OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “family friend” and “special rapporteur” David Johnston, who was tasked with looking into alleged Communist Chinese interference in Canada’s recent elections, was recently blasted by Conservative Party politicians for having to hire a crisis communications firm to help prop up his public image.
Late last week, news broke that Johnston, who has refused to testify before MPs as to his own involvement with the embattled Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation, hired the well-known crisis communications firm Navigator, at taxpayers’ expense, to help him deal with public backlash.
According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), a spokeswoman for Johnston named Valérie Gervais said that Navigator was first retained after the former governor-general was appointed by Trudeau as “special rapporteur.”
Navigator is providing Johnston with “communications advice and support,” which includes the writing of press releases, dealing with interview requests, as well as helping him analyze media reports about him.
According to Gervais, “Navigator has had no involvement in [Johnston’s] investigation or the development of his conclusions and has not been privy to any classified materials.”
Gervais also noted that Johnston is “authorized to incur necessary expenses to conduct an independent review,” as per his role as “the Independent Special Rapporteur.”
Yesterday, Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leader Pierre Poilievre blasted the move, calling it “another example of how this process is flawed and makes no sense.”
“We shouldn’t have to hire a rapporteur who is a cottage neighbor or a family friend, ski buddy, and member of the [Pierre Elliot] Trudeau Foundation, and then have him try to reverse the reputational damage that that obvious conflict has caused by paying expensive consultants to actually do damage control,” said Poilievre to reporters.
“So, we think we can skip all this, save all this money by going straight to a public inquiry. And that’s what conservatives ask for. It’s what I will deliver when I’m prime minister.”
As for Trudeau, yesterday he went after Poilievre for saying Johnston hiring Navigator was not an effective use of public money.
“The opposition parties, particularly the Conservatives, have chosen to make it about baseless personal attacks and extraordinarily toxic partisanship,” said Trudeau to reporters.
“I’m not going to speak to decisions that the independent special rapporteur and his team are making to manage the toxic climate that they’re operating in,” Trudeau added.
Like Poilievre, Conservative Senator Denise Batters also blasted the revelation that Johnston, at taxpayers’ expense, hired Navigator.
“Stop. Enough,” she tweeted this past Friday.
Stop. Enough.
The #SpecialRapporteur must obey Parliament and quit.
HE is not supposed to be in crisis mode due to his appearance of bias…
CANADA is in crisis mode due to the #BeijingElectionInterference the Trudeau Government wants to cover up!Public. Inquiry. Now. https://t.co/qa6SQ8HoT8
— Sen. Denise Batters (@denisebatters) June 2, 2023
“The #SpecialRapporteur must obey Parliament and quit. HE is not supposed to be in crisis mode due to his appearance of bias…CANADA is in crisis mode due to the #BeijingElectionInterference the Trudeau Government wants to cover up! Public. Inquiry. Now.”
Additionally, CPC MP Michelle Rempel Garner chimed in with her thoughts regarding the revelation, questioning why Navigator would even take on such a difficult client.
CBC is reporting that taxpayers are paying for @navltd‘s fees, which means that firm has just exposed itself to potential weeks of McKinsey contract style questioning by all opposition parties. Scratching my head at this move. Must have been one hella big $ contract. https://t.co/iCkL3eZjkU
— Michelle Rempel Garner (@MichelleRempel) June 2, 2023
Just last week, MPs on the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee voted in favor of preventing Johnston from having to testify concerning his dealings with the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation, despite its alleged involvement in potential Chinese interference in Canada’s democratic process.
Johnston was first appointed by Trudeau as the “independent special rapporteur” to investigate alleged Chinese election meddling in March, despite the fact that he had previously been referred to as a “family friend” by Trudeau and was, at the time, a listed associate of the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation.
In April, after reports surfaced detailing how the non-profit foundation received a $200,000 donation allegedly connected to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), its entire board of directors and CEO and president resigned.
The donation revelation came amidst an ever-growing number of reports alleging that the CCP had meddled in Canada’s last two federal elections, both of which saw Trudeau emerge victorious.
Despite the scandals, Johnston concluded over a week ago that there should not be a public inquiry to investigate alleged CCP election meddling, because the matter could involve divulging state secrets.