May shows how to handle a scandal

As Poilievre, Trudeau responses fed doubt, Green leader looked into the classified information

- SUSAN DELACOURT

After a full reading of the report that sent Canadian politics into a tizzy of espionage rumours and speculation, Green co-leader Elizabeth May flatly concluded: "There is no list of MPs who have shown disloyalty to Canada."

Elizabeth May really knows how to wreck a party.

Just when it seemed like all of politics in Ottawa was on the verge of a major spy scandal — great excitement, traitors in our midst! — the co-leader of the Green Party sat down and found some holes in the story.

On Tuesday, after a full reading of the report that sent Canadian politics into a tizzy of espionage rumours and speculation, May flatly concluded: “There is no list of MPs who have shown disloyalty to Canada.”

May admitted she had been caught up in the story too, ever since the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) released a report last week that included mention of “witting” participation in foreign meddling, by current and past politicians in Ottawa. Like many other MPs, she had been gazing around her, wondering who to trust.

“I can say I have no worries about anyone in the House,” May said. “I am very comfortable sitting with my colleagues. We will disagree on policy and on many issues (but) I am absolutely relieved.”