Foreign interference inquiry must get access to all cabinet confidences, former spies say

An organization representing retired Canadian spies says a public inquiry into Beijing foreign-interference operations must be given access to all cabinet documents and transcripts of discussions to determine whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was ever informed of China’s attempts to meddle in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

The Pillar Society, which represents retired Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers and former members of the RCMP Security Service, has joined calls for a public inquiry and expressed concern that further delay could end up scuttling one.

“The momentum that was there in the spring may have lapsed a bit and I think Canadians won’t be well-served if we don’t end up having an inquiry,” said Dan Stanton, a former manager in counterintelligence at CSIS who is a member of the Pillar Society’s board of directors.

Mr. Stanton, who is now director of the national-security program at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute, said the inquiry must have access to all cabinet documents and discussions about China, from which “I think we will find the answers of whether anyone briefed the Prime Minister or not.”

“Did he get wind of the fact that these ridings were being targeted by the PRC [People’s Republic of China] because they were Conservative and I think those answers are going to be possibly in the cabinet papers. To simply say he wasn’t briefed doesn’t really answer the question of was he aware of it.” he said.

Mr. Stanton said there is frustration within the intelligence community because cabinet ministers and senior officials say they did not read secret and top-secret documents that outlined the extent of China’s interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

“What was really disheartening in the testimony that was given where it seemed that very senior people including cabinet ministers didn’t read the reports because nobody phoned them to say. ‘You need to read this,’” he said.

Testimony before a parliamentary committee in June revealed that a July, 2021 CSIS assessment warning that Beijing was targeting Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong and his relatives in China was sent to Mr. Trudeau’s national-security adviser at the time, as well as three deputy ministers.

The three deputy ministers did not read the assessment. Mr. Trudeau’s then-acting national-security adviser, David Morrison, acknowledged he read the July, 2021 memo, but said he didn’t brief Mr. Trudeau because he did not regard the document as a call to action.

Then-public safety minister Bill Blair also received a May, 2021 top-secret document outlining the threats to Mr. Chong, but he didn’t read it either. Mr. Blair testified that he didn’t receive the note and said it would have been up to CSIS director David Vigneault to bring it to his attention.

Mr. Chong said in an interview that the Pillar Society has identified the key failure of the Liberal government to treat Chinese state interference as a serious national-security issue despite repeated warnings from CSIS.

“These are not documents written by an academic or civil society group. These are documents presented to the government by the head of our national-security agency,” he said. “And that is why we need an independent public inquiry.”

Mr. Stanton said there are signs the government is beginning to take foreign interference seriously. He lauded the recent creation of a cabinet committee on national security, and that newly appointed Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc retained the portfolios of Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs.

All-party talks on launching an official public inquiry into foreign interference by China are dragging into late summer. It’s been almost two months since the government opened the door to a public inquiry in the aftermath of former governor-general David Johnston’s abrupt resignation as special rapporteur on Chinese state interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

The political parties have agreed to terms of reference for the inquiry, but the government had yet to name a judge to head the commission. More formal terms of reference would be developed later with input from whomever is selected to head the inquiry.

The initial terms of reference, agreed to by the political parties, called for a commissioner or commissioners to submit an initial report by Dec. 7 that provides an assessment of foreign interference by China, Russia and other foreign state or non-state actors, including any potential impacts on the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. The inquiry would also look at the flow of foreign-interference assessments to senior government decision-makers, including elected officials.

The terms of reference also envisioned a second and final report no later than the end of December, 2024, that would assess the capacity of federal departments and agencies to “detect, deter and counter any form of foreign interference directly or indirectly targeting Canada’s democratic processes,” according to a copy seen by The Globe and Mail.

The final report would also make recommendations for better protecting Canada’s democratic processes from foreign interference. Opposition party leaders, who have received security clearances, would be allowed to review unredacted versions of the commissioner’s reports.

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