Among and between each of the scandalous revelations in the 84-page report the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians released Monday, there is an unmistakable tone of exasperation, frustration, and something even approaching despair.

Scandalous is not too strong a word to describe what the report reveals, which is a state of affairs that calls into question whether the term “foreign interference” gets at the dilemma that has transfixed Canada since November 2022, or whether what this report discloses is evidence of collusion between leading Canadian politicians and hostile foreign powers.