Trudeau Says Didn’t Learn Much From Key Beijing Interference Reports His Advisers Initially Withheld

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears as a witness at the Foreign Interference Commission in Ottawa Oct. 16, 2024. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended his top security advisers for not providing him with comprehensive reports on the Beijing regime’s interference in a timely manner, saying he didn’t learn anything substantial after reading them.

“There are some interesting factoids or tidbits in there that I said, ‘Oh, okay, that’s interesting,’” Trudeau testified at the Foreign Interference Commission on Oct. 16.

“None of them significantly altered, or altered at all my perception of China’s behaviour, China’s focus, China’s engagement, influence, and in some cases, interference in Canada, to any significant degree.”

The prime minister was being asked to comment on a report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) discussing how China targets parliamentarians in Canada.

The CSIS intelligence assessment, known as the “Targeting Paper,” was first produced in 2021 and released in 2023 on a secure intelligence platform. It was unpublished shortly after as Trudeau’s then-national security and intelligence adviser (NSIA) Jody Thomas said the information was too sensitive since it contained names, and the distribution list was too broad.

CSIS produced a new version of the paper with summarized information for the prime minister but it was never sent to him at the time. Trudeau read the paper more recently before testifying at the inquiry.

Trudeau said he trusted the NSIA’s judgment in not ensuring the document reached his desk.

“I have faith, having looked at the paper, that it was indeed the right decision by the National Security Intelligence Advisor, that it wasn’t a document that significantly added in a relevant way to my understanding of the situation,” he said.

Former CSIS director David Vigneault told the inquiry on Sept. 27 that the Targeting Paper contained “exquisite intelligence” on how Beijing targets elected officials in Canada. He called it a “very important piece of analysis that was bringing the totality of what we knew” on Chinese interference and said Trudeau should have seen it.

When testifying before the commission on Oct. 9, Thomas said she didn’t have the impression the Targeting Paper was destined for the prime minister.

A May report from the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) examined the issue of intelligence on Chinese interference not reaching the prime minister. It quotes the Privy Council Office (PCO), which houses the NSIA, saying that Thomas believed the “activity indicated in the [Targeting Paper] did not qualify as foreign interference, but was rather part of regular diplomatic practice.”

Trudeau also took this stance before the commission, saying that it’s normal for countries to gather information on politicians in other countries to advance policy objectives.

The prime minister gave his summary of the Targeting Paper by saying China has classified parliamentarians into three groups: one that is positive toward China, one that is neutral or persuadable, and one that is antagonistic toward China.

“The fact that Chinese diplomats are categorizing MPs in their outreach abilities into those three categories is not itself particularly revelatory to me, or new information to me,” Trudeau said. “It is fairly obvious, and it is part of what diplomats do in every country around the world.”

He provided the example of his own government having done similar work on U.S. politicians during trade negotiations.

Special Report

Trudeau was also asked about another intelligence assessment on Chinese interference that was never briefed to him, this time produced by the PCO’s Intelligence Assessment Secretariat (IAS) in late 2021.

This report is called the “Special Report” on “China’s Foreign Interference Activities.”

Global News reported on this leaked report in November 2022, the first in a cascade of intelligence leaks in the press on the Chinese regime’s interference in Canada, which culminated with the holding of the public inquiry. The report mentions intelligence about 11 federal candidates receiving support from Beijing in the 2019 election.

Former acting NSIA David Morrison told the inquiry he had commissioned the Special Report for his own understanding when asked why it wasn’t briefed up. Morrison was replaced in early 2022 by Thomas, who also didn’t distribute the assessment even though the IAS official spearheading it had asked her to do so.

Trudeau told the inquiry he didn’t learn much from the Special Report after reading it at a later time, saying it would have been good for someone “new to the job.”

“I don’t feel that there was anything in there that I didn’t already understand and know about how China was engaging across different fields in Canada; it wasn’t particularly new,” he said.

“I again feel that the NSIA was justified in not feeling that it was imperative that they put it rapidly on my desk.”

Trudeau was testifying on the last day of the inquiry’s public hearings phase, as the commission probes the federal government’s capacity to counter foreign interference.

The commission is expected to file a final report before the end of the year.