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Witnesses from Public Safety testified before the Foreign Interference Inquiry that their Minister preferred to work from home and often avoided reading key intelligence documents himself, instead having his staff interpret them for him.

Rob Stewart, former Deputy Minister of Public Safety, testified about Blair’s apparent disengagement. “There was often a lot of discretion exercised in terms of when the Minister got to things as he was not always in the office,” Stewart stated. 

Blair waited 54 days before approving a Canadian Security Intelligence Service warrant to monitor Liberal Party contacts with Chinese agents in Toronto and ignored warnings that Chinese operatives were targeting Conservative MPs Michael Chong and Kenny Chiu.

Blair’s office now claims he never received these critical intelligence documents, a statement contradicted by Stewart and other officials. “Minister Blair’s chief of staff will testify that during the pandemic, the Minister’s office was no longer provided with binders of intelligence,” revealed Lynda Morgan, Commission counsel. Stewart countered, asserting that binders were indeed still being provided.

This lack of accountability is further underlined by Blair's refusal to read security memos delivered to his Toronto home, relying solely on verbal briefings.

Dominic Rochon, a senior deputy minister, confirmed that even during the pandemic, crucial intelligence continued to flow to Blair’s office, raising questions about how the information was handled—or mishandled.