A senior advisor to Justin Trudeau said that security advisors, such as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), should not recommend if a potential MP is “suitable.” . Justin TrudeauPrime Minister Justin Trudeau .The senior advisor said during a discussion about former Liberal MP Han Dong (Don Valley North, ON) in a House Affairs committee meeting. Dong had been an MP for two terms and a member of the Liberal Party..“It is not the role of Intelligence to dictate to parties about how they conduct their affairs,” testified Jeremy Broadhurst, a political aide to Justin Trudeau and 2019 director of the national Liberal Party election campaign..“It is to provide information they need at any given time. I am not going to get into the content of that.”.Global News on Feb. 24 named Dong as a “witting affiliate in China’s election interference networks.” .Global said the MP was under surveillance by the CSIS as early as June 2019, months before his election to Parliament in Toronto..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Dong has filed a $15 million libel suit against the network..“Global News reported that 48 hours before the candidate nomination cut-off in the 2019 election, senior Liberal Party officials received an urgent briefing by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service that the Liberal candidate for Don Valley North was part of a foreign interference network,” said Conservative MP Michael Cooper (St. Albert-Edmonton, AB). .“Who were the senior Liberal Party officials who were part of this briefing?”.“I can confirm a briefing did take place during that campaign,” replied Broadhurst..It took place on Sept. 28, 2019..“When was the prime minister made aware of that briefing and the contents of the briefing?” asked Cooper..“I briefed him in a safe manner on the 29th,” replied Broadhurst..“Why was the nomination of the candidate for Don Valley North not revoked?” asked Cooper..“I am not in a position to confirm what the content of the briefing we received from national security officials was,” replied Broadhurst..“If we had evidence of specific cases where we could point directly to, ‘Oh, this is a case where a state actor or some foreign entity was engaging inappropriately,’ we would act very quickly to share the information with the prime minister,” said Broadhurst..“Did the Canadian Security Intelligence Service recommend in the briefing that the Liberal Party should revoke the nomination of the candidate in Don Valley North?” asked Conservative MP Blaine Calkins (Red Deer-Lacombe, AB). .“That would have been inappropriate for them to make that kind of recommendation,” replied Broadhurst..“That is not their role.”.On Tuesday, Hamish Marshall, national manager of the Conservative Party’s 2021 campaign, testified organizers assumed Chinese agents attempted to interfere in the election..“The operating assumption for myself and everybody in our senior campaign team was that all our electronic communications, we should assume they had been compromised by Chinese intelligence and possibly other countries as well,” said Marshall..“That is something we took seriously.”.Marshall said security briefings from election monitors were typically “very vague and top-level” and that dropping any candidate was extraordinary..“We are loathe to fire candidates or remove candidates,” said Marshall..“It is not something we enjoy doing,” said Marshall..“It is something that is difficult. It’s obviously extraordinarily disruptive during an election. The information that we would have to be presented in order to take action on it would have to be very, very detailed.”.“Do you think any other party received anything different?” asked New Democrat MP Rachel Blaney (North Island-Powell River, BC). .“At the time, I certainly wasn’t concerned about that,” replied Marshall..“I got the feeling they were dealing with us all on an equal basis.”
