There's no running away from foreign interference now

In a recurring feature, Susan Delacourt, a small-I liberal, and Matt Gurney, a small-c conservative, bring their different perspectives - and shared commitment to civil disagreement - to the political debates of the moment.

- SUSAN DELACOURT, MATT GURNEY

Liberal MP David McGuinty is the chair of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, which announced this week in a report that some of their fellow MPs had been "witting or semi-witting" participants in foreign interference.

Susan Delacourt There is only one thing to write about this week, we both agree, and that is foreign interference. With one word — “witting,” as in witting participation in foreign meddling by some elected members of Parliament — we have just entered a whole new chapter in the foreign-interference saga in Canadian politics. I had been getting the sense this week that Liberals and Conservatives were trying desperately to say drive on, nothing to see here. But that’s unsustainable after that explosive report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, announcing that some of their fellow MPs had been “witting or semi-witting” participants in foreign interference.

Matt Gurney I am honestly kind of at a loss here. I think we both know that people who are too close to situations can get obsessed with all the nuance and complexity and lose sight of the fact that for 99.9 per cent of the public, this actually isn’t a complicated issue. I’m not dismissing the concerns of due process, protecting intelligence sources and all the other issues. But the public has been told there are traitors within our government, and I don’t think they’re going to settle for non-answers and excuses from the powers that be. Do the powers that be not realize that?