A former deputy minister of public safety testified on Thursday that it was "not my job" to warn a Conservative MP that he was being targeted by Chinese foreign agents attempting to influence a federal election.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Rob Stewart informed the House Affairs committee that “many people in Canada” are targeted by foreign agents. He admitted that he never provided warnings to most of them.“There are many people in Canada who are on an ongoing basis being targeted by foreign interference and it was not my job to inform them,” said Stewart. “There are processes and ways of doing so. In this instance, I was not tracking what other people were doing.”The committee has struggled to figure out why federal officials disregarded multiple security alerts indicating that Chinese spies had targeted Conservative MP Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton Hills, ON) before the 2021 election.Chong stated that he became aware of this information only when the story was leaked to the Globe and Mail on May 1, 2023.Stewart admitted on Thursday that in 2021, he had received at least two warnings from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service indicating that Chong was being targeted. He mentioned that he could not remember reading those warnings.“Is there a particular process for MPs?” asked New Democrat MP Rachel Blaney (North Island-Powell River, BC). “It was not interpreted to be our job to determine whether there is a threat to an election in a specific riding,” replied Stewart. “We were informed of questionable activity in various ridings.”Stewart stated that he received many memos, including biweekly summaries of global security risks.“Those things all tend to be bundled into a binder, you know, maybe with some tabs,” said Stewart. “Every couple of days, you get a binder. You flip through the binder and you try to detect trends or issue of interest.”“How thick is that binder?” asked Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen (Kingston and the Islands, ON). “A couple of inches,” replied Stewart.“There is an ongoing level of foreign interference. It is a very serious problem. There are clandestine and deceptive efforts to influence our democratic processes and society on an ongoing basis. We should take it very seriously.”On May 16, Chong testified at the House Affairs committee he was so alarmed by multiple threats from people he believed were Communist Chinese agents that he called the police. “I have received threats I believe may be related to the People’s Republic of China,” said Chong.“It was more than one threat. I don’t want to talk specifically about those threats for obvious reasons.”On September 7, the Cabinet appointed Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Marie-Josee Hogue to head a public inquiry investigating misconduct by foreign agents in Canada.The hearings have not begun. A preliminary report is expected on February 19, 2024.
