(We’re probably going to get one. Prepare to be disappointed.)
Johnston’s image courtesy of Global News.
Everybody is upset about election interference by the Chinese. Understandably so. But do we need a public enquiry about it? Well, let’s see who wants one and why:
The Conservatives
They want an enquiry into everything the Liberals didn’t do, hoping the enquirers will turn up dirt on the government they can use in the next election. And there isn’t going to be anything striking enough to be any use, but Pierre Poilievre will take the opportunity to rant another self-righteous sound bite for his faithful base. Ho, hum.
Chinese Canadians
These undeserving Canadian citizens are receiving the brunt of the anger on this matter, and they are the last ones to deserve it. If you think about it, who are Chinese Canadians? By definition, they are people who left China. They escaped from Mainland China to get away from the Communist government. They left Hong Kong before the Communists took over. They left Taiwan because of fear of China. Sure, there are Communist spies in their midst. Just like there were Japanese spies in the Japanese interned in WWII, and drug dealers in the Boat People who came from Viet Nam. That doesn’t excuse trashing a whole cultural group.
But racially prejudiced people don’t listen to reason because they don’t want to. They will continue their nasty behaviour undisturbed. Canada’s Chinese want vindication, but they aren’t going to get it from a public enquiry.
The General Public
Sure, we all would like to get more information about what kind of meddling has been going on, and how serious a threat it is.
Well, think about it. This is Spy-vs-spy stuff. China has agents embedded in the Chinese community. CSIS has agents embedded in the Communist organizations. A former Governor-General is a good choice because of his high security clearance. Any documents allowed to be seen by a public enquiry will be so redacted there will be nothing left for the public to learn, and I think this is what the rapporteur is going to discover.
The Bottom Line
I’d be interested to find out how the National Post got hold of leaked papers from CSIS and how the whistle blower will stay out of jail. If security is the main reason we’re not discussing this in public, howcum we’re already discussing it in public? Do we have yet another government department in disarray?
There certainly needs to be some sort of enquiry. After all the fuss everybody’s making about being sure David Johnston is the best man for the job, why not trust him to do it? If he finds evidence of another government SNAFU, that’s the time to go public.
But…
It’s good for democracy to have a shakeup once in a while, and good for those in office to know that the public is looking over their shoulders. So when the enquiry goes public, I won’t complain. But I won’t expect much.