The security clearance process: an explainer from ex-CSIS director Ward Elcock
As politicians politick over Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre not having a security clearance, former CSIS director Ward Elcock breaks down the process.
Parties appear ‘unwilling’ to ‘manage their own house’ amid foreign interference in nominations: national security expert
Former Liberal minister Sheila Copps says a court challenge or grassroots push could force change, while former Conservative staffer Fred DeLorey says parties should set their own rules.
Only pushback from members will drive party leadership to loosen grip on nominations, say campaign veterans
‘Most people will back out because they realize there’s no point running if the leader doesn’t want you there,’ says former Liberal cabinet minister Sheila Copps.
Federal nomination contests yield candidates beholden to party leaders, not constituents, say ex-MPs
Former Liberal cabinet minister Sheila Copps says when the central party tips the scales it ‘poisons the well.’ This means fewer people ‘are going to believe that their vote has any value,’ says Rachel Gilliland, who was rejected from seeking a Tory nomination.
What can we do about foreign interference? Fix nominations
The secrecy and lack of integrity in nominations sow doubt and distrust in our political system.
Former Ottawa city councillor Carol Anne Meehan, two current staffers and one ex-Hill staffer seek Conservative nomination in Ottawa West-Nepean to unseat Liberal MP Vandenbeld
If the Conservatives want a majority government in the next election, they will have to win ridings like Ottawa West-Nepean, says former Hill staffer now public servant Ryan Telford who is seeking the party’s nomination in that riding.
On foreign interference, we need to regain perspective
The foreign interference described in four reports amounts to low level nuisances in only a few ridings, a fraction of the 338 seats contested in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
Hogue says nominations a ‘gateway’ for foreign interference, but Marland says parties ‘wary about the state having rules limiting what they do’
Jacques Shore, a former director of research for Security Intelligence Review Committee, said he ‘applauds’ Parliament for passing C-70, but said ‘we missed an opportunity’ by not also bringing nominations under the Canada Elections Act.
‘Loose’ nominations need tightening to combat foreign interference, say political players
While NSICOP’s report isn’t the first to spotlight weak nomination rules, NDP MP Alistair MacGregor says he is confident Bill C-70 will provide the tools to ‘counter the threat’. The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians’ redacted report examined intelligence on foreign state meddling in Canada’s democratic processes over the past six years. It is explosive.
Former Conservative MP Lemieux to duke it out with his own ex-staffer Séguin for nomination in Prescott-Russell-Cumberland, Ont.
Julie Séguin, who worked in Pierre Lemieux’s constituency office and who now works for Conservative MP Tako Van Popta, is running for her party’s nomination in Prescott-Russell-Cumberland.
