Poilievre knows alleged foreign collaborators can't be named, but demands it anyway

Ah, how easy it is to be an opposition politician. 

Pierre Poilievre can, quite reasonably, call on the Prime Minister to identify the alleged foreign collaborators in Parliament, secure in the knowledge that, if he were in charge of the governing party, he would not be able to do so either, because of, you know, intelligence and national security reasons. 

Given that the allegations could amount to treason, there is no way that the government could, or should, be releasing names publicly at this point. Releasing any uncorroborated and unverified names would be irresponsible and probably illegal. It would violate the due process of any criminal legal proceedings that might ensue from the allegations. 

As the phrase goes, "intelligence is not evidence", and we should not be ruining the reputations of major public figures on the basis of allegations and suspicions alone. Expose the culprits by all means, but not until they have been proven to be collaborators. This is not a partisan reaction - I have never voted Liberal - it is just common sense. Even the (non-partisan) Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) counsels against precipitous denunciations.

Comparisons with Prime Minister Trudeau's public disclosure in September last year of allegations that agents of the Indian government may have been involved in the shooting death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar are equally disingenuous. No names were mentioned there, and it was pointing fingers at another country, not at our own lawmakers.

But, by loudly calling for the government to disclose names, Poilievre can still appear to be doing something, protecting the Canadian people and democracy and all that. You could call it disingenuous or cynical or whatever you like, but it's effective politics, and Poilievre's core base will be loving it.

CSIS recommends that all party leaders obtain security clearance to allow them access to the full report. Jagmeet Singh has done that. Yves-François Blanchet says he probably will. Pierre Poilievre, notably, has not, and yet most of the noise for the release of names is coming from him.

The names will probably come out eventually, and MPs and/or Senators will fall. Some of them may be Liberals, some may even be Conservatives or NDP-ers. But, in the meantime, Poilievre can take what appears to be the moral high ground, and make hay while the Liberals squirm. Should he? That's a moot point. Poilievre is the consummate politician, with all the good and bad that entails. He's not going to let a little matter like morality get in the way of a good soundbite.