Intelligence whistleblower publishes op-ed on election interference

In case you’ve been living under a rock – or locked up in a re-education centre – the Canadian political establishment has been rocked by revelations from both the Globe and Mail and Global News regarding interference in Canadian elections by the Communist Party of China.

This afternoon in the Globe, the whistleblower that formed the “backbone” of this reveal (according to an attached note from Editor-in-Chief David Walmsley) penned an op-ed explaining why they did this and what’s at stake.

Respecting the subscriber paywall, I’ll just report on the news of this op-ed (do subscribe to the Globe and Mail).

First, the whistleblower is a Liberal voter and hopes to vote Liberal again in the future. This will be an interesting point to some, as a standard (weak) defence against the facts is the allegation of partisanship. These leaks have been damaging for Justin Trudeau’s government first-and-foremost, so this will clarify some of the waters which have been muddied in the defence of the Prime Minister.

From the op-ed, we learned that the leaks were instigated as a result of inaction by supervisors, and inaction by top government officials to do anything on “the threat” which “grew in urgency” and that “serious action remained unforthcoming”. In fact, as the threat of foreign interference grew, and as elections passed, the whistleblower perceived that these warnings were only being ignored.

Additionally, serious consequences have weighed on the public servant. Worries about family, prison, career were considered but were ultimately weighed against the public interest. Further, a desire to protect any Canadian against coercion by a hostile foreign power gave weight to the whistleblower’s decision to go public – and they expect to eventually be unmasked (“if and when”) for their role in bringing this to light.

It’s important to note that as the source of these stories, this individual does not believe that the government itself would be different had there been no interference by Beijing. Furthermore, that no politician has betrayed their country via the CCP’s meddling. Finally, it is the Chinese diaspora that has borne the brunt of these manipulations and one should conclude that Canada’s institutions should protect them from such an assault.

“Knowing that while what I have done may be unlawful, I cannot say that it was wrong”

It is not known where the whistleblower works – whether at CSIS, the PCO, PMO, or another government department or agency with access to classified information.

Who is the Canadian whistleblower? For now, I get to speculate using the Archer checkpoint model for Stable Diffusion.

Bob Rae, self-styled “jihadi” fighter

Juxtaposing comments from Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae from the same Globe and Mail interview given on the edge of Rosedale at a noisy cafe,

A grey-haired man wearing a tweed jacket and tortoise-shell glasses sitting at a nearby table overhears our conversation.

“Bob, can I ask you a question?” he interjects. “What I’m interested in is Afghanistan. The point is, it’s all tribal. They don’t give a shit about democracy, so what are we doing there?” he asks.

Mr. Rae proceeds to unleash a complex argument about the futility of military adventure, the importance of our long-term political interests and the violent history of Western civilization.

[Rae] firmly believes that the Liberals can defeat the Harper government, and cannot wait to take the Prime Minister down.

It’s come to the point where you’ve got these 25-year-old jihadis in the Prime Minister’s Office. They are very, very focused on undermining, destroying. Attack, attack, attack. There’s no other way,” he complains.

[Link]

Now, more than ever

There’s an old adage that says that one is judged by the company they keep. While I think that this may be a bit too simplistic at times, I find that time and time again, the comments sections some of the media “of record” in this country reflect a readership at home.

Take for instance, this top comment at the CBC:

and this attempt at the Globe and Mail:

Those thumbs up/thumbs down votes are telling of the state of Canadian media these days. CBC and the Globe sing to the choir and the applecart of comfortable thought remains unturned.

Is there a market for Sun TV News? Fox News in the US has the most politically diverse audience (Republican/Democrat split) and I believe the same will be true for Sun News. Conservatives will find a home there to be sure, but left-wingers will also clamour to fight back the threatening barbarians climbing the gate of their mainstream, of their order now challenged.

Do you think there is a market for Sun TV News?