Editor's note: This article originally appeared on ParliamentToday, a Village Media newsletter devoted exclusively to covering federal politics.
CPC Leader Pierre Poilievre is questioning the source of a media report claiming foreign interference in his leadership campaign and standing firm on his refusal to get security clearance.
Poilievre made the remarks to Vaughan reporters on the second full day of the campaign trail, ahead of the April 28 election.
He was asked about a Globe and Mail report that said, as part of a larger campaign targeting Canadian politicians of all parties, Indian agents and their proxies meddled in the 2022 CPC leadership race that Poilievre won.
A source with top-secret security clearance told the paper that CSIS had no evidence that Poilievre or his team were aware of these actions, which allegedly involved raising cash and organizing support within the South Asian communities for Poilievre.
Per the source, CSIS did not relay this information to Poilievre because of his lack of security clearance. Poilievre’s campaign has insisted he followed relevant laws.
On Tuesday, the CPC captain stuck to that line of defence, suggesting “the Liberals” are responsible for the new media report.
“Let’s be honest, I won the leadership fair and square. Even my political competitors, like Mr. Patrick Brown, have publicly testified under oath that that was the case," Poilievre said.
That’s in reference to the Brampton mayor telling the foreign interference commission last year that New Delhi’s consul-general interfered in the contest, although he also said he didn’t believe it impacted the outcome of the race.
Poilievre then demanded Liberal Leader Mark Carney come clean about his conflicts of interest, suggesting the Liberal's time at Brookfield Asset Management places him at odds with national interests given the company’s ties to and interest in China.
Poilievre defended his decision not to obtain a security clearance as Opposition leader.
“What I will not do is commit to the oath of secrecy that the Liberals want to impose on me,” he said, arguing that if he goes through with the process, he will be given “bread crumbs of intel” that he would not be able to speak about publicly.
Carney, meanwhile, called Poilievre’s decision not to get clearance “beyond baffling.”
“At this point in our history, when we face the greatest threats that we've faced in generations and in most of our lifetimes, he has to answer for that,” the Liberal leader told Halifax reporters.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh echoed that criticism, telling Toronto reporters the new information shows Poilievre should want to “find out as much as possible to protect our country.”
“The only reason he chose not to is because he wanted to put his party and his partisan interests ahead of the country. That, to me, disqualifies you as a prime minister candidate,” Singh said.
Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet dismissed Poilievre’s suggestions that politicians are "muzzled" by getting clearance, arguing the CPC leader is being “irresponsible” by his continued refusal.
“The behaviour of both the Liberals and Conservatives regarding foreign intrusion is like leaving for vacation but leaving the garage door open — anybody gets in and does whatever they want,” Blanchet quipped.
According to Carney, “every effort was made” to ensure the integrity of the Liberal leadership race he won earlier this month, though he acknowledged that it involved “quite an onerous technical system for voting to verify identities and location.”