Katie Telford

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's chief of staff will testify conceding to opposition pressure after attempts to block her testimony.

The task will include assessing the extent and impact of foreign interference in Canada’s electoral processes and identifying “outstanding issues requiring attention.” The Prime Minister’s Office also said Mr. In the meantime, these questions are very important and so we want to make sure that Canadians have an opportunity to hear what was known and when it was known and what was done with that information.” [describe China’s efforts to influence the past two federal elections](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-secret-csis-reports-paint-picture-of-chinas-efforts-to-entrap-canadian/). On Tuesday the Prime Minister’s Office also released the mandate for Mr. “There’s a lot of serious questions about what the Prime Minister’s Office knew when they knew it and what they did about that,” Mr. Telford has agreed to appear at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee as part of their study,” a statement from Mr. Rather than make the decision on an inquiry himself, Mr. Trudeau appointed former governor general David Johnston to advise his government. Just minutes before the Prime Minister’s Office bowed to opposition demands, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh had issued his ultimatum: end the committee filibuster and let Ms. The House of Commons motion, brought by the Conservatives, appeared to be supported by the Bloc Québécois but until Tuesday the NDP hadn’t disclosed whether they would vote with the opposition parties or with the governing Liberals. “While there are serious constraints on what can be said in public about sensitive intelligence matters, in an effort to make Parliament work Ms. Telford to explain what she and

Who is Katie Telford, the top Trudeau aide set to testify on foreign election interference? The Prime Minister's Office announced Tuesday that Telford agreed to ...

[Vance later pled guilty to obstruction of justice](https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2022/03/30/ex-defence-chief-jonathan-vance-pleads-guilty-to-obstruction-of-justice.html). [Code of Conduct](https://www.thestar.com/about/community-guidelines.html). [a 2018 allegation levelled against now-retired general Jonathan Vance](https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2021/04/12/the-allegations-against-retired-general-jonathan-vance.html). Telford repeatedly [dodged questions about why she didn’t inform Trudeau](https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2021/05/07/trudeaus-chief-of-staff-very-concerned-about-vance-allegation-but-wont-say-why-she-didnt-tell-the-pm.html) about the allegation against Vance, which emails appear to show was a case of sexual misconduct. Between working for Dion and Trudeau, Telford briefly moved to the private sector, working as a consultant at Strategy Corp. The two insiders were considered part of Trudeau’s inner circle and were often seen together with the prime minister. Following the leadership election, Telford then worked as deputy chief of staff for the eventual Liberal leader, Stéphane Dion. From 2004 to 2006, she was chief of staff to Gerard Kennedy, the former Ontario education minister in Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government. Later, as a political science student at the University of Ottawa, Telford was an active member of the debate club. Later in the morning, the prime minister’s office also released a statement saying Telford has agreed to appear as a witness before a separate House committee also investigating election meddling. A successful campaigner and a masterful political strategist, she also helped Trudeau win the Liberal leadership election in 2013 as campaign chief. She later headed Kennedy’s unsuccessful bid in 2006 to lead the federal Grits.

OTTAWA — The Liberals have agreed to allow Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's chief of staff to appear at a House of Commons committee next month to answer ...

Johnston's mandate, as laid out by Trudeau's office on Tuesday, is to assess both the extent and impact of foreign interference in Canada's elections. The RCMP told a House committee last month it did not open any investigations into foreign meddling in either the 2019 or 2021 elections. The ethics committee, on the other hand, is chaired by a Conservative MP. Minutes after Singh made his threat public on Tuesday morning, Trudeau's office issued a statement saying Telford would agree to go the House affairs committee. Until Tuesday, the Liberals had attempted to keep Telford out of the witness chair, filibustering the House affairs committee for more than 21 hours across four meetings since March 7. Trudeau has said he will only call an inquiry if Johnston deems on to be necessary.

'In an effort to make Parliament work Ms. Telford has agreed to appear at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee'

He is expected to submit regular reports on his findings to the prime minister, which will be shared with leaders of the opposition and all Canadians, the PMO said. On Tuesday morning, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said his party was ready to vote in favour of the Conservatives’ motion if Trudeau did not stop the obstruction at PROC. After weeks of trying at the committee level, the Conservatives on Monday introduced a motion in the House of Commons calling on Telford to testify at another committee, Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. The committee then voted unanimously to summon Telford to testify for two hours before April 14. Opposition members on the committee, commonly referred to as PROC, voted weeks ago to launch a study into allegations Beijing interfered in Canada’s electoral process. Telford has agreed to appear at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee as part of their study,” the Prime Minister’s Office spokesperson, Alison Murphy, said in a statement Tuesday morning.