Cory Morgan: Is the Jig Finally up for the ‘Upper Levels’ Who Ignored CSIS Warnings on CCP Interference?

The Parliament Buildings in Ottawa in a file photo. Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times

Commentary

The trickle of information on Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interference in Canadian affairs has turned into a torrent. Current and former intelligence officials are coming out and reporting a pattern of government indifference to CCP interference in domestic affairs that spans back decades. Governments and political leaders have managed to ignore the problem with impunity so far.

Will that finally change with the latest revelations?

Has it finally gotten so bad that we will see some high-ranking government officials and possibly a prime minister held to account for this problem?

It’s of little wonder national security officials began leaking documents to the media to try and shed light on the issue. CSIS was monitoring and sending evidence of CCP meddling in nominations and aspects of the 2019 federal election before the writ was even dropped. Their reports were sent to a government that appeared to have done nothing about it. Likewise, CSIS reports of electoral interference in the 2021 federal election were filed with the government and seemed to be sent into an abyss.

CSIS agents must have been feeling dejected. They have a tough job, and how must it feel to put in years investigating and compiling intelligence for reports that end up being ignored? The compulsion felt by the whistleblower to throw up his hands and leak reports is understandable.

With Canada’s history of lax responses to CCP incursions on domestic soil, we can see why the current government thought it could get away with ignoring it. Other governments did.

In the 1990s, the CCP was already entrenched enough in Canadian affairs that it prompted an American investigation into the issue by the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI, and the Defence Intelligence Agency. They were taking things seriously and their conclusions were damning. A memo from the probe in 1998 stated: “The U.S. government can no longer tolerate such a threat emanating principally from within Canada’s borders.”

Surely the results of that probe were shared with the Canadian government at the time. Not only were Canadian citizens threatened by CCP incursions, but we were losing trust with our closest ally and trading partner. Still, nothing was done.

In the latest leaked documents from CSIS, it was revealed that the CCP had been trying to influence the Vancouver municipal election in 2022. Former Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart told CTV he had been approached by CSIS officials and briefed on the issue last May. It’s odd for a federal intelligence agency to communicate with municipal leaders. Kennedy asked why they were briefing him and was told that “information ... wasn’t getting through to upper levels.”

The problem is beyond a partisan one, as several prime ministers have done nothing about the issue despite years of intelligence reports warning of CCP activities in Canada.

The frustration can be clearly seen in a Globe and Mail op-ed from the whistleblower as he wrote: “In the time that passed, another federal election had come and gone, the threat of interference had grown, and it had become increasingly clear that no serious action was being considered. Worse still, evidence of senior public officials ignoring interference was beginning to mount.”

The issue now isn’t just the CCP interference, it’s the government’s inaction on it.

Why are officials so reticent to act on evidence of CCP malfeasance on Canadian soil?

How high up does this go?

Was the intelligence kept from prime ministers themselves to maintain plausible deniability?

Did Prime Minister Justin Trudeau really not have any knowledge of the CCP meddling in two federal elections?

Trudeau being kept in the dark on such a critical issue would raise some serious questions as to just how in control of the government he really is. If Trudeau was aware of the interference, he did nothing about it. Only a full public inquiry could get to the bottom of that issue, and both conclusions look bad for the prime minister. It’s not hard to understand why he’s fighting against the formation of an inquiry with such determination.

The extent of CCP interference in Canadian affairs must be exposed and the interference needs to be dealt with.

The pattern of government indifference to this issue needs to be broken. Not only do we need to find out who knew what and when, but we also need these people to be held accountable. Senior government officials, whether elected or bureaucratic, need to know there will be consequences for ignoring or covering up threats to Canadian security.

Transparency and accountability are buzzwords politicians love to use. It’s past time the government was exposed to both. Some people need to be exposed, and their actions held to account, no matter how high in the chain of authority they are.

Otherwise, the CCP will continue to victimize Canadians with impunity.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.