Politicians allegedly targeted by foreign interference 'disappointed' in Johnston's report

Politicians who allegedly have been the targets of foreign interference say they're "disappointed" that former governor general David Johnston recom‐ mended against calling a public inquiry into the matter.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Johnston as a special rapporteur on for‐ eign interference in March in response to the furor over Chinese government interfer‐ ence.

Trudeau said he would call a public inquiry if Johnston recommended one. But in his report released Tuesday, Johnston said he doesn't think an inquiry would be able to address foreign inter‐ ference and problems with in‐ telligence.

"A person leading a Public Inquiry would be unlikely to learn more about who knew what, when, and what was done with [intelligence] than has been made available to me," Johnston wrote.

"Duplicating this effort would not be productive and would lead to delay in ad‐ dressing the issues."

Former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu said he was "dis‐ appointed" in Johnston's deci‐ sion not to call for an inquiry.

"Nothing short of [a public inquiry] is good enough to get to the bottom [of this]," he told CBC.

Chiu says he wasn't of‐ fered meeting with John‐ ston

The former MP has blamed Beijing's alleged elec‐ tion meddling for losing his seat in the 2021 election. He claims he was the target of propaganda and disinforma‐ tion on WeChat — a Chineseowned messaging app — that falsely claimed his private members' bill would unfairly target the Chinese communi‐ ty.

Chiu's bill actually pro‐ posed to establish a foreign agent registry that would re‐ quire non-elected individuals to declare when they receive money from foreign govern‐ ments.

Johnston's report does ac‐ knowledge the online misin‐ formation about Chiu but says it "could not be traced to a state-sponsored source."

"It is clear that [Beijing] diplomats did not like Mr. Chiu," the report reads. "It is much less clear that they did anything in particular about it."

But Chiu — who said he was not offered a meeting with Johnston — said he doesn't think that section of the report is a fair representa‐ tion of what happened in 2021.

"For [Johnston] to con‐ clude that, I think to me, is a bit premature," he said.

Chiu said that even though Johnston may have access to top secret informa‐ tion, he may not understand how election interference plays out "on the ground."

NDP MP Jenny Kwan also expressed disappointment in Johnston's decision not to recommend a public inquiry.

"I think there are a lot of unanswered questions that we're still waiting for," Kwan said.

Unlike Chiu, Kwan said she was able to meet with John‐ ston, but only because NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh invited her to join him in his meeting with the special rapporteur.

Kwan said she was also contacted by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) after the federal gov‐ ernment expelled a Chinese diplomat for allegedly target‐ ing the family of Conservative MP Michael Chong.

The Globe and Mail, citing a top-secret document from 2021, reported earlier this month that the Chinese gov‐ ernment was targeting a Canadian MP. An unnamed security source reportedly told The Globe that Beijing was allegedly working to col‐ lect information on Chong's family in China.

Johnston's report touched on Chong's case but also indi‐ cated that Beijing intended to target another unnamed MP and their family in China.

Kwan said she doesn't know if Johnston's report is referring to her, though she added that she doesn't have family in China. She said she has yet to meet with CSIS due to scheduling issues.

"I have a lot of questions for CSIS," she said. "I'm anx‐ ious to meet with them to see what they have to say and see what I can learn."

Chiu told CBC that CSIS hasn't contacted him since he left office.

Han Dong says he's 'vin‐ dicated' by Johnston's re‐ port

Independent MP Han Dong — who has been the centre of one media report on election interference and stepped away from the Liber‐ al caucus as a result — wel‐ comed Johnston's report.

A story by Global News, citing an unnamed national security source, said Dong ad‐ vised an official at the Chinese consulate in Toronto to lengthen the detentions of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians the

Chinese government was holding at the time.

But Johnston's disputed Global's reporting.

"The allegation is false. Mr. Dong discussed the 'two Michaels' with a PRC official but did not suggest to the of‐ ficial that the PRC extend their detention," Johnston said.

Dong, who is suing Global News, said he felt "vindicated" by Johnston's findings.

"It is even more clear that

Global News and [its parent company] Corus Entertain‐ ment must fully apologize and retract their defamatory reporting about me," Dong said in a statement.

While he isn't recommend‐ ing a public inquiry, Johnston said in his report he did find "serious shortcomings in the way intelligence is communi‐ cated and processed from se‐ curity agencies through to government."

Johnston said he'll contin‐ ue his work as special rappor‐ teur through to October by holding hearings to find ways to fix those shortcomings. He said he will produce a second report later this year.