Intelligence watchdog completes report on Chinese interference allegations, sends it to PM
One of Canada's intelli‐ gence watchdogs has fin‐ ished its investigation into allegations of foreign elec‐ toral interference and has sent its findings to the prime minister and mem‐ bers of his cabinet.
It will still be a while be‐ fore the public can read it, however - and it remains to be seen how much of the re‐ port will be redacted.
Just over a year ago, when the Liberal government was under constant fire over claims that China meddled in the 2019 and 2021 elections, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked the country's two intelligence review bod‐ ies - the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) - to investi‐ gate the issue.
On Friday, NSICOP an‐ nounced it had delivered its special report, with unani‐ mous findings and recom‐ mendations, to Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Do‐ minic LeBlanc, Justice Minster Arif Virani and Defence Min‐ ister Bill Blair.
As required by NSICOP's enabling law, it's now up to the prime minister to consid‐ er "whether there is any in‐ formation in the report, the disclosure of which would be injurious to national security, national defence or interna‐ tional relations, or consti‐ tutes solicitor-client informa‐ tion."
The prime minister must table a declassified version of the report within 30 sitting days of Parliament.
NSICOP is made up of MPs and senators from dif‐ ferent parties who receive top secret security clearances and are permanently bound to secrecy under the Security of Information Act, permit‐ ting them access to the agen‐ cies' usually secret activities.
It was set up in 2017 with a mandate to review national security measures but has found itself in the political crosshairs over the past 12 months.
Last March, Conservative critic for foreign affairs Michael Chong described NSICOP as "a secret commit‐ tee with secret hearings, se‐ cret evidence and secret con‐ clusions, all controlled by the prime minister."
Vern White, a former Con‐ servative senator and NSI‐ COP member, called that claim "B.S."
"There are strict rules on the things that need to be redacted. Read the legisla‐ tion. It's very clear," he told The House last year.
A 2019 NSICOP report urged Ottawa to take the threat of foreign interference more seriously.
"Canada has been slow to react to the threat of foreign interference," it said. "The government must do better."
Inquiry resumes next week
The NSICOP report is sep‐ arate from the commission probing similar allegations, which is set to resume next week.
The Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Fed‐ eral Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions (PIFI) resumes next Wednesday and will run until April 10.
That inquiry is delving into allegations of foreign inter‐ ference by China, India, Rus‐ sia or others in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
In a news release issued Friday, the commission said it will hear from dozens of indi‐ viduals and agencies - includ‐ ing members of diaspora communities, current and former elected officials, polit‐ ical party representatives, Elections Canada officials, the Office of the Commis‐ sioner of Canada Elections, current and former senior government officials, cabinet ministers and Trudeau him‐ self.
Last year, the prime min‐ ister - who has come under attack over the way he has handled the file - said he would testify "willingly and with very much enthusiasm."
A schedule listing when witnesses will appear is ex‐ pected next week.
Hogue held interim hear‐ ings earlier this year on whether intelligence and oth‐ er information could be talked about publicly.
The upcoming set of hear‐ ings will focus on whether there was foreign interfer‐ ence in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, the potenti‐ al impacts on the integrity of those elections, the flow of information to senior deci‐ sion-makers and the govern‐ ment's response.
"A goal for these hearings is to give citizens a better un‐ derstanding of the foreign in‐ terference threats our elec‐ toral system may have faced in the 2019 and 2021 elec‐ tions, the protective mecha‐ nisms that were in place, and the potential impact, if any, on the integrity of the elec‐ tions," Hogue said in a media statement Friday.
She said the commission will have to be "both creative and prudent in its approach."
"We have therefore provided for flexible rules of evidence and procedure that should enable us to reconcile the objectives of trans‐ parency and the protection of national security, while re‐ specting the rights of the par‐ ties and the public to know and meeting the tight time‐ lines that have been im‐ posed," said Hogue.
Hogue's interim report is due May 3 and her final re‐ port is due by the end of the year.