Trudeau’s Adviser Knew About Chinese Threats to MPs, Chong Says

Conservative MP Michael Chong rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 13, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

Conservative MP Michael Chong said on May 4 that he’s been told by the prime minister’s national security adviser that her department had received the information from CSIS about Beijing targeting MPs.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said on May 3 that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had not provided the information to upper levels.

“I’ve just been informed by the national security adviser that the CSIS intelligence assessment of July 20, 2021, was sent by CSIS to the relevant departments and to the national security adviser in the PCO [Privy Council Office],” Chong said in the House of Commons.

“This report contains information that I and other MPs are being targeted by the PRC [People’s Republic of China]. This contradicts what the prime minister said yesterday.”

Trudeau said that he had only learned about the issue on May 1 after the Globe and Mail reported that the Chinese regime was targeting MPs after a 2021 House vote to declare the treatment of Uyghurs in China a genocide.

The Globe quoted from a top secret CSIS assessment saying a Chinese spy service had “taken specific actions to target Canadian MPs.”

The newspaper then said it was told by a national security source that the MP being targeted was Chong and that a Chinese diplomat in Canada was involved. This suggests that the CSIS assessment did not contain specific names of MPs.

“On Monday morning, two days ago, we asked what happened to that information. Was it ever briefed up out of CSIS? It was not,” Trudeau said on May 3.

“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.”

With Trudeau’s National Security and Intelligence Advisor Jody Thomas reportedly saying the CSIS report was sent to her office, there are chances her predecessor would have shared the information with the prime minister. And if no names were mentioned in the report, they could have followed up with CSIS to find out.

The Epoch Times contacted the Prime Minister’s Office and the PCO to obtain clarification but didn’t immediately hear back.

Chong asked the government why it’s “not listening to the advice of CSIS and not listening to the advice in the reports,” in reference to CSIS tabling its annual public report on May 4.

“These threat actors must be held accountable for their clandestine activities,” he said in reading from the report.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino responded that his government is “taking concrete action” and pointed to the summoning of the Chinese ambassador today by Global Affairs Canada.

“That is very much consistent with Canada’s strong record in condemning this kind of behaviour. We'll continue to work with all parliamentarians to protect the people that work in this chamber so we can uphold our democracy,” he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said on May 4 that her department was currently assessing whether to expel the Chinese diplomat reportedly involved in targeting Chong, in light of potential retaliation by Beijing.