Bill Blair accuses Rebel reporter of 'assuming facts' in Han Dong-Chinese interference scandal

Rebel News' Alexa Lavoie confronted Defence Minister Bill Blair on Wednesday regarding the potential wrongdoings of former Liberal MP Han Dong after China allegedly bussed in foreign nationals to vote for him.

Blair was asked by Lavoie if he still believes Dong is free from wrongdoing, given the calibre of Chinese government election meddling that has been revealed during the Foreign Interference Committee in the past few days.

"We have some intelligence reporting that we have responded to, you're now assuming facts, and that's a different thing," Blair—who was the public safety minister at the time of the alleged wrongdoing—said before abruptly walking away.

Records indicate that Dong secured a closely fought victory in a contested Liberal nomination race on September 12, 2019. His success was allegedly buoyed by the backing of Mandarin-speaking international students, who were transported from the New Oriental International College Academy in Markham, Ontario, according to testimony heard at the commission and as reported by Blacklock`s.

During Wednesday's committee, Trudeau stated "There were concerns from CSIS that China might have been behind this, and that those students on the bus might have been motivated or mobilized to vote in that way, and there were concerns that CSIS had."

"I asked to the extent they were certain that it happened and that China was indeed behind the mobilizing of the buses, and I also asked if CSIS had information if Han Dong knew about this. whether he was willing and aware that Chinese officials had mobilized buses for him or not. The answers were not clear from CSIS at that point,” he said.

Trudeau then stated that he believed the intelligence given to him was merely to "[let] us know so we know" and could "perhaps take any action we deemed appropriate."

Dong remained a member of the Liberals until he resigned in March of 2023 after a report showed that he secretly advised a Chinese diplomat in 2021 to delay the freeing of the two Michaels.

COMMENTS

Be the first to comment

Please check your e-mail for a link to activate your account.