China Inquiry documents show Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not remove Han Dong as the 2019 Liberal candidate in Don Valley North out of fear of losing the riding. Following the September 12, 2019 nomination contest, Dong remained in the Liberal caucus until March 22, 2023 when he resigned following media reports he was in frequent contact with members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), per Blacklock’s Reporter. Trudeau’s decision to keep Dong as the Liberal candidate in the Toronto riding followed warnings from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) that at that time Dong was under surveillance over his contacts with the Chinese Consulate.“In his in-camera testimony before me Mr. Trudeau noted that un-endorsing Mr. Dong would have direct electoral consequences as the Liberal Party expected to win Don Valley North,” Commissioner Justice Marie Josée Hogue wrote in her initial report to parliament. “It would also have a devastating impact on Mr. Dong personally.”The Trudeau Liberals lost 20 seats and its parliamentary majority in that year’s election.“A primary example of observed foreign interference was the Liberal Party nomination race in Don Valley North,” wrote Hogue. Evidence suggested Chinese foreign students attending a private school outside the riding, the New Oriental International College Academy of Markham, ON, were bused in to vote for Dong, she wrote.The report noted the prime minister did not appear to take any steps to investigate Dong after his election as MP in 2019. “Mr. Trudeau emphasized in his public testimony that he was faced with a binary choice: remove Mr. Dong or leave him in place,” wrote Hogue. “But he testified that having chosen to allow Mr. Dong to remain as the Liberal Party candidate, this was a matter ‘we would have to revisit.’”“I asked Mr. Trudeau whether the issue was revisited after the election. Mr. Trudeau testified the Liberal Party investigated immediately after they received the information from the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force. He was not sure what more could have been done.”The Inquiry further shows Dong’s own campaign manager Ted Lojko expected to lose the nomination race until Mandarin-speaking foreign students were bused in. Unnamed party executives arrived from Ottawa to monitor the vote, the only open nomination contest in Toronto that campaign.“It is not the mandate of this Commission to determine what actually took place at the Don Valley North nomination meeting in 2019 and I would not be able to do so on the record before me in any event,” wrote Hogue. “However this incident makes clear the extent to which nomination contests can be gateways for foreign states who wish to interfere in our democratic processes.”“I cannot exclude the possibility that if China did interfere in the Don Valley North nomination this may have impacted the result of the nomination contest. The nomination was ‘very close’ and it is not possible to determine the number of students who were on the buses or how they ultimately voted.”“Given that Don Valley North was considered a ‘safe’ Liberal seat, if foreign interference did impact the nomination race this would likely not have affected which party held the riding. It would however have affected who was elected to Parliament. This is significant.”Lojko was quoted in an interview held a day after the Prime Minister called the 2019 election that “this nomination was heavily scrutinized by the Liberal Party.” “Several of the ‘party brass’ from Ottawa were at the nomination vote watching it unfold,” said the interview summary by commission counsel. “Mr. Lojko could not remember the names of those who were present.”“They were there because whoever won would be a new candidate nominated after the writ had dropped,” Lojko was quoted saying at the time. “They wanted to know whether there was anything the media could pick up on to tarnish the campaign. To Mr. Lojko’s knowledge this was the only open nomination in Toronto in 2019 since the rest of the ridings were filled with incumbents.”Lojko described the meeting as “chaotic” and said he expected Dong to lose.“Voting lasted for three to four hours,” said Lojko per the summary. “Several hundred people voted. Once voting ended Mr. Lojko believed Mr. Dong had likely lost,” the rummary states.“To his surprise Mr. Dong won the nomination. Mr. Lojko did not know how close the vote was.”
