COMMITTEE TALKATHON — Tune into ParlVU for evidence of a national security concern that has devolved into an insufferable partisan mud fight.
Political games were on display Tuesday as Liberal MPs chewed through committee resources, again, to prevent a vote on a Conservative motion that seeks KATIE TELFORD, the prime minister’s longtime chief of staff, as a witness. “We could just call the question,” said Tory MP MICHAEL BARRETT, “Or we can listen for another two and a half hours to more filibustering.” — Spoiler alert: Liberals chose more filibustering. More than 23 hours of it. Lucky translators. Telford has proven herself capable under pressure. Think about her performance during the Public Order Emergency Commission, or in rare committee cameos, like during the WE Charity scandal, or when she took questions on the government’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations against JONATHAN VANCE. The Liberals are sticking to the principle that political staff don’t appear before committee — that’s the minister’s job. They accuse the Conservatives of playing political games in trying to get Telford to PROC. Bloc MP CHRISTINE NORMADIN told the committee that from her seat, “the opposite is true.” The Quebec lawmaker said while the Conservatives’ tactics may be “abrasive,” they ultimately support a public inquiry, despite allegations some of their candidates could have foreign interference links. — Running the PROC clock: The longer the Liberals’ talk tape runs, the greater the odds the public will perceive the committee’s work to be a waste of time. One eyebrow-raising remark came from Liberal MP ANITA VANDENBELD, after she expressed concern that lives could be ruined by accusations about being foreign agents. “Once you say that about someone … how do you prove that you're not?” she said. Her next comment framed whiteness as innocence. “I am fortunate, I can go back to my constituency and tell people, first of all, I'm white. I'm of Dutch descent. I am sanctioned by China myself,” she said. “I can say, obviously, I'm not working for China … But what if I was Chinese? What if my parents were Chinese?” — Fact check: Every politician and every Canadian is vulnerable to foreign interference, not just the Chinese-looking ones. It’s a complex issue. Ask the delegation of parliamentarians who accepted an invitation from the National People’s Congress to travel to China in 2019. But advocacy groups, such as Alliance Canada Hong Kong, have been consistent in their warnings for years against treating the diaspora community as a monolith, calling the reflex “reductive and harmful.” International Trade Minister MARY NG broached the double-standard last week when she said Chinese Canadian MPs have to deal with “suspicious eyes that now cast question on why we are involved, as if we are easily controlled or influenced by hostile actors from afar.” — What’s missing: Discussion about how Beijing has taken advantage of an era of globalization to extend its influence beyond its borders and what political interference has to do with it. Toronto Association for Democracy in China co-chair CHEUK KWAN told the House ethics committee Friday that election meddling by Beijing is the tip of an iceberg, a small piece of an invisible interference campaign that’s been “soft, intangible and gradual.” Last year’s record exports and imports with China show how entangled Canada’s economy is with an authoritarian superpower. — What’s next: Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU hasn’t ruled out an inquiry. Instead, the government has asked the public to trust the process, which is doing The Ottawa Thing of hiring an external consultant, a.k.a. special rapporteur, to advise on next steps. Naming a special rapporteur is a “baby step,” NDP MP RACHEL BLANEY told PROC, asking her colleagues to move on to a vote, which did not happen by the time the committee was suspended at 10:09 p.m., ending a nearly 12-hour meeting. — Tick tock: Trudeau told reporters inside a Michelin tires plant yesterday in Nova Scotia that his government is working to appoint that rapporteur in the “coming days or week.” (Yes, singular.) Do you enjoy Ottawa Playbook? Maybe you know others who would like it, too. Point them to this link where they can sign up for free. | 
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