The West Block – Episode 25, Season 12 – National

THE WEST BLOCK

Episode 25, Season 12

Sunday, March 12, 2023

Host: Eric Sorenson

Guests:

Marco Mendicino, Public Safety Minister

Andrew Wallace, Australian MP, Deputy Chair of Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security

Location:

Ottawa, ON

Eric Sorenson: As allegations of Chinese election interference mount, the Prime Minister shifts gears, but the opposition isn’t buying it.

I’m Eric Sorenson, sitting in for Mercedes Stephenson. Welcome to The West Block.

No letup in opposition calls for a public inquiry. Justin Trudeau says he’ll appoint an independent special rapporteur to investigate instead. One of several steps the government is taking to restore trust, but is it too little and too late? We’ll ask the public safety minister.

And, lessons from down under: Is Australia’s strategy to counter foreign interference a model for Canada?

We saw more heated debate in Ottawa last week over foreign interference in Canadian politics. Cabinet ministers were grilled on what they knew about China’s attempts to interfere in Canada’s democracy. Opposition parties are calling for a public inquiry, and the Prime Minister says he won’t commit until a special rapporteur evaluates the situation. Although, even he seems to admit Canadians patience may be wearing thin.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: “To be quite honest, I know that no matter what I say, Canadians continue to have questions about what we did.”

Eric Sorenson: With new allegations of interference arising seemingly every week, what is the path forward for the government? And joining us to talk about it is Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino. Thank you for being here.

Marco Mendicino, Public Safety Minister: Thank you, Eric.

Eric Sorenson: I want to start with the Prime Minister and just how he sounded there when he answered that question about Canadians that continue to have questions and part of the reason for that is because he’s not answering even simple questions. Nobody’s looking for details of the interference. They just want to know—well, what did he know? Like what—when did he learn about it? Did he learn about it?

Marco Mendicino, Public Safety Minister: Well I would begin by saying that this is a complex issue, and since we took the reins of government in 2015, we’ve actually put in place the…