An NDP MP is calling on the House of Commons to find a way to release the names of the MPs implicated in a foreign interference report released earlier this month.
Jenny Kwan raised a question of privilege in the House on Tuesday, suggesting that the report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) had damaged the reputation of all sitting members.
That report alleged, based on intelligence reports, that some parliamentarians have been "semi-witting or witting" participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in Canadian politics. The unredacted version of the report did not specifically name any MP.
Kwan said that while the names of the MPs identified in the report remain secret, Canadians will lose trust in their elected officials.
"The report did not provide any names and as such all 338 members of this House, including those who have since left this chamber, are under a cloud of suspicion," Kwan said Tuesday.
She said the matter should be referred to the House procedures committee to explore possible ways of releasing the names from the report without compromising national security.
"In the face of such alarming revelation without knowledge of who the elected official is associated with each allegation, it means that all members are tainted and that the reputation of the whole House is put in question," Kwan said.
The Conservatives have been pressing the Liberals to release the names of the MPs in the report. But Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc has insisted that it would violate national security law, even suggesting that he could be arrested for revealing top secret information.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mark Flynn confirmed during a House committee meeting on Tuesday that if a government minister were to release the names of MPs in the NSICOP report, they would be charged with a crime.
