Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he shared the “best information” he had when he told Canadians a report about a Chinese government plot to target MPs was never shared outside of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, despite information to the contrary.┬а
But in a news conference Friday, the prime minister refused to answer questions about where the communication failure in his government rests.
“I shared the best information I had at the time,” he said.
The government has been hounded by questions about how it handled intelligence reports detailing a Chinese government plot to target MPs following a Globe and Mail investigation.
On Monday, the newspaper published a story citing a top-secret 2021 CSIS document saying that China’s intelligence agency was seeking information about an unnamed Canadian MP’s relatives “who may be located in the PRC┬а[People’s Republic of China], for further potential sanctions.”
A national security source reportedly told the Globe that the MP targeted was Conservative MP Michael┬аChong and that Zhao Wei, a Chinese diplomat in Canada, was working on this matter.
On Wednesday, Trudeau said the information about Chong was never shared outside of CSIS.
“We asked what happened to that information, was it ever briefed up out of CSIS? It was not,” he said.
“CSIS made the determination that it wasn’t something that needed to be raised to a higher level because it wasn’t a significant enough concern.”
WATCH |┬аShould Canada expel diplomats accused of interference?
Reports Conservative MP Michael Chong and his family overseas were targeted by China have raised questions about why the diplomat accused of interference wasnтАЩt kicked out of Canada. Plus, how are the Liberals planning to re-energize the party?
On Thursday,┬аChong informed the House of Commons that the intelligence report on the matter was shared with relevant departments, including the prime minister’s national security and intelligence adviser in the Privy Council Office. He said the current national security adviser, Jody Thomas, told him so.┬а
“This report contained information that I and other MPs were being targeted by the [People’s Republic of China],” he said.
Trudeau said Friday that Canada’s intelligence agencies are made up of professionals who make evaluations on whether a threat is serious or credible and what actions need to be taken.
“They proceeded to go through their processes in the way that they felt was the right thing to do,” he said.
“It’s also clear that information never made it up to the political level in my office, to me, or even to the minister of Public Safety at the time.”┬а
CSIS has not responded to CBC’s request for comment.┬а
Calls for Canada to expel diplomat
Chong has called for the government to expel Zhao and accused the government of sending the wrong signal to foreign adversaries by not acting more swiftly and decisively on foreign interference.
“We are basically putting up a giant billboard for all authoritarian states around the world that says we are open for foreign interference threat activities on Canadian soil targeting Canadian citizens, and you can conduct these activities with zero consequences,” Chong┬аsaid during a heated committee meeting Thursday.
Foreign Affairs Minister M├йlanie Joly said the government has summoned China’s ambassador and is considering the ramifications.
Trudeau said Friday a decision will be made in “due course.”
