Burnaby South MP reacts to foreign interference report

During a recent visit to Burnaby, Jagmeet Singh, MP Burnaby South and leader of the NDP, spoke to the press about the recent foreign interference report released by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue and the Foreign Interference Commission on Jan. 28, 2025. Singh’s press conference took place in person at his office at 4940 Kingsway and via Zoom. Peter Julian, MP New Westminster-Burnaby, also attended the conference. 

Singh said the report was an attempt to safeguard Canada’s democracy and ensure it is free from foreign interference. 

“We want to make sure that our democracy is free from foreign interference. We also want to make sure that everyday Canadians can live their lives without the threat or harassment of a foreign government. So we had called for this public inquiry,” Singh said. 

The report’s results showed there were no “traitors” in parliament. However, Singh said foreign interference might become a more significant issue in the coming elections, with US President Donald Trump in power and with billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk having a formal role in the Trump administration. 

“What Justice Hogue has highlighted, I think one of the biggest points that she made in her report was the deep concern she has regarding misinformation and disinformation, particularly on social media, and how we do not have tools right now to combat that,” Singh said. “I think that concern is also exacerbated by the leader of the Conservative Party’s decisions and his actions. Pierre Poilievre has accepted the endorsement of Elon Musk, someone whose platform is also one of the worst actors in a lot of ways around misinformation and disinformation, coupled with the fact that Pierre Poilievre also wants to defund a public broadcaster, which is a source of real information, journalistic integrity, really highlights a dangerous set of priorities.” 

Singh also spoke about the potential for using artificial intelligence (AI) to make fake videos and spread even more disinformation, calling it a very “concerning” trend. 

“You can see me in a fake video trying to get people into a pyramid scheme, which is completely false and not true. But that’s also being applied to other political leaders,” Singh said. 

Singh also discussed the implications of the tariffs Trump threatened to impose on Canada and the possible loss of thousands of Canadian jobs. He also said there should be a “worker-first” approach to any plan for government assistance if the tariffs go forward. 

“We saw many of the initial plans put forward by the Liberals help the business, but not actually help the worker. And governments or businesses were able to take support without any guarantee that they would not lay off their workers,” Singh said. “There needs to be strict rules in place that if any business is going to get support, that it has to be tied to workers.”

The government launched the public inquiry into foreign interference on Sept. 7, 2023, and appointed Justice Hogue, puisne judge of the Quebec Court of Appeal, as commissioner for the inquiry. Hogue began work as commissioner on Sept. 18, 2023, and the commission published its seven-part final report on Jan. 28, 2025.

This piece was made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

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