“No one should call Mr. Johnston the “Independent Special Rapporteur” because he is not independent in any way from Prime Minister Trudeau – he was chosen by Trudeau; is an old family friend of Trudeau; serves at his pleasure; has no job security, and; has no powers under any statute or regulation to investigate anything,” said Democracy Watch.
Democracy Watch, a non-partisan organization that advocates for government/corporate responsibility, transparency, and accountability, has filed a complaint against David Johnston.
In their complaint, they allege that Johnston violated the conflict-of-interest Act by ruling on Trudeau’s actions regarding foreign interference while being a friend of Trudeau.
Here’s part of what they said in a statement:
“Democracy Watch announced that it will file a complaint with the federal Ethics Commissioner’s office that David Johnston is violating the federal Conflict of Interest Act by ruling on his old friend Justin Trudeau’s actions on foreign interference. DWatch already filed a complaint with the Commissioner about Trudeau violating the Act by handing a government contract to his old friend Johnston – click here to see details.
It is a violation of the Act to participate in any decision or action when there is an opportunity to further your own interests, your relative’s interests, or the interests of a friend, and both Trudeau and Johnston are covered by the Act.
No one should call Mr. Johnston the “Independent Special Rapporteur” because he is not independent in any way from Prime Minister Trudeau – he was chosen by Trudeau; is an old family friend of Trudeau; serves at his pleasure; has no job security, and; has no powers under any statute or regulation to investigate anything.
As a result, it was not at all surprisingly that Johnston’s first report claimed that the Trudeau Cabinet has done nothing wrong, nor that Johnston failed to recommend a public inquiry and tried to close off further questioning of the Trudeau’ Cabinet’s actions.”
Democracy Watch also revealed that Johnston hired a Liberal donor as part of his ‘special rapporteur’ role:
“Today, Democracy Watch revealed that a search of Elections Canada’s database shows that lawyer Sheila R. Block, whom David Johnston retained to assist him in obtaining, reviewing and analyzing secret information that Prime Minister Trudeau gave them access to, seems to have donated a total of $7,593.38 (listed under “Sheila Block” and “Sheila R. Block”) to only the Liberal Party of Canada from 2006 to 2022. Johnston confirms that he retained Ms. Block for these purposes on in Section II.2) of his first report (page 6 of PDF) which he released yesterday.”
Democracy Watch co-founder Duff Conacher slammed Johnston’s apparent conflict:
“The pattern of donations in Elections Canada’s database that seems to show that David Johnston’s lawyer has donated significant amounts only to the Liberal Party for more than 15 years only adds another layer to the layer cake of conflicts of interest that mean that everything Johnston says and reports on the subject of foreign interference has no credibility at all.”
Conacher is correct. Johnston lacks credibility, and his ‘report’ cannot be trusted.
Johnston was clearly appointed by Trudeau in order to protect Trudeau and the Liberal government from a real investigation. By taking the role and doing Trudeau’s bidding, Johnston has not only wrecked his own reputation, but he’s thrown Canada’s institutions into even more chaos, weakened our democracy, emboldened China, and further divided our nation.
Spencer Fernando
