Prime Minister Justin Trudeau received briefings about foreign interference allegations related to former Liberal MP Han Dong’s riding before the 2019 election, a new document shows.
It was submitted to Canada’s inquiry into foreign election interference Monday evening.
The briefings are mentioned in an interview summary and say Trudeau was informed of allegations related to the nomination contest for the Toronto-area riding of Don Valley North in “late September/early October 2019.”
The 2019 federal election was held Oct. 21.
The witnesses interviewed by the commission “were referred to a document that lists briefings the PM received in relation to allegations of FI [foreign interference] in the Don Valley North riding during the nomination campaign,” reads the document.
It goes on to say that the Privy Council’s records appear incomplete. The briefings were “not reflected in the PCO IR (Privy Council Institutional Report).”
Last Tuesday, the inquiry heard CSIS had intelligence that Chinese international students who went to a private high school were bused in to vote in Dong’s 2019 nomination contest, as first reported by Global News.
The information provided by the spy agency at the inquiry has not alleged that Dong knew about China’s alleged efforts to interfere in his nomination race.
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Another interview summary was shown at the inquiry about “irregularities” in the race for Don Valley North.
It contains information presented to a panel of senior officials tasked with warning the public about possible foreign election interference.
Nathalie Drouin, a panel member in 2019 and Trudeau’s current national security and intelligence adviser testified the existence of busses with students was “corroborated” but the threshold for informing the public had not been met.
“All the other elements were not corroborated,” said Drouin.
Dong is not named in either of the interview summaries, which are based on closed-door interviews and top-secret information and redacted for the public.
Trudeau is scheduled to testify at the inquiry on Wednesday.
At a news conference in Mississauga on Feb. 27, 2023, shortly after Global’s first story on Dong, the prime minister was asked if he had been briefed about his then-MP and the spy agency’s possible concerns.
Trudeau did not answer the question, defended Dong and referenced anti-Asian racism.
“Once again, one of the things we’ve seen unfortunately over the past years is a rise in anti-Asian racism linked to the pandemic and concerns around people’s loyalties. I want to make everyone understand fully, Han Dong is an outstanding member of our team, and suggestions that he is not loyal to Canada should not be entertained.”
Last Wednesday, Trudeau dodged questions about whether his view of Dong had changed since the inquiry.
The prime minster also would not say whether he would allow Dong back into the Liberal caucus, after Dong told the inquiry he would like to return.
Dong resigned from the Liberal caucus last year and now sits as an independent.
He testified at the inquiry last week.
Dong did not mention busing students in his initial interview with the commission six weeks prior to the hearing. Dong instead told the commission the day before his testimony.
“I was reminded by my wife,” he said. But a CSIS intelligence summary presented to the inquiry suggested that the students may not have lived in Dong’s riding, were provided with fake identification, and had been coerced into voting.
“Some intelligence reporting also indicated that the students were provided with falsified documents to allow them to vote, despite not being residents of DVN (Don Valley North). The documents were provided by individuals associated with a known proxy agent,” the summary read.
“Intelligence reported after the election indicated that veiled threats were issued by the PRC Consulate to the Chinese international students, implying their visas would be in jeopardy and that there could be consequences for their families back in the PRC if they did not support Han Dong.”
Dong said he was told about the bus and presumed it had been organized by the school itself.
“I didn’t pay attention to busing international students because… I didn’t understand it as an irregularity,” he said.
Dong denied any knowledge of the students using falsified documents to vote in the nomination.
“I would be the first one condemning it. I think it’s an insult to our democratic system,” he said.
The inquiry also heard Canada’s spy agency recorded a phone call between Dong and China’s consul general in Toronto discussing the detention of the “Two Michaels” in early 2021, when the Canadians were still in custody.
The document, primarily created by CSIS, is described as an “incomplete” intelligence and its allegations have not been proven, despite having a recording of the phone conversation.
Global News first reported in March 2023, citing unnamed national security sources, that Dong spoke to a Chinese diplomat at the Toronto consulate about the detention of the “Two Michaels” and advised against their immediate release.
Dong has disputed those claims, and is suing Corus Entertainment, Global’s parent company.
In a CSIS summary of the conversation, Dong allegedly speculated to the diplomat that if the Chinese government freed the Canadians right away it would bolster the “hardline” approach to Canada-China relations, whereas more “transparency” around their detention would placate public opinion and give the Liberal government “talking points.”
“Mr. Dong expressed the view that even if the People’s Republic of China (PRC) released the ‘Two Michaels’ at that moment, opposition parties would view the PRC’s action as an affirmation of the effectiveness of a hardline Canadian approach to the PRC,” read the CSIS intelligence summary.
The declassified document also alleges Dong “stressed that any transparency provided by the PRC in relation to the ‘Two Michaels’ such as a court hearing or a court date, would help to placate Canadian public opinion and provide some valuable talking points to his own political party against the opposition.”
Dong testified that he didn’t recall making these statements, but added the information in the summary “didn’t make a lot of sense”.
The MP also maintained that he has always advocated for the release of the “Two Michaels.”
