Commission on Foreign Interference | The Bloc Québécois once again calls for an extension of public hearings

(Ottawa) The Bloc Québécois is back in action to demand that the Commission on Foreign Interference extend its public hearings in order to rehear certain witnesses, notably Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and some of his close collaborators.

Deeming it “indispensable” that the public hearings be extended, the Bloc Québécois takes the liberty of insisting to Judge Marie-Josée Hogue, who chairs the Commission and who ruled out this possibility last week in an exchange of letters with the Bloc leader , Yves-François Blanchet, and his colleague from Trois-Rivières, René Villemure.

The Bloc Québécois reaffirms its request in a new letter sent to Judge Hogue. In principle, the judge must file a first report on May 3 on foreign interference activities carried out by China, India and Russia, among others, during the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

“Given the crucial issue at the heart of the work in progress, we consider it essential to insist. As highlighted in our first letter, several testimonies given during the first hearings raised questions and issues that cannot be put aside and it is of capital importance to return to them,” argued MM. Blanchet and Villemure in this second missive.

“It seems essential to us that the public hearings be extended in order to rehear certain witnesses and welcome new ones, before the submission of the first report. Furthermore, the previous shift in the deadline for submitting the first report, from February to May, is a good example that such an extension is possible if circumstances require it,” also underlined the two signatories of the letter. .

They argued that all parties represented in the House of Commons would support a decision to extend the public hearings, especially since everything indicates that the next election is not imminent.

Shedding light

Bloc officials concluded their letter by saying that it is important to shed light on foreign interference activities during the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

Last week, Judge Marie-Josée Hogue rejected the Bloc Québécois’ request for the first time on the grounds that the decrees adopted by the cabinet to set up the commission do not give it the power to extend the deadlines that were set.

“The work of the Commission and the associated deadlines are dictated by the mandate of the Commission, which is set out in Decrees C. P. 2023-882 and C. P. 2023-1316. Therefore, the Commissioner does not have the power to extend these deadlines,” she said.

“It is worth emphasizing that the issues to be considered during the first and second stages of the factual phase of the Commission’s work are, to some extent, interdependent. The work of the Commission is therefore far from finished,” she indicated.