Question Period Note: CSIS Briefing on Toronto-area politician’s alleged ties to Chinese diplomats

The Globe and Mail reported that the Prime Minister and his office received more than one briefing concerning former Ontario Liberal Cabinet Minister and current Deputy Mayor of Markham Michael Chan in relation to alleged ties to the PRC consulate in Toronto.

•I can assure you, the Government of Canada takes any accusation of foreign interference very seriously.
•Our Government has identified foreign interference as a strategic threat to our communities, economy, open media, and the integrity of our democracy.
•That is why we created the SITE Task Force and the Critical Incident Election Public Protocol to lay out an impartial process by which Canadians would be alerted of a threat to the integrity of a federal election.
•CSIS routinely engages with all levels of government and communities to ensure they are aware of foreign interference threats facing our country and know how to reach out if they themselves are targeted by foreign interference activities.
•Given the need to protect sensitive operations, sources of intelligence, and the safety and security of Canadians, there are necessary limits to what I can say on CSIS operations.

If pressed:
•The Government also takes the integrity of our classified information very seriously, and will ensure all relevant and necessary procedures are followed.

"On February 13, 2023, the Globe and Mail reported that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and senior aides were warned on at least two occasions that government MPs should be cautious in their political dealings with former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister Michael Chan.

The article reported that CSIS “has a dossier on Mr. Chan that contains information on his activities in the 2019 and 2021 federal election campaigns and meetings with suspected Chinese intelligence operatives, according to the two security sources. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the sources, who risk prosecution under the Security of Information Act.”

The article also referenced Mr. Chan’s involvement in the electoral campaign of Mary Ng, now the Minister of International Trade and Small Business. It stated that in the 2019 briefing, security officials told senior PMO staff, including Mr. Trudeau's Chief of Staff, Katie Telford, that Mr. Chan should be on "your radar" and that "someone should reach out to Mary to be extra careful," according to one source. That security briefing also dealt with foreign interference, tactics and Chinese tradecraft, the source said.

Further, the article referenced a fall 2022 briefing with the Prime Minister and NSIA Jody Thomas where it is reported that the CSIS Director flagged Mr. Chan’s return to public office, as the deputy mayor of Markham. It is reported that he cautioned Liberal MPs should be vigilant in their dealings with Mr. Chan, according to two other sources.

The article includes that Mr. Chan denies these allegations and stated that meetings with Chinese consular officials are not unusual for politicians. He also said that he met frequently with consular officials from many Asian and Southeast Asian countries in 2019 relating to business activities abroad.

The article references comments by CSIS’ Director General of Intelligence Assessments and Assistant Director, Requirements made at the House of Commons committee on Procedure and House Affairs, explaining that foreign interference actors may leverage a variety of means to achieve their objectives, including proxies and community groups.

There have been several other articles written about Mr. Chan and allegations of foreign interference, including by the Globe and Mail and Global News.

This follows other media articles where classified material including Top Secret information appears to have been disclosed to the media."

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