Defence Minister Bill Blair is facing scrutiny over his handling of critical security warnings regarding foreign interference by Chinese agents, with testimony at the China inquiry portraying him as inattentive and unengaged. Blacklock's Reporter says witnesses described Blair, 70, as preferring to work from home and often relying on others to summarize important security memos, rather than reviewing the documents himself.Rob Stewart, former Deputy Minister of Public Safety, testified that Blair exercised “a lot of discretion” in managing his responsibilities. “My experience was with the minister’s office that there was often a lot of discretion exercised in terms of when the minister got to things as he was not always in the office,” Stewart said.Blair is due to testify at the Commission on Foreign Interference on Friday, amid mounting questions about why he ignored repeated warnings from Canadian security agencies about illegal activities involving Chinese Communist Party agents.Evidence revealed Blair took 54 days to approve a Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) warrant to monitor Liberal Party contacts with Chinese agents in Toronto. Additionally, he failed to act on specific warnings that Chinese operatives were targeting Conservative MPs Michael Chong and Kenny Chiu.Lynda Morgan, counsel for the commission, disclosed new affidavits from Blair’s office, stating that the Minister had not received security documents during the pandemic. “Minister Blair’s chief of staff will testify that after the pandemic started, the Minister’s office was no longer provided with binders of intelligence,” Morgan said.However, Stewart contradicted this, asserting that intelligence binders were still being sent to Blair. “That is not consistent with my recollection,” Stewart said, adding that it was his understanding the documents continued to be provided.Further testimony suggested that Blair preferred verbal briefings rather than reviewing written security documents. Dominic Rochon, former assistant deputy public safety minister, confirmed that hard copies of intelligence memos, including those detailing potential risks to MP Chong’s relatives in China, were delivered to Blair’s Ottawa office.Despite these efforts, critical intelligence warnings, such as a May 31, 2021 memo labeled “top secret” regarding the safety of Chong’s family in China, remained unaddressed. “The flow of intelligence continued through the pandemic as it did before,” Rochon testified, adding that these materials were kept in secure safes in Blair’s office.Gib van Ert, counsel for Chong, expressed frustration with the apparent negligence in handling these urgent matters. “The gist of it, it seems to me, is the minister is pointing at the department for having failed to provide him with or inform him of intelligence products assessed to him,” van Ert said.
