LIVE UPDATES: Ex-Liberal MP Han Dong set to testify at Foreign Interference Commission
Sheila Gunn Reid is providing live updates, as Han Dong, the now-Independent MP at the centre of the Chinese election interference allegations, testifies before the Foreign Interference Commission.
On Tuesday morning, the Foreign Interference Commission will hear from a panel of political campaign directors: Walied Soliman, 2021 Conservative campaign co-chair, Azam Ishmael, the Liberals' national campaign coordinator in 2021, and Anne McGrath, the NDP's national director.
In the afternoon, Han Dong, the now-Independent MP from Toronto's Don Valley North riding, will speak before the inquiry. Dong was credibly accused of benefitting from Chinese Communist Party influence during his successful nomination for the Liberals.
Currently outside of Han Dong’s office in Toronto. @handongontario
— Lincoln Jay (@lincolnmjay) March 6, 2023
More at https://t.co/iFi3JfXmBJ pic.twitter.com/c8ATZm9KvE
Before Dong testifies, however, Ted Lojko, his chief of staff, will speak first.
Up first on Tuesday is former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister Michael Chan, now deputy mayor of Markham. Chan is suing CSIS over allegations he was spied on after the agency became suspicious that he was engaged in "improper" activities with Chinese officials.
Keep track of today's hearing by following along with Sheila Gunn Reid's coverage on X, or on the page below:
Today, the Foreign Interference Commission resumes investigating the attempts—and successful attempts—of foreign actors and agencies to influence the outcome of Canadian elections.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Today will be very interesting. I'll explain in the next post.
I will be covering it all day…
Tuesday morning, the inquiry will hear from a panel of campaign directors: Walied Solomon, Conservative Campaign co-chair in 2021; Azam Ishmael, who ran the national Liberal campaign in the same year; and Anne McGrath, the NDP's national director.https://t.co/SzLGeuolPB
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Ted Lojko, Han Dong's chief of staff, will testify before Dong offers his testimony to the Commission. https://t.co/gLskllXaW7
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
also, at the Foreign Interference Commission today:
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister Michael Chan, now deputy mayor of Markham. Chan is suing CSIS over allegations he was spied on after the agency became suspicious that he was engaged in "improper" activities with…
Tuesday afternoon, the commission will get hectic and testy.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
The Foreign Interference Commission will hear testimony from Han Dong, the now-Independent
MP from the Toronto riding of Don Valley North, who was credibly accused of benefiting from Chinese influence in his…
Ismael and McGrath both say they received no information about foreign interference during the 2019 election.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
McGrath says she learned about the arrest of a spy who had worked on the NDP campaign in the media https://t.co/8LKpWpE8bz
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Ismael says the threats of foreign interference in the 2021 election were low on the radar of the Liberal party.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Solomon says the Conservatives took the potential of foreign interference very seriously. BUT: the briefings he received from security officials were mostly useless.…
McGrath echoes the other two campaign officials, saying the security briefings in 2021 were generic and that she received nothing actionable.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
She says she was not given the tools to identify foreign interference from security officials.
Solomon is being shown a security briefing note that refers to Pakistan and says that "Canada has been the target of foreign interference for many years."
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Says he was not shown this document in a briefing.
McGrath says she was not shown this doc either.
Both Solomon and McGrath say they were not given information about the level of threats from China in the 2021 election contained in this document. pic.twitter.com/8OqnUzwFfj
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Solomon and McGrath both say they were not given this information about specific targeting of the CPC campaign by China, although this document says there were two briefings with the parties on it. pic.twitter.com/PSkXNE1zRm
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Solomon says he began receiving reports from local campaign volunteers that candidates were being targeting by misinfo campaigns,
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
says the misinfo was around the Uyghur issue.
(Solomon seems prickly with the Commission lawyer. She wants him to recollect instanced. He says to…
Solomon is shown a PCO doc, says he has not seen this until this morning.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
The doc says Solomon was threatening to go public with info about foreign interference. He says he would not make some "Trumpian" allegation the campaign was lost to foreign meddling. But he says he knew… pic.twitter.com/picLSfkucI
The Liberal government of Canada investigated how it may have benefited from foreign meddling in the 2021 election after the CPC raised the issue, and, wouldn't you know it!?
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
The Liberal government found it had not.
Just comical. pic.twitter.com/QhPBSBbubN
over and over again, the campaign officials heard there were no problems in the 2019 election.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
We know that's the election with the potentially contaminated nomination of Han Dong. https://t.co/6sp7Igyzzm
from a document submitted by the CPC to security officials in 2021, after hearing from individual campaigns about outside interference. pic.twitter.com/sm1tvVoKDA
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
McGrath says the security briefings she received were "box checking exercises"
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
on we are on break. Campaign officials are done. Back at 11:35 eastern
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
And we are back at the Foreign Interference Commission.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Cross-examination of the campaign officials starts now.
Erin O'Toole's lawyer is up
O Toole's lawyer asks McGrath and Ismael about Gov of Canada briefings about foreign interference. Both say there were NO BRIEFINGS ABOUT *SPECIFIC* EXAMPLES OF FOREIGN INTERFERENCE.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Solomon agrees.
Lawyer for Michael Chong next. Says his questions are largely for Ismael as a rep for the Liberal campaignhttps://t.co/Su7yJ8fwse
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Chong's lawyer is cutting holes through the Liberals' loosely goosey Liberal nomination rules, which allow foreign students to meet the criteria to vote in a nomination as long as they are members of the party and can show residency (fake or forged residency docs are easy since…
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Chong forces Ismael to admit that a candidate can be removed, according to the Liberal rules, for security reasons. Ismael says there were no violations of the rules in Don Valley North, although the special rapporteur said there were "irregularities" related to the PRC consulate…
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
From the Johnston report re: Don Valley North nomination. pic.twitter.com/oCar8mlidD
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Lawyer for CPC next. Asks Ismael about Braeden Caley, who worked for the Liberal Party, not the Gov.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
It shows a document regarding a PCO/CSIS briefing to the PM in his role as the Liberal leader, meaning it was for the purpose of the party leaders.
However, Solomon and… pic.twitter.com/7nMfgQUefv
(I have to step away for half an hour. BRB)
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
The commission is back from lunch. Now up, Han Dong, the former Liberal MP accused of benefiting from CCP interference in his nomination in the riding of Don Valley North.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Dong amends his statement to the commission to reflect that he assumes that students at a private high school, likely Chinese nationals, were bussed in by the school and voted for him in his nomination.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Dong needs help remembering the name of the school, the NOIC. He recalls… pic.twitter.com/ZdZ1Gt9LkS
Dong says the students bussed in spoke Mandarin and were likely international students from the PRC.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
He can't say if the school coordinated with his campaign.
This new info about the bus for Chinese nationals was relayed to the commission YESTERDAY, although Dong was "reminded…
WOW.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
The allegations about Dong's campaign - reported widely since Feb 2023 - were about bussing foreign students.
Yet, Dong didn't say anything about the bus of foreign students turning up at his campaign until YESTERDAY.
He didn't mention it in his commission interview…
Dong says he didn't tell the commission earlier because a bus full of international students from China coming to vote for him seemed "pretty regular."
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Commish lawyer asks why he said anything at all then, and Dong says it came up in conversations with his lawyer.
Dong is asked why he campaigned at an international high school where Mandarin-speaking Chinese nationals go to the school.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
He says high school students are interested and engaged in the nomination process.
oh ok
Dong is being shown a heavily redacted CSIS security brief about the Don Valley North nomination.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
This is from 2019, yet CSIS did not tell the 2021 campaigns about any specific instances of foreign meddling and that it wasn't a problem in 2019. pic.twitter.com/yHysLv9agY
Next document before Dong, CSIS says it had intelligence that forged residency documents were used to vote in the nominations by a "known proxy agent."
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Intel also suggested the foreign students were threatened by the Chinese Consulate to vote for Dong, and that harm would come… pic.twitter.com/liHBpX0lnm
Dong continued to have consular contact with the PRC.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Dong told the PRC consular officials that a court hearing about kidnapped Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, would be helpful to the Liberals and placate the Canadian public.
Number 5:
"provide some valuable… pic.twitter.com/PIGeGimFrX
Dong and Michael Chan - now suing CSIS - have known each other for 17 years. Chan canvassed with Dong in his nomination.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Michael Chong's lawyer asks Dong if he accepts that the PRC is attempting interfering in Canadian democracy,
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Dong says: "I've seen reports. I have never seen evidence of it"
Lawyer asks again. Dong says "it's possible"
Michael Chong's lawyer asks: some members of your former party say it's anti-Chinese racism to raise questions about your campaign. Do you agree with me that it is not a matter of racism on behalf of our intelligence agencies to get to the bottom of this [foreign interference]?"…
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Holy cow. The private high school that bused in Chinese international students to vote for Han Dong in his nomination isn't even in his riding.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
So why did he campaign there?
But conveniently they all lived in his riding so that they could vote for him? Sure sure sure.
Michael Chong's lawyer is absolutely destroying Han Dong.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
He wants to know why Dong has made no inquiries with his campaign about the number of stops or where his campaign buses rounded up all these random Chinese voters.
We've gone from 1 bus to 3 buses since lunch.
Dong is asked about a trip to New York in early 2019 where he accused of meeting with an official from the United Front Work Dept.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
He denies the meeting.
Conservative Party lawyer asks if concerns about Dong's nomination were discussed with him by RCMP or CSIS? Asks if the PMO raised any issues?
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Dong answered no to both.
CPC lawyer shows Dong David Johnston's report. Dong claims to not know anything about nomination irregularities, what they were, when they happened.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Completely implausible, especially since Dong is suing Global over reporting on Dong's nomination.
Don admits he maintains… pic.twitter.com/4VLiPcN7Nk
CPC's lawyer is asking Dong why he abstained from the Uyghur genocide motion.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Dong says he is not convinced of a Uyghur genocide.
(should note that Johnston didn't even interview Dong about his nomination "irregularities" before he compiled his report because Dong was suing Global)
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
CPC lawyer is showing how chummy Dong is with PRC officials, including voting against a second Liberal motion on a Uyghur genocide.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
CPC lawyer asks about Dong rejoining LPC caucus. Dong says he would like to rejoin.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Up next at the Foreign Interference Commission, Ted Lojko, Han Dong's campaign manager. He worked for Dong in 2014 and 2018 as a provincial Liberal and then in 2019 and 2021 for the Federal Libs. Still works for Dong part time doing comms.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Lojko says international students would have to be a perm resident of not just Canada but Don Valley North to vote for Han Dong. There is no requirement to actually show that the voter is a perm resident of Cananda, they can simply affirm they are one.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Then mail can be used to…
Lojko says he did not think international students could vote for Dong.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
But for some reason Dong campaigned at a private high school outside of his riding, occupied by Mandarin speaking international students, and then that school bused in students to vote in the nomination.… pic.twitter.com/0FLxd2JtYi
Lojko says campaigns don't normally target high school kids, due to low voter turnout, low enthusiasm, and low comprehension of nomination rules.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Although Dong said his campaign helped organize the private Chinese high school campaign stop, Lojko, who ran the campaign said he…
CPC's lawyer asks Lojko if he gave the membership list at the time of Dong's nomination vote to the commission.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
He says no, no longer has the list and that he gave the list to the Liberal Party.
Liberal Party has no membership fee to become a member.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Someone can join the party and vote in a nomination without a Canadian bank account or credit card, making it easy to flood a nomination with fake voters, especially if there is no requirement to prove permanent residency…
up next, Michael Chan, who is suing CSIS and reporters, and unidentified leakers who he says harmed his reputation.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
"Michael Chan alleges the anonymous employees’ actions were influenced by “stereotypical type-casting of immigrants born in China as being somehow untrustworthy.”…
Chan says he encouraged Dong to run for MP in 2019. Notes that don't speaks Mandarin, Cantonese and English.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Denies official involvement in nomination campaign. Was present for nomination announcement, according to others. But can't recall if he was at Dong's
Chan is asked about a Globe and Mail report.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Chan denies the Globe report that he had clandestine meetings with Zhao Wei. pic.twitter.com/Ylcgm6yHZu
Michael Chong's lawyer asks how many times Chan has met with an expelled CCP diplomat, Zhao Wei. Chan says four or five times. https://t.co/kDJP9NlRbz
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Chan is asked if he accepts the conclusion that the PRC is interfering in Canadian democracy and elections.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Chan is dancing around the answer, won't say.
Lawyer asks if Chan is worried about PRC meddling.
He says of course.
CPC lawyer asks about a trip Chan took to Cambodia to establish a business with Chinese partners in 2018 and 2019. Business has not been finalized. Blames covid.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Chan can't say if the business has a name. Met with the expelled diplomat Zhao Wei and CCP deputy consul Zhung about… pic.twitter.com/wzqju9120H
Chan is pressed on his pro-Beijing statements, wanting a crackdown on freedom protesters in Hong Kong.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
Compares Hong Kong protesters against CCP oppression to January 6 and the Freedom Convoy "which are no good."
"Do you agree with how the Chinese government dealt with the… pic.twitter.com/wAODWg4Bn8
Chan says he is appearing voluntarily at the commission. We are done for the day. We will be back at it early tomorrow. 730 am mountain.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 2, 2024
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