Foreign interference: Inquiry won’t publicly name parliamentarians [Video]

OTTAWA –

The head of a federal inquiry into foreign interference says she will not be publicly identifying parliamentarians suspected by a spy watchdog of meddling in Canadian affairs.

The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians raised eyebrows earlier this year with a public version of a secret report that said some parliamentarians were “semi-witting or witting” participants in the efforts of foreign states to meddle in Canadian politics. 

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Although the NSICOP report didn’t name individuals, the blunt findings prompted a flurry of concern that members knowingly involved in interference might still be active in politics.

As inquiry hearings resumed Monday, commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue cautioned that the NSICOP report’s allegations are based on classified information, which means the inquiry can neither make them public, nor even disclose them to the people in question.

As a result, …