Kwan argued that as long as the names of those politicians remain secret, Canadians will lose trust in their elected officials, undermining MPs' ability to do their jobs. "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 in June.
But Fergus ruled Monday that Kwan had failed to demonstrate "concretely" that keeping the names secret has impeded MPs' ability to carry out their duties.
"While I understand that findings presented in the NSICOP report are serious and appear to create suspicions about certain members, that in itself is not a basis to establish this question of privilege merits priority of consideration over all other House business," he said.
In order to be considered a "prima facie" violation of privilege, an issue must also be raised in a timely manner. In his ruling, Fergus pointed out that Kwan raised the issue two weeks after the NSICOP report was released.
New Democrat MP Jenny Kwan, who has been identified as a target of clandestine Chinese influence activities, expressed concern at the inquiry about the ability of federal structures to address foreign interference.
"We actually really have to catch up with other jurisdictions."
Kwan cited a need for an "independent structure, one that is accountable and divorced from politics," to take the lead and drive actions that must be taken to protect Canada's national interest.
Testifying in Ottawa before the inquiry into foreign interference, O'Toole said one of his MPs was told by a local mayor that a Conservative senator was actively working on behalf of a Chinese government-owned company.
"There was a member of our upper chamber caucus that an MP brought to me that he had been directly or indirectly promoting or lobbying an interest of a Chinese state-owned enterprise in a riding in Ontario," O'Toole told the inquiry.
"There had been previous stories about sponsored travel and other things that led me to have some serious concerns considering some of the subjects that we were discussing within caucus. But it was that issue in a town in Ontario, potentially advocating for an economic interest, that really forced me to make a decision about some concerns about that member."
China and India are deeply engaged in attempting to influence diaspora communities and elect MPs sympathetic to their interests through illicit funding and disinformation campaigns, according to a CSIS report tabled at the public inquiry into foreign interference.
The inquiry has already heard testimony about the broad range of China’s foreign-influence activities, but the new Canadian Security Intelligence Service document details how heavily involved the government of India is in trying to meddle in Canadian domestic affairs and undermine support for the Khalistan movement that seeks an independent Sikh state in Punjab.
NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.), her party’s immigration critic, said the UN report should come as no surprise to the government, as it echoes “what migrant workers and labour advocates have been saying for a very long time.”
NDP MP Jenny Kwan says the power imbalance that leads to abuse is structural to the temporary foreign worker program, not just its low-wage stream. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
“The way the program is set up exposes workers to exploitation and abuse because they’re reliant on their employer to retain their status in Canada,” Kwan explained. “If they face abuse and exploitation and complain about it, they stand to lose their job, and—in the worst-case scenario—they stand to be deported back to their country of origin.”
Kwan said the government has taken a “haphazard approach” to addressing problems with the TFWP to date, focused almost solely on the low-wage stream, but—while misuse of that stream is “particularly deplorable”—she said the root of the problem is structural to the entire program.
“The government has to address the main structural issue, and that is the power imbalance that exists between the temporary foreign worker and the employer,” Kwan said. “The only way to do that is to ensure that the temporary foreign workers actually have landed status on arrival, then they are not dependent on the employer, and would not have to suffer potential abuses and exploitation.”
“It doesn’t matter what stream it is, all the temporary foreign workers programs subject migrant workers to potential exploitation because of that power imbalance,” Kwan said, adding, though, that the NDP supports calls to end the program’s low-wage stream.
While the government and groups like the Canadian Chamber of Commerce may reject the UN rapporteur’s characterization of the program, the recent Senate report found similar abuses within the program.