The director of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) has issued a warning to conduct an intelligence assessment of possible foreign interference in Toronto’s Liberal nomination contest, according to documents included in a public inquiry into foreign interference.
Lawyers for the committee said CSIS Director David Vigneault “does not remember” why the documents were retrieved, but the only reason he agreed to do so was “because there were problems with the documents.” He wrote that he was convinced that he was going deaf. He has never recalled the document and will never recall it because it is too sensitive. ”
According to documents submitted during the investigation, confidential intelligence documents described irregularities in Mr. Handon’s nomination as the federal Liberal candidate at Don Valley North’s Toronto racetrack.
The document was created in October 2019 and distributed to senior government officials, including Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Advisor (NSIA), who is tasked with advising the prime minister on national security issues.
Documents submitted to the investigation say internal CSIS emails indicate that Mr. Vigneault asked for the documents to be retrieved after consultation with the NSIA.
Mr. Vigneault repeatedly told the committee on Thursday that he could not remember why that decision was made, but he maintained that no outside pressure during his career had reminded him of anything.
The committee did not hear what was wrong with the report. The commission is tasked with investigating what influence, if any, foreign countries had in influencing the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
Mr Dong, who won the Don Valley North seat in the 2019 election and won it again in 2021, advised senior Chinese diplomats that the Chinese government should refrain from releasing Michael Kovrig. He resigned from the Liberal Party caucus last year in response to a Global News report that said that he was. Michael Spavor and two other Canadians were being held in China at the time.
Dong sued Global for $15 million in damages, accusing the company of publishing “a series of false, malicious, irresponsible and defamatory” articles about the congressman.
Former Special Rapporteur on Foreign Interference David Johnston investigated this claim and concluded in a report published in May 2023 that it was “false”. Similarly, documents released in the foreign interference investigation do not support the claims.
But interviews and documents released as part of the investigation indicate authorities were looking into the nomination dispute. The intelligence agency’s assessment said there had been “unauthorized nominations that may have involved activities carried out by individuals close to Chinese authorities.”
The CSIS document warns that not all information is substantiated, and national security experts have repeatedly warned that the information cannot be taken as fact, but some reports points out that buses were used to take international students to nomination events in support of Mr. Dong, and that the students provided forged documents allowing them to vote despite not living in the riding. It may have been.
Further intelligence reports submitted in the investigation show that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Consulate General warned Chinese students that their student visas could be at risk and their families returning to China could be affected. It is alleged that he made veiled threats implying that If they didn’t support Don.
In a statement to the commission, Dong said some Chinese-speaking students at the private high school voted in the 2019 candidate contest held in Don Valley North, and that they likely voted for him. However, he said he believed Mr. Dong voted because he visited the school. part of his nomination campaign.
Mr. Don’s campaign manager, Ted Royko, told the committee’s lawyers that the campaign was not targeting international students, stressing that it would be difficult to encourage young people to attend nominating meetings.
He also said the nomination was heavily scrutinized by the Liberal Party because it was made after the 2019 election had already begun. He told his lawyers that party leaders “want to know if there is anything the media can cover to smear the campaign.”
Dong has expressed interest in returning to the Liberal caucus. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused on Wednesday and Thursday to answer questions about whether he would welcome him back.
