Trudeau denies security officials told Liberals to rescind MP’s candidacy
Global report suggests CSIS warned Liberals to rescind nomination of Liberal MP Han Dong
Darren Major · CBC News · Posted: Feb 27, 2023 3:14 PM EST | Last Updated: 1 hour ago
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at a news conference at the Canadian head office of AstraZeneca Canada in Mississauga, Ont., on Feb. 27, 2023.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at a news conference at the Canadian head office of AstraZeneca Canada in Mississauga, Ont., on Monday. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pushing back against a recent news report that alleges security officials urged the Liberal Party to rescind the nomination of one of its MPs.
“In a free democracy, it is not up to unelected security officials to dictate to political parties who can or cannot run,” the prime minister told a news conference Monday.
Trudeau was responding to a question about a Global News report that suggests Liberal MP Han Dong was allegedly helped by the Chinese consulate while running in the Toronto-area riding of Don Valley North during the 2019 election.
WATCH | Trudeau says it’s not up to CSIS to tell parties who should and shouldn’t run for office
Duration4:49
Answering questions about alleged efforts by China to influence the last election, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that part of CSIS’s work is to inform political parties and individuals of ‘potential influences they may be faced with.’
The report cites anonymous sources that alleged the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) urged senior Liberal Party staff to rescind his nomination, but Trudeau approved his candidacy.
“The suggestions we’ve seen in the media that CSIS would somehow say, ‘No this person can’t run or that person can’t run,’ is not just false. It’s actually damaging to people’s confidence in our democratic and political institutions,” Trudeau said Monday.
Stephanie Carvin, associate professor of national security at Carleton University, questioned the suggestion that CSIS would ask that a nomination be rescinded.
“CSIS’s mandate allows it to report on threats to the security of Canada. I do not think this would extend to ‘asking’ the [Prime Minister’s Office] to rescind a nomination,” Carvin wrote in a tweet.
Candidate Han Dong celebrates with supporters while taking part in a rally in Toronto on Thursday, May 22, 2014.
Han Dong celebrates with supporters while taking part in a rally in Toronto on May 22, 2014. The former MPP and current MP is denying a report that alleges China helped him win a 2019 Liberal candidate nomination contest. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
Dong said in a media statement that his nomination and campaign teams have found no indications of irregularities or compliance issues regarding his candidacy or election.
“I have the utmost regard for the integrity of our democratic institutions and electoral processes,” the statement reads.
Dong said all procedures and processes related to his campaign and political career have been publicly reported as required.
Trudeau also defended Dong during Monday’s press conference.
“Han Dong is an outstanding member of our team and suggestions he is somehow not loyal to Canada should not be entertained,” he said.
Opposition parties have called for a public inquiry into allegations of foreign election interference by China.
Trudeau was asked if he would consider calling a public inquiry, but pointed to a House committee study as a means to get answers on foreign interference.
“Openness and transparency is extraordinarily important for our democracies and for active defence of our democracies,” he said, adding that security officials will be appearing before the committee in the coming days.
But committee MPs appeared frustrated by a perceived lack of transparency from security officials during a hearing earlier this month.
Witnesses from CSIS, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) — Canada’s foreign signals intelligence agency — and the RCMP told the committee they could only provide them with a non-classified briefing and could not comment on operational specifics.
At one point, Conservative MP Blaine Calkins held up documents tabled with the committee that were covered with blacked-out redactions.
“It’s really difficult to figure out what we should be doing if we actually don’t know what’s going on,” he said.
“I’m very frustrated right now, with the lack of information, the lack of transparency and the responsibility of trying to figure out how to solve this problem.”
Former CSIS director Richard Fadden said the a public inquiry would be the best place to get answers about foreign interference.
“The House has become very very partisan and I think it will be almost impossible for members of Parliament to look at this in a totally objective way,” he said. “In fact, I think it’s unfair to ask them to do that.”
Fadden also suggested that it would be possible to give those working on a public inquiry access to classified information.
“That does not mean that the commission can make that information public. But it does mean that in publishing their report, we would have the assurance of an objective commissioner that they’ve looked at the material and their conclusions make sense,” he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Darren Major
CBC Journalist
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-denies-csis-rescind-nomination-1.6761942
