Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Liberal MP Han Dong is loyal to Canada, defending him Monday in response to a media report that said he was helped by the Chinese consulate while running to be the party’s candidate in a Toronto-area riding in 2019.
Trudeau also says it’s not up to Canada’s spy agency to “dictate to political parties who can or cannot run” in elections.
A Global News report last week cited anonymous sources alleging the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had urged senior Liberal party staff to rescind Dong’s nomination, but that Trudeau approved his candidacy.
The report and others about Chinese meddling in Canadian elections have led opposition parties to call for a public inquiry into foreign election interference — something Trudeau has rejected.
The prime minister did not directly answer a question about whether CSIS warned the Liberal party about Dong’s alleged involvement with China before the 2019 election.
“In a free democracy, it is not up to unelected security officials to dictate to political parties who can or cannot run,” Trudeau told reporters Monday. “That’s a really important principle.”
Trudeau said his government relies on expertise from security intelligence agencies, which are meant to protect democratic processes, but cautioned about the role they play in elections.
“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.”
He said Dong is an “outstanding member of our team” and added that “suggestions that he is somehow not loyal to Canada should not be entertained.”
Dong, who was re-elected in 2021, said his nomination and campaign teams have found no indication of irregularities or compliance issues regarding his candidacy or election.
He says all procedures and processes related to his campaign and political career have been continually, transparently and publicly reported as required.
“Safeguarding Canada’s democracy is integral to public service,” Dong said in a statement posted on Twitter on Monday.
“I will support all fact-based efforts from parliamentarians to investigate alleged offshore interference and if called upon look forward to refuting these anonymous and unverified allegations.”
The Liberal government has acknowledged China has tried to influence Canadian votes but Trudeau said he stands behind the work of a panel of civil servants tasked with alerting the public to instances of inappropriate interference during the 2019 and 2021 elections.
An assessment of the work done under the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol during the 2021 federal election is now complete and has been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office and the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.
Trudeau said Monday he hopes the committee will study that assessment, which was completed by Morris Rosenberg, a former senior public servant.
An assessment report on the panel’s 2019 election work said the government should consider activating the election-interference warning system not just during the next general campaign but also in the pre-writ period.
The national security committee also called for that to happen in its 2020 annual report, saying the election incident protocol should be re-established “well in advance of the next federal election and that its mandate be extended to include the pre-writ period.”
Trudeau did not directly answer when asked about the status of that recommendation.
“We will always look at the recommendations made, we will always continue to step up on keeping our citizens and our democracy safe,” he said. “It’s extremely important and we will continue to do that.”
Meanwhile, the procedure and House affairs committee is set to hear from national intelligence adviser Jody Thomas and the deputy minister of foreign affairs, David Morrison, this week as it studies foreign interference.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2023.
This is a corrected story. A previous version said Global News reported that Liberal MP Han Dong was allegedly helped by the Chinese consulate in the 2019 federal election.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
