Independent MP Han Dong was blacklisted from any cabinet appointment after coming under security surveillance, testimony revealed at the Foreign Interference Commission. Cabinet aides confirmed Dong was deemed unfit for promotion yet twice ran for office as a member of the Liberal caucus. 

“In the discussion following the 2019 election it was determined Mr. Dong would not be promoted to any parliamentary secretary or ministerial type role,” said an In Camera Examination Summary of sworn statements by political aides. “The Prime Minister’s Office expectation after the initial post-election briefing was [that] the Prime Minister would receive updates on any new information.”

“There were back and forth discussions with intelligence services at the time,” said the Summary. Aides did not explain why Dong was kept as a Liberal Party candidate through the 2019 and 2021 general elections, reported Blacklock’s Reporter.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Thursday he could revoke the candidacy of any Liberal MP. Trudeau would not say why he twice approved Dong’s candidacy.

“Once someone is an actual MP, a party leader cannot fire an MP,” said Trudeau. “All a party leader can do at the largest level is remove them from their party caucus, have them sit as an independent.”

Dong quit the Liberal caucus in March 2023 after Global News disclosed he was in frequent contact with the Chinese Consulate in Toronto. Commission lawyers later uncovered that Trudeau and Liberal Party organizers were aware as early as 2019 that Dong was under security surveillance.

“When you as the Party leader receive information about potential foreign interference happening within your own Party, what can you do about it?” asked Shantona Chaudhury, Commission counsel. “There are many, many things I can do,” replied Trudeau. 

“If it comes early enough in the process I can simply disallow a candidate from running for a nomination or to be a candidate in my political party,” he added. 

Among the other tools Trudeau has at his discretion includes permitting which committees his caucus members can sit on, amid concerns of “inappropriate behaviour or poor judgment or untrustworthiness.” 

“The leader has a level of power … that doesn’t require them to explain themselves,” Trudeau clarified. 

Around December 2019, the Whip’s Office put MP Dong’s name forward for membership on the Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations, revealed a Witness Summary divulged by Commission counsel. “Because of concerns that officials had raised, the Prime Minister’s Office intervened and Mr. Dong was not appointed,” it said.

MP Dong instead was assigned to the Commons human resources committee, reported Blacklock’s Reporter. He remained a member of the Liberal caucus until his contacts with the Chinese Consulate in Toronto were made public. 

Nando De Luca, counsel for the Conservative Party, questioned the Prime Minister on his awareness of any suspicious activity within the Liberal Party. “Are you aware of the names of any Liberal parliamentarians, former parliamentarians or candidates who are at risk of being compromised by foreign interference?” asked Counsel De Luca. “Yes,” replied Trudeau.

“You didn’t mention those today, right?” asked Counsel De Luca. “We spent an entire session last time we had a public hearing talking about concerns and named individuals that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and intelligence agencies had within the Liberal Party,” replied Trudeau. 

“Don Valley North comes to mind as a riding,” he continued. “There have been actions taken and choices made based on information because I had that security clearance.”

“So you have acknowledged Mr. Dong,” said Counsel De Luca. Trudeau did not comment.

Evidence suggested Chinese foreign students attending a private school outside the riding, the New Oriental International College Academy of Markham, Ont., were bused in to vote for Dong, wrote Commissioner Marie Josée Hogue wrote in a May 3 Initial Report to Parliament. 

“Mr. Trudeau emphasized in his public testimony that he was faced with a binary choice: remove Mr. Dong or leave him in place,” wrote Justice Hogue. “But he testified that having chosen to allow Mr. Dong to remain as the Liberal Party candidate, this was a matter ‘we would have to revisit.’”

“I asked Mr. Trudeau whether the issue was revisited after the election,” wrote Justice Hogue. “Mr. Trudeau testified the Liberal Party investigated immediately after they received the information from the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force. He was not sure what more could have been done.”

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