Opposition MPs call on Liberals to release more docs to oversight committee

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OTTAWA – Opposition parties are accusing the Liberals of trying to hide information and call on the government to release more records after an intelligence review committee revealed it was barred from receiving over a thousand documents while looking into foreign interference.

Opposition MPs and observers said the government’s behaviour was “shocking,” “abusive” and “unacceptable.” They were reacting to accusations that the federal government withheld a significant amount of information from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) as it studied foreign interference in Canada.

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“The shocking revelation that the government withheld over 1,000 documents from the NSICOP committee makes clear their claims of transparency ring hollow and they will use every available tool to cover up the truth,” Conservative MP Michael Chong said in a statement.

“That is unacceptable,” NDP MP Alistair MacGregor said in an interview. “On an issue which is really, really top of mind for a lot of Canadians and is incredibly important to resolve… we need to have NSICOP have full access to anything related to foreign interference.”

National Post first reported on Wednesday that just after publishing an alarming report on foreign interference in Canadian politics, NSICOP said it believed some departments and agencies “inappropriately” invoked cabinet confidence to withhold parts or all of one thousand documents from its review despite the fact that the committee maintains secure confidentiality over sensitive information it sees.

The committee’s review into foreign interference, published Monday, stated that some parliamentarians are “wittingly or semi-wittingly” helping foreign governments, confirming previous reports about foreign interference in Canadian elections.

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Without naming any individuals or parties, the report revealed that parliamentarians have provided confidential information to Indian government officials and advocated for the Indian government while in Parliament.

The report also revealed that a former MP had maintained a relationship with a foreign intelligence officer and sought a meeting with that officer while in a foreign country.

NSICOP, which includes MPs and senators, reviewed 33,000 pages of documents from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the RCMP and other departments about foreign interference to prepare its report.

In its 2023 annual report published Wednesday, the committee noted that despite being granted access to four documents covered by cabinet confidence last year as part of its review of foreign interference in Canada, it was blocked from over 1,000 others, either completely or in part.

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“Specifically, close to a quarter of these documents were withheld in their entirety,” the committee wrote. “The Committee is concerned that some departments and agencies may be inappropriately using claims of Cabinet confidences to avoid disclosing information to the Committee.”

Cabinet confidence is a longstanding principle that dictates that deliberations at the cabinet table should remain confidential so as to allow ministers to “express their views freely during the discussions held in Cabinet.”

Documents that contain cabinet confidences — information that is discussed at the cabinet table — are normally prevented from disclosure, namely under the Canada Evidence Act.

Few argue against the importance of the principle of cabinet confidences, but Wesley Wark, who studies intelligence and security issues, said the government has increasingly stretched the definition — and information it covers.

Now, he says it’s increasingly obvious that the government is abusing the concept of cabinet confidentiality.

“The problem that (NSICOP members) have is that, in their view, the principle is being abused by a lack of clarity and sort of strict definitions about what is a cabinet confidence. And they are absolutely right about that,” said Wark, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.

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“Because there’s no real definition and no real rigour around cabinet confidences, the principal is subject to a lot of abuse,” he added.

NSICOP recommended that the government update the legal definition of cabinet confidences and, in the meantime, make a “clear statement” that it can receive anything but “core” confidences.

In a statement to National Post Thursday, NSICOP chair David McGuinty said that means only information “provided directly to Cabinet or ministers attending Cabinet meetings and which reveal options, deliberations or discussions at those meetings.”

Neither Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s office nor the Privy Council Office responded to questions about NSICOP’s report and recommendations by deadline.

Wark says it’s time to grant NSICOP and another oversight body, the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, the authority to receive certain information considered a cabinet confidence.

He noted that Canada’s auditor general has the ability to request certain such documents since 1985.

“I don’t see any reason why the two review bodies shouldn’t have a similar power to the auditor general … or access as required in special circumstances to cabinet confidences, even core ones,” he said.

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McGuinty’s statement also said this is the first time the government revealed exactly how many documents it withheld due to cabinet confidence, meaning the committee also has no idea how much information it has not seen in over a dozen earlier reviews.

NSICOP isn’t the only intelligence review body that is having issues obtaining documents from the government due to cabinet confidence.

In a first report published in May, Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue noted she was challenging certain redactions in documents by the government, who cited “Cabinet confidence, solicitor-client privilege or protection of personal information”.

On Thursday, commission spokesperson Michael Tansey said discussions about the redactions with the government were ongoing and declined to comment on NSICOP’s concerns.

Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure said he’s concerned about the recent emerging trend of government review bodies being blocked by claims of cabinet confidence. He accused the Liberals of cultivating a “culture of avoidance” within the public service.

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“It’s an unfortunate trend. And I think that the government should realize that this is not helping them,” he said in an interview. “At a moment where trust is low and the population needs to have trust in their government, I don’t think it’s a good reflex.”

Wark said the fact that the number documents withheld or redacted due to cabinet confidence in the NSICOP review was “alarming.”

Questioned by MacGregor in the House of Commons, LeBlanc said Thursday politicians were not involved in deciding what information is considered a cabinet confidence.

“Senior public servants work to ensure (NSICOP and the Hogue inquiry) have access to all of the documents necessary to their important work. Any redactions or any decision with respects to documents that are made available are made by senior public servants and elected people aren’t involved in that process whatsoever,” he said.

cnardi@postmedia.com

National Post

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