CSIS, Not Political Staff, Had Duty to Warn Minister on Interference Concerns, Telford Testifies

Katie Telford, chief of staff to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, departs after appearing as a witness before the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs studying foreign election interference, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 14, 2023. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

The prime minister’s top adviser told a Commons committee that it was not her duty to warn a cabinet minister that someone in the 2019 election campaign had close ties to Chinese diplomats.

Katie Telford, chief of staff to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, made the comments while testifying before the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) on April 14.

Telford was reacting to questions raised about a February Globe and Mail report based on national security sources.

The report said that senior staff of the Prime Minister’s Office, including Telford, had been warned in the lead-up to the 2019 election that Michael Chan should be on “your radar” and that “someone should reach out to Mary to be extra careful.”

Chan is a former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister and current deputy mayor of Markham, while “Mary” refers to Minister of International Trade Mary Ng.

The Globe reported that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has a file on Chan due to his alleged close ties to the Toronto Chinese consulate.

Ng told the Globe that the PMO never passed on the warning to her about Chan, who had chaired her 2017 by-election campaign and was slated to be co-chair in 2019.

Ng said Chan never actually took the role of co-chair in 2019 due to the availability of other capable volunteers, but the Globe cited an anonymous Ng confidant saying Chan was dropped because of his comments against pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

“Did anybody from the Prime Minister’s Office or the Liberal Party headquarters relay any information to the current Minister of Trade regarding CSIS warnings about the former Liberal MPP from Markham Unionville [Chan]?” asked Conservative MP Rachel Thomas.

Telford replied that the question should be directed to Ng, who she said has already addressed the issue. But she added that “recommendations don’t tend to come to to us saying ‘you should go and do the threat reduction measure’ if there’s ever one that’s recommended.”

A “threat reduction measure” is is the specific name of the tool CSIS uses when it goes beyond its main mandate to collect intelligence and inform government, and conducts a certain activity to reduce a threat.

This authority was granted under the Anti-terrorism Act of 2015, amending the CSIS Act of 1984.

“Even what we share between other cleared individuals within government is something that we have to be incredibly sensitive and careful about, and threat reduction measures, if they are deemed as something that are necessary, is something that security officials do, not political staff,” Telford said, adding that she considers Ng a close friend.

The CSIS briefing to the PMO was itself possibly a threat reduction measure approved at the highest level given the political sensitivities, with the aim of calling attention to Chan.

The Globe reported in the same piece that CSIS Director David Vigneault had flagged Chan’s return to public office in a fall 2022 briefing to Trudeau and his National Security and Intelligence Adviser.

Vigneault reportedly warned that Liberal MPs should be vigilant in their dealings with Chan.

Mary Ng’s press secretary previously told The Epoch Times that Ng does not have ties with Chan, “nor have they been in touch for many years.”

“Any allegations beyond those facts are pure misinformation to dangerously mislead Canadians,” said Shanti Cosentino.

Chan has not responded to previous requests for comment. He told the Globe that its report “serves only to ignite xenophobia and cause continued, unwarranted and irreparable damage to my reputation and the safety of my family.”

Foreign Interference Study

Telford was testifying before PROC in the course of its study on foreign interference that kicked into high gear in November after the first national security leaks appeared in the media.

After multiple media reports revealed the extent of interference by the Chinese Communist Party in Canada, opposition parties and others started calling for a public inquiry.

Trudeau rejected the calls and instead appointed former governor general David Johnston as special rapporteur on foreign interference. Johnston is to formulate recommendations on the matter to be presented to the government in the coming weeks, which could include holding a public inquiry.

NDP MP Rachel Blaney asked Telford whether she thinks a public inquiry is needed, saying she fears that Canadians are “losing faith” in our systems.

Not receiving a direct answer, Blaney interrupted Telford and asked if she had ever advised the prime minister against holding an inquiry. Telford said her advice was to appoint someone like Johnston to look at where the gaps are.

Telford was also asked about whether she was involved in the issue surrounding MP Han Dong at the time of the CSIS warning, but she said she was “was never involved in a conversation on the subject.”

She didn’t dispute that CSIS warned the Liberal Party when Dong was seeking the nomination in the Don Valley North riding of Toronto before the 2019 federal election.

Global News reported in February that based on national security leaks, Dong was a “witting affiliate in China’s election interference networks.”

Dong subsequently resigned from the Liberal caucus and served a libel notice against Global, calling their reporting “false, malicious, irresponsible, and defamatory.”

He has not returned previous requests for comment from The Epoch Times.