Bloc leader says he's in no hurry to read intelligence report linking parliamentarians to foreign interference

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says that while he plans to read the unredacted version of the intelligence watchdog report that's been stirring up debate in Ottawa for more than two weeks now, he's in no rush to do so.

Earlier this month, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), a cross-party committee of MPs and senators with top security clearances, released a heavily redacted document alleging, based on intelligence reports, that some parliamentarians have been «semi-witting or witting» participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in Canadian politics.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh have read the unredacted, classified version of the report; both leaders already had the security clearances they needed to read the full report. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was given the original copy of the report months ago.

«They sent me a lot of paper to fill. I have not completed it yet. I'm at the end of a session. I'm not in a hurry,» Blanchet said during a news conference Wednesday in Ottawa.

«All I want is to make sure before the election that there is no member of Parliament in my caucus which would have been involved in any way with a foreign power.»

Blanchet has said that, unlike Singh and May, he will not speak publicly about the contents of the report after reading it.

«I promise you there will be no show,» he told reporters.

«After I have read the report, I will not say more. I will say even less because I will be under the promise I will have made not to reveal the content of the report, something that Mrs. May and Mr. Singh should have understood better.»

May held a news conference after reading the unredacted version of the report