Leaked Intelligence Memos Suggest Trudeau Knew of Chinese Election Interference

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WU HONG/AFP via Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

Two leaked intelligence reports suggest that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may have known about allegations of Chinese interference in Canadian elections, despite insisting he did not.

Prime Minister Trudeau has claimed that he was not briefed on allegations of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interference in federal elections but two memos from 2019 and last year suggest that senior government officials may have known of the allegations.

The 2019 document warned of the CCP funding “preferred candidates” around two months ahead of that year’s federal election and came from Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), broadcaster Global News reports.

The document states that the targeting of specific candidates began during the nomination process, adding that “foreign states clandestinely direct contributions to and support for the campaigns and political parties of preferred candidates.”

“A PRC [People’s Republic of China] Embassy interlocutor founded a group of community leaders called the ‘tea party’ to hand-pick candidates that it would support and ultimately publicly endorse,” the report added.

The document went on to state that a “former PRC Commercial Consul informed PRC businesses of the rules regarding Canadian political contributions and ‘urged particular business leaders to donate through Canadian subsidiaries and acquisitions.”

The second document published by Global News is from last year. It comes from the Privy Council Office, which acts as a secretariat for the Canadian cabinet — including Prime Minister Trudeau.

The January 2022 document stated: “A large clandestine transfer of funds earmarked for the federal election from the PRC Consulate in Toronto was transferred to an elected provincial government official via a staff member of a 2019 federal candidate.”

The report drew from around 100 reports from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) as part of the Privy Council’s Intelligence Assessment Secretariat, which informs the Prime Minister on security matters.

A spokesman for CSIS director David Vigneault dodged questions on whether or not CSIS had informed Prime Minister Trudeau on CCP election interference, claiming there “are important limits to what I can publicly discuss given the need to protect sensitive activities, techniques, methods, and sources of intelligence.”

The new leaks are just the latest in a brewing scandal for the Trudeau government, with his Liberal Party accused of benefitting from CCP interference in the 2019 election.

The allegations specifically name Liberal MP Han Dong, who is accused of having the CCP support his election bid by busing in Chinese foreign students with fake addresses during his nomination.

Trudeau defended Dong, saying: “I want to make everyone understand fully that Han Dong is an outstanding member of our team and suggestions that he is somehow not loyal to Canada should not be entertained.”

Other reports claimed that not only did Trudeau know of the allegations against Dong, but ignored them, and even told Dong that CSIS was investigating him.

Some have also noted that Dong had missed key votes in parliament that coincidently were linked to condemning the CCP on issues such as its treatment of the Uyghurs, despite being present for other votes in the House of Commons on the same day.

Amid calls from opposition parties to launch a formal inquiry into CCP election interference, Trudeau announced earlier this week that he would be appointing a special rapporteur to determine whether an inquiry or other probe would be needed.

 

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.

 

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