Trudeau names David Johnston new rapporteur

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has appointed former Governor General David Johnston as the new independent special rapporteur to look into foreign interference.

Charged with “protecting the integrity of Canadian democracy,” Trudeau announced his intention to appoint Johnston after consultations with all sides of the House of Commons.

Trudeau signaled Tuesday that the person named for the role, which he first announced last week, would soon be revealed.

“In this new role, Mr. Johnston will have a broad mandate to investigate foreign interference in the last two federal general elections and provide expert advice on how to further protect our democracy and maintain Canadians’ trust in it,” the statement said. Trudeau’s office.

“We will be working with Mr Johnston in the coming days to finalize his mandate and it will be published.”

Johnston was Canada’s 28th Governor General from 2010 to 2017, appointed by then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper after a long career as a law professor.

Then in 2018, Trudeau appointed Johnston as Commissioner of Leadership Debates, heading the independent body that organized the official leadership debates for the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

He will be stepping down from that position to take up this new role.

One of his first orders of business will be to advise Trudeau on whether a formal inquiry or some other form of inquiry or judicial review is the best next step.

In 2007, Johnston took on a similar role when Harper announced he would be a special adviser drafting the terms of reference for a public inquiry into the Airbus case.

Citing the conflicting views of Canadians and experts on the public inquiry, Trudeau promised the Liberals would “comply” with an elected official’s guidance on whether an inquiry is needed and, if so, what its mandate and scope should be.

The stance is part of a series of measures Trudeau has put in place to try to ease concerns over alleged election interference by China during the past two federal campaigns.

This is breaking news, more to come…