CSIS Says It Will Brief Poilievre on ‘Some Information’ on Foreign Interference

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre leaves the Prime Minister’s office in the West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Dec. 3, 2024. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Canada’s intelligence agency says it will share with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre “some information” on foreign interference through a “threat reduction measure” that removes the need for him to obtain a top-level security clearance. This clearance is something the federal government has insisted opposition leaders obtain in order to gain full access to relevant classified documents.

In an email statement to The Epoch Times on Dec. 8, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) says it has determined that the “the disclosure of some information to the Leader of the Official Opposition through a threat reduction measure is appropriate.”

“Under a threat reduction measure, certain information can be disclosed to reduce a threat,” said CSIS spokesperson Lindsay Sloane. The agency has several mechanisms under the CSIS Act that it has considered and that allow the sharing of classified information with Poilievre.

“In typical circumstances, classified information is shared only with those who hold an appropriate security clearance and a relevant need to know,” Sloane added.

News of CSIS’s intent to brief the Tory leader on national security threats was first reported by the CBC on Dec. 7. The spy agency says plans for the briefing “are now being finalized.”

Poilievre’s spokesperson confirms that the briefing will “occur in the near future” and that the Conservatives are “interested [in] what CSIS has to say.”

“The Government has now flip-flopped and admitted what Mr. Poilievre has been saying all along is correct. The Leader of the Official Opposition does not need to get a security clearance and swear an oath of secrecy in order to be briefed,” Sebastian Skamski, director of media relations for Poilievre’s office, said in an emailed statement on Dec. 8.

‘In a Position to Disclose’

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been criticizing Poilievre for refusing to get the required security clearance that would enable him to get top-secret briefings from agencies including CSIS.

The issue stems from a June 3 report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP). The report, based on government intelligence, concluded that some lawmakers and party candidates have been “semi-witting or witting participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in our politics.” The report, however, is a redacted version and doesn’t disclose which lawmakers are involved.

To gain access to the unredacted version, the federal government has made it a requirement for opposition leaders to obtain a top-level security clearance. All accepted the offer except for the Tory leader.

Skamski says the Privy Council Office (PCO) has confirmed to the Opposition Leader’s Office recently that the requirement is not a hard-and-fast rule.

“On December 5, 2024, PCO confirmed our position: ‘the Government is in a position to disclose the classified information pursuant to legislated authorities (Threat Reduction Measures (TRM)),’” Skamski wrote in his statement.

“Should the Government have relevant information, they are empowered by Section 12.1 of the CSIS Act to brief an individual using Threat Reduction Measures (TRM), regardless of security clearance status.”

The PCO provides support to the prime minister and cabinet from a non-partisan perspective, as opposed to the Prime Minister’s Office, which provides that support from a partisan perspective.

‘Release the Names’

Poilievre has argued that getting the required security clearance in order to receive the classified briefing would prevent him from openly using the information to criticize the government on security matters. On Oct. 16, he posted on social media platform X a statement saying he wouldn’t be able to act on the classified information being provided should he accede to Trudeau’s demand.

“Receiving a secret briefing would, according to Justin Trudeau’s Chief of Staff, prevent a recipient from using ‘the information in any manner,’ and ‘even when that is not the case, briefing political parties on sensitive intelligence regarding an MP could put the leader or representative of a political party in a tough position, because any decision affecting the MP might have to be made without giving them due process,’” he wrote.

Poilievre’s refusal to comply didn’t go well with Trudeau. The prime minister said the Tory leader was not living up to his role by not getting the national security clearance required.

“Unfortunately, the Leader of the Opposition has failed at his responsibility to keep his own MPs safe from foreign interference,” Trudeau told the House of Commons on Oct. 30.

The prime minister added that he has asked security services to find a way to share information with Poilievre about foreign interference affecting the Conservatives caucus.

“It would be easier if he got his security clearance, but I have asked them to give him some information nonetheless.”

On Oct. 16, the prime minister told the Foreign Interference Commission that he has the names of a number of past and present Conservative parliamentarians and candidates who “are engaged [in] or at high risk of, or for whom there is clear intelligence around, foreign interference.” He said members from other parties, including the Liberals, are also flagged.

The NSICOP report said China remains the largest foreign interference threat to Canada and its democratic institutions. The other most significant foreign interference threats to the country are India and Russia, although the latter did not engage in Canadian democratic institutions and processes, said the report.

The Conservatives have since called on the Liberal government to release the names of the implicated lawmakers. The Liberals say this would breach national security and deprive the named individuals of due process.

In a previous statement to The Epoch Times, Skamski said that Poilievre, if elected as prime minister, would release the names of “those who are deemed to have knowingly participated in foreign interference.”

“Justin Trudeau should release the names if he has nothing to hide,” Skamski added.

Noé Chartier, Omid Ghoreishi, and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.