, Trudeau suggested his main political rival was hiding something.
“Canadians should be alarmed by the Conservative leader choosing to ignore risks to his own party and to our country,” Trudeau said. “If he has nothing to hide, what is he afraid of? Why will he not get his security clearances?”
In a statement Thursday, Conservative spokesperson Sebastian Skamski said Poilievre, as a former cabinet minister, has already been through the full screening process.
“Submitting private personal information to a security clearance check is not a concern for Mr. Poilievre, nor has he ever expressed that as a concern,” he said.
“To the contrary, Mr. Poilievre’s objection is that he will be silenced by the Trudeau Liberal government — a view which he has repeatedly stated publicly.”
Skamski repeated the Conservatives’ calls for the prime minister to release in the House of Commons the names of all parliamentarians who have knowingly collaborated in foreign interference.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has insisted he doesn’t need a security clearance. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)He also pointed to the section of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act which allows the spy agency to take “reasonable and proportional” measures to counter threats to the security of Canada.
CSIS has said such a “threat reduction measure” — sometimes called a TRM — could include a classified briefing.
“The government can brief the leader of the Opposition on issues of national security that are relevant to him, but they have not – they prefer the option that muzzles and silences instead,” said Skamski.
A spokesperson for CSIS said that before using a threat reduction measure, CSIS weighs “the availability of other means to address the threat, and the potential impact on third parties, including their privacy rights.”
CSIS also said that while it can brief more Canadians than ever before on sensitive information, it still can’t share personal information — or name names — if the person receiving the briefing doesn’t have the proper clearance.
Last spring, the House of Commons pushed through, with broad support, the government’s legislation to counter foreign interference, formally known as Bill C-70.
It allows CSIS to disclose sensitive information beyond the federal government “to strengthen society’s overall resilience against threats,” said CSIS spokesperson John Townsend, responding to CBC’s questions last week.
But there are limits.
“Importantly, these changes include strict limits on disclosing personal information about Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or any individuals in Canada, as well as the names of Canadian entities or corporations, without additional authorizations,” said Townsend.
“CSIS welcomes any opportunity to brief elected officials about the threat landscape at any classification that is appropriate.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called the Conservative leader’s continued refusal to obtain a security clearance disturbing.
“It is ludicrous to me that someone who claims to want to be the prime minister of this country doesn’t want to know of ongoing and serious threats that impact Canadians,” he said during a news conference last week.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May encouraged Poilievre to go through the process, which includes intense interviews and rigorous background checks, saying that “the only way for Canadians to know that the Official Opposition has not been compromised through foreign interference is for its leader to seek and obtain top secret security clearance.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Catharine Tunney is a reporter with CBC’s Parliament Hill bureau, where she covers national security and the RCMP. She worked previously for CBC in Nova Scotia. You can reach her at catharine.tunney@cbc.ca
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