Trudeau insists he wasn't informed about federal candidates being funded by China

According to the report, citing intelligence memos, the Chinese effort was intended to advance Beijing’s political goals in Canada.

Trudeau insists he wasn't informed about federal candidates being funded by China
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has denied receiving any information on federal election candidates who allegedly received financial backing from China during the 2019 federal election. 

Speaking to a Global News reporter on Sunday, Trudeau said he had no information on the matter.

“I do not have any information, nor have I been briefed on any federal candidates receiving any money from China,” he said, responding to a Nov. 7 report in the publication about an alleged Chinese election interference effort Trudeau was warned about by Canadian intelligence officials. 

Global News reported that intelligence memos cautioned Trudeau and several unidentified cabinet ministers that China’s consulate in Toronto had organized an election-interference network in 2019. The intelligence said the consulate earmarked a significant sum which was transferred to an unidentified federal campaign staffer, who then sent the sum to an unnamed Ontario MPP,” Global News reported.

Separate sources with knowledge of the 2022 briefs told Global News that this elected official subsequently disbursed that amount to other members of the network, which included at least 11 unidentified candidates and 13 campaign staff, according to intelligence memos.

Those same sources, Global News has reported, alleged that an intermediary facilitated fund transfers of about $250,000 to the MPP and federal campaign staffer in question.

Some, but not all, of those candidates and staffers were witting affiliates of the Chinese Communist Party, the intelligence memos alleged, according to information obtained by Global News.

According to the report, citing intelligence memos, the Chinese effort was intended to advance Beijing’s political goals in Canada. 

Conservatives have since called on Trudeau to publicly name the 11 candidates believed to have taken Chinese funds for their campaigns. Global News reports however that there is “no evidence that Chinese officials ever directly funded their candidacies.” 

“These media reports … We asked our security officials to follow up on them,” Trudeau told Global News. “I’ve asked them to give all information that they can share, that they can with a parliamentary committee looking into it. Again let me be very clear. I have no information.”

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