After its first week of hearings, questions linger as to whether the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference will be able to deliver on part of its mandate to “maximize” the amount of information it can reveal to Canadians.
And if the documents released so far to the commission for public disclosure are any indication, chances are state secrets will be tightly protected.
The first phase of the inquiry, which heard from experts and current and former security officials, was dedicated to determining what mechanisms could be used to improve the release process of classified documents and help the commission fulfill its transparency mandate.
Based on those documents, it appears Canadians will not see any explosive hard intel on foreign meddling.
Questions can be asked whether the inquiry will even be able to go beyond what Global News and The Globe and Mail have reported from national security leaks over multiple months. Those reports led to the public inquiry being called.
One example came by the way of the commission receiving a redacted copy of a July 2021 assessment by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which discusses foreign interference by Beijing.
When the Globe reported on the leaked document on May 1, 2023, it noted that China’s Ministry of State Security had “taken specific actions to target Canadian MPs.”
CSIS Documents
Ten of the 13 documents the commission sent to the government for redactions originated from CSIS. It’s a mix of product types. Some are “intelligence reports” containing raw information. Others are products containing intelligence that’s been analyzed and assessed. The vast majority came back fully redacted, with even the dates or part of the title or security classification blacked out.
The names or titles of the addressees on some of the documents have also been redacted, suggesting that there are concerns about revealing which government figure was supposed to have received it and at which specific time.
The first addressee(s) is redacted, with others being National Security and Intelligence Advisor (NSIA) Jody Thomas, Michael MacDonald at the Privy Council Office, and Public Safety Deputy Minister Shawn Tupper.
The 17-page hand-delivered CSIS intelligence report provided to top officials was in the form of raw intelligence, as indicated by the type of format being used.
The latter subheading suggests that the report discusses an entity that’s itself not an agent of Beijing but has links to Chinese regime agents.
Below the graphic are what appear to be measures being taken by CSIS to address foreign interference. “Provide security briefings to other MPs and their staff to increase awareness of foreign interference,” it says.
Under “other government stakeholders” it says that political parties should “revisit internal policies with a view of addressing foreign interference.”
“There is well-grounded suspicion that the irregularities were tied to the PRC Consulate in Toronto, with whom Mr. Dong maintains relationships,” wrote Mr. Johnston, adding that he found no evidence that Mr. Dong was aware of the irregularities or the consulate’s potential involvement in his nomination.
‘Deceptively Influence’
Aside from CSIS documents, two reports from the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force and one from the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol were released to the commission. Both entities were created by the Liberal government to protect election integrity.
“The PRC continues to be focused on influencing and potentially interfering with Canadian democratic processes, having identified Canadian politicians considered anti-PRC, sanctioned a sitting MP [redacted],” says the report dated Sept. 13, 2021. Canadians went to the polls one week later.
It adds that Global Affairs Canada’s Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) to detect foreign meddling had observed a possible Chinese Communist Party “information operation that aims to discourage voters from voting” for the Tories.
Mr. Chiu has said a number of times that a disinformation campaign wielded by Beijing during the election cost him his seat in his B.C. riding.
“The 2021 federal election appears to have been of significant interest to PRC threat-related actors,” adds the report.
The government has maintained that the integrity of the 2019 and 2021 elections wasn’t compromised.
Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, head of the inquiry, said she expects the next round of hearings to take place in March. Her first report is due in May.