Trudeau claims to have 'missed' several foreign interference memos despite weekly briefings, commission heard

Prime Minister Trudeau claimed he reviews intelligence documents every Monday morning for 45 minutes, yet the Foreign Interference Commission heard that five critical security memos — spanning over five years — never made it to his desk.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau starts every work week reading security memos, according to a sworn statement tabled at the Foreign Interference Commission. Despite that claim, Trudeau has faced harsh criticism that he ignored warnings that Chinese agents posed an “existential threat to Canadian democracy.”

“The Prime Minister generally receives a weekly package of intelligence documents,” typically each Monday morning “when he is in the office,” Commission counsel learned Thursday. He spends 45 minutes to an hour reading the documents, reported Blacklock’s Reporter.

“This is a significant devotion of time in his agenda in the context of everything else he must deal with,” the sworn statement said. He meets “about every week” with his national security advisor. 

“His job is not to direct specific intelligence operations. It is to understand strategically what various actors are doing,” reads the statement.

The new work schedule follows criticism that Trudeau and political aides appeared indifferent to repeated warnings of alleged unlawful meddling by foreign agents. 

“We are buried in a mountain of process two years after these revelations have come to light with no end in sight,” Conservative MP Michael Chong testified on September 18. Security memos named Chong among opposition legislators targeted by Chinese agents.

Legislators targeted by Chinese agents should have been warned in person, the Department of Public Safety acknowledged during prior Commission testimony.

“This is not how our institutions should function,” testified Chong. “This is not how Parliament should work and this is not how the Government of Canada should treat threats to our national security.”

“No amount of process is going to fix a system where Ministers and the Prime Minister are unwilling to uphold their responsibilities,” said Chong. “...no amount of process or no amount of new policy is going to change that abdication.”

Prime Minister Trudeau received repeated warnings about Chinese agents targeting Conservative MPs, according to David Vigneault, Canada’s then spy chief. “It is indeed something I communicated,” Vigneault testified at the Foreign Interference Commission.

The CSIS director earlier disclosed memos on Chinese interference to Trudeau and his staff, which he authenticated at the inquiry.

Declassified records disclosed by the Commission include a February 21, 2023 memo to the Prime Minister’s Office by the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service that warned: “State actors are able to conduct foreign interference successfully in Canada because there are few legal or political consequences.” 

The memo detailed allegations that Chinese agents funnelled $250,000 to “pro-China” public office holders in breach of the Canada Elections Act.

“Until foreign interference is viewed as an existential threat to Canadian democracy and governments forcefully and actively respond, these threats will persist,” said the Briefing To The Prime Minister’s Office On Foreign Interference: Threats To Canada’s Democratic Institutions.

https://twitter.com/sheilagunnreid/status/1846564921922011189

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Trudeau testified on explosive intelligence reports, of which one described Chinese diplomats assessing the usefulness of Canadian MPs to Beijing. Trudeau said the “Targeting Paper” report was not shared with him by his then-security advisor, Jody Thomas. 

Trudeau repeatedly played down the significance of this report, arguing that such categorization is a normal part of diplomacy, reported The Bureau.

“I have faith, having looked at the paper, that it was indeed the right decision by the National Security Intelligence Advisor — that it wasn’t a document that significantly added in a relevant way to my understanding of the situation,” he testified.

The debate over foreign interference reports revealed deep disagreements between Trudeau’s political aides and intelligence officials. Katie Telford, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, testified that Global Affairs Canada held opposing views from CSIS on matters concerning foreign interference. 

The inquiry exposed a nagging and repeated reluctance within the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to act on intelligence warnings. 

Trudeau claimed that three foreign interference memos, dating back to as early as 2019, never reached his desk. Among them included briefings for Parliamentarians, which he only authorized for their viewing in June 2024.

“These decision points didn’t get to me,” Trudeau said, acknowledging the breakdown. “But I made it very clear throughout conversations that I would have approved of, and encouraged briefings.”

“Nobody flagged this as something of importance that was stalled, and therefore, as you pointed out, they weren’t acted on in my office,” he concluded.

Alex Dhaliwal

Calgary Based Journalist

Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.

COMMENTS

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  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2024-10-18 20:07:55 -0400
    Trudeau is China’s stooge. They know what a self-deluded idiot he is. Scandals are nothing to Trudeau. To him, it’s taking care of friends. But Pierre Poilievre will have to do a LOT of work to clean up Trudeau’s mess.