Spy director stands by assertions in briefing notes

The head of Canada’s spy agency stands by the stark conclusions contained in a series of CSIS briefing notes, including that China “clandestinely and deceptively interfered” in the past two federal votes, he testified Friday.

But David Vigneault also agrees with a panel of top bureaucrats who concluded there was no significant threat to Canada’s free and fair elections in 2021 and 2019.

Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, testified for a second time Friday before a federal inquiry into foreign election interference.

He was asked to appear virtually to face fresh questions about the briefing materials, which weren’t available the first time he took the stand.

The CSIS memos that have since been tabled at the inquiry make several bald assertions.

One memo, dated Feb. 21, 2023, declares that CSIS knows China “clandestinely and deceptively interfered in both the 2019 and 2021 general elections.”

“We saw foreign interference during those elections and the evidence is that interference was indeed clandestine and deceptive,” Vigneault said in response to the passage during his testimony by video conference.

“At the same time, that interference did not amount to have an impact on the integrity of the election.”

The same memo tabled at the commission includes specific but highly redacted examples of possible interference attempts, and asserts state actors can conduct foreign interference “successfully” in Canada because there are few legal or political consequences.

The memo calls foreign interference a “low-risk and high-reward” proposition.

Another memo from 2022 concludes that until Canada views foreign interference as an “existential threat” to Canadian democracy and responds forcefully, “these threats will persist.”

The documents were prepared for Vigneault ahead of meetings he had with the prime minister, but he said much of the content was not passed on to Justin Trudeau or his office during those meetings.

The conclusion of Vigneault’s evidence marks the end of 10 days of fact-finding hearings, including testimony from politicians, bureaucrats and representatives from several intelligence and security agencies.