What was the point of this inquiry?

By The Globe Editorial Board | The Globe and Mail

Summary

In their rebuke of the final report of the Foreign Interference Commission, the Globe and Mail declares Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue has failed to provide clarity on foreign meddling in Canadian democracy.

The report, asserts the Globe, reinforces Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s narrative that there is no significant issue to address, despite previous leaks suggesting otherwise. According to the prime minister, the intelligence leaks that prompted the Hogue inquiry in the first place, were the work of criminals. The Globe describes the leaks as acts of courage by members of Canada’s intelligence community concerned about the threat to the federal electoral system the Trudeau government was ignoring.

Pointing out her power to subpoena witnesses and make them testify under oath, the Globe asks if Justice Hogue’s inquiry was worth the effort if, after a 16-month investigation and the testimony of more than 150 witnesses, she was only able to arrive at the “same conclusion every reasonable observer had already come to.”

The upshot for Canadians, the Globe concludes, is that “there are people in Ottawa who showed dangerously poor judgment, but somehow it’s better if the public doesn’t learn their names or whether they are still in office, are planning to run in the next election or have even been told to smarten up.”

The original version of this editorial is available at the publisher’s website here.