Bill Kelly's April 14, 2023 Commentary
Trudeau's Chief of Staff, Katie Telford, remains tight-lipped in the investigation of foreign interference in Canadian elections.
The much anticipated appearance of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Chief of Staff before the Commons Committee investigating Foreign interference in Canadian elections will happen later today. A few weeks ago, the Prime Minister’s Office informed the public that Katie Telford would volunteer to answer questions, albeit , just before Parliament was about to pass a resolution ordering her to appear.
But, if anyone is hoping that Telford will offer any startling insight into what the PMO knew, when they knew it and what they did, you’ll be sadly disappointed for a couple of reasons. First of all, Telford is skilled, experienced and fiercely loyal to her boss. She’s shown this to be true in appearances before other Parliamentary committees. She sticks to her talking points and doesn’t get rattled, which is what you have to do if you want to be the Chief of Staff for a Prime Minister.
Which dove tails into the other reason why Telford’s appearance will be a non-event. Expect her to play the “I can’t answer that for national security reasons” card numerous times. And, since the only information we know about foreign interference is from snippets of leaked CSIS documents, we won’t know if her answer is legitimate or political side stepping.
It may be a moot point anyway, since the Opposition members on the committee have made it clear that they are more interested in embarrassing the government than seeking the truth, so what we’ll end up with is yet another political circus that solves nothing!
Further reading: CTV News: Dates of foreign interference briefings revealed, as Telford says she can't 'speak to specifics'