Vote nears on NDP call for Johnston to step aside as special rapporteur – National | Globalnews.ca

Canadian MPs are set to vote on a non-binding motion put forward by the NDP for David Johnston to step aside as special rapporteur investigating foreign interference.

In explaining the reasoning behind the motion, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said there was a “clear apprehension of bias at this point” about Johnston and his connections to both the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s family.

“The appearance of bias is so high that it erodes the work that the special rapporteur can do,” he told reporters on Monday.

The motion, tabled May 25, would, if passed, also call on the government to launch a public inquiry into foreign interference, despite Johnston recently stating such an inquiry is not needed.

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Special rapporteur advises no public inquiry into foreign interference

Johnston said much of the intelligence an inquiry would look at could not be made public, however, all opposition parties remain firm one is needed.

The vote on the motion comes after NDP MP Jenny Kwan confirmed she had been warned by CSIS that she has been a target of foreign interference by China for years.

Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole also detailed on the House floor on Tuesday what he called an “active campaign of voter suppression” by China against him and his party in the 2021 election.

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NDP tables motion to recall Johnston as special rapporteur over ‘clear appearance of bias’

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