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Country over party, country over everything — that’s how our society should work.
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But, sadly, it doesn’t.
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On Friday, the Globe and Mail ran an op-ed online from someone they simply described as a “national security official.” The column explained why this person broke the law and started leaking information to the media regarding China’s election interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
“When I joined the public service many years ago, I swore an oath. Not to party or to person, but to my country, to its democratic institutions and to my fellow Canadians,” the unsigned piece read.
Those of us who have served, in any capacity — with the military, Canada’s security services, or certain parts of our public service — will be familiar with this oath. It’s not loyalty to the government of the day, its about loyalty to Canada.
The writer of the column described how foreign interference in our elections has grown, how government officials have been notified but that nothing has changed.
“Months passed, and then years. The threat grew in urgency; serious action remained unforthcoming. I endeavored, alone and with others, to raise concerns about this threat directly to those in a position to hold our top officials to account. Regrettably, those individuals were unable to do so,” the writer said.
So, the uneasy step of speaking to the media came about.
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Liberals, reacting to this anonymous piece of writing have been quick to point out that the author states they don’t believe China’s election interference changed the overall outcome of the vote. That’s not the point though, it’s not whether the overall outcome was changed, it’s the ongoing and growing threat of China’s interference and our government’s lack of action to stop it.
That’s what the author stated was their goal in beginning to leak information to the media.
Unfortunately, as he has from the beginning, Trudeau has seen everything through a partisan lens. He is acting not in the best interest of the country but of his party. He’s concerned that the Liberal Party, or his political reputation, will be damaged if Canadians know the truth.
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Compare that to how Australia reacted to finding out about China’s electoral meddling at about the same time, back in 2017. The Australian government sought opposition support to passing legislation and putting in measures to blunt China’s efforts and to a degree it has worked.
Trudeau has, until recently, rejected a foreign agents registry, he dithered on a decision on Huawei, he has allowed China’s universities and even its military incredible access to Canada’s research platforms in post-secondary institutions, and he covered up what he knew of election meddling.
These are the reasons why people inside the national security operations felt the need to turn whistleblowers and they are the reasons why Trudeau telling the public to just trust him, everything is fine, won’t cut it.