NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says parliamentarians who allegedly “wittingly” collaborated with foreign governments are “traitors to the country.”
Singh spoke Thursday after reviewing the unredacted version of an explosive report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), which was released last week.
“There are a number of MPs who have knowingly provided help to foreign governments, some to the detriment of Canada and Canadians,” Singh told reporters.
“What they’re doing is unethical. It is in some cases against the law,” said the NDP leader. “They are indeed traitors to the country.”
“The conclusions that are publicly available suggest that there are a number of MPs that were engaged in activities that were unethical, in some cases illegal or criminal. After having read the unredacted version. I agree with that finding.”
His comments stand in contrast to Green Party Leader Elizabeth May’s remarks after reading the full NSICOP report. Both leaders have security clearances to review the material.
May was the first opposition leader to read the unredacted document and said she was “vastly relieved” at what she says she found there, calling the “media firestorm” surrounding the NSICOP report “overblown.”
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But Singh said he is not “relieved” after reading the full text.
“I am more concerned today … than I was yesterday.”
May had told reporters that, “I have no worries about anyone in the House of Commons. There is no list of MPs who have shown disloyalty to Canada.”
The New Democrat declined to answer repeated questions about whether May was wrong, instead laying blame at the feet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who received the report back in March, and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who has not requested a security clearance to read the document.
“I’m more disturbed by what I’ve learned, and it really does highlight to me the failure of leadership of both Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre,” said Singh.
So far, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc has declined to provide the names of parliamentarians who “wittingly” collaborated with foreign governments, or any details beyond what’s in the public version of the NSICOP report.
The public safety minister says he is bound by Canada’s official secrets act, and revealing their identities would break the law and potentially jeopardize national security.
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