CSIS report on Liberal nomination race recalled after meeting with PM's top security adviser

The head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) issued a burn notice for an intelligence assessment about possible foreign interference in a Toronto Liberal nomination race, according to a document tabled in the public inquiry into foreign interference.

The commission's lawyers wrote that CSIS director David Vigneault told them that he "has no recollection" why the document was recalled, but was confident the only reason why he would've agreed to do so would be "because there was an issue with it; he had never and would never recall a document because it was too sensitive."

Documents tabled during the inquiry say the top secret intelligence document noted irregularities with the federal Liberal Party nomination of Han Dong in the Toronto riding of Don Valley North.

It was prepared in October 2019 and disseminated to senior government officials, including Canada's national security and intelligence advisor (NSIA), who is tasked with advising the prime minister on national security issues.

Documents filed in the inquiry say an internal CSIS email shows Vigneault asked for the document to be recalled after speaking with the NSIA.

Vigneault repeatedly told the commission on Thursday he could not recall why that decision was made, but insisted that throughout his career, he has never recalled anything due to external pressure.

The commission has not heard what was wrong with the report. The commission is tasked with examining what effect, if any, foreign states had on influencing the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

Dong, who won his seat in Don Valley North in the 2019 election and again in 2021, quit the Liberal caucus last year following a report from Global News, which alleged he had advised a senior Chinese diplomat that Beijing should hold off on freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians behind held by China at the time.

Dong accused Global of publishing "a series of false, malicious, irresponsible and defamatory" stories about the MP, and sued the news organization for $15 million in damages.

Former special rapporteur on foreign interference David Johnston investigated the claim and concluded in a report released in May 2023 that the allegation was "false." Similarly, documents made public in the inquiry into foreign interference do not back up the claim.

However, interviews and documents made public as part of the inquiry show authorities probed the nomination race. An intelligence assessment says there were "irregularities in the nomination that may have included activities undertaken by individuals close to PRC officials."

The CSIS document warned that not all intelligence was substantiated — and national security experts have repeatedly warned that intelligence cannot be taken as fact — but said some reporting indicated that buses were used to bring international students to the nomination event in support of Dong, and that students may have been provided with falsified documents allowing them to vote, despite not living in the riding.

Further intelligence reports tabled at the inquiry allege that veiled threats were issued by the People's Republic of China (PRC) Consulate to the Chinese international students, implying their student visas would be in jeopardy and that there could be consequences for their families back in the PRC if they did not support Dong.

In a statement provided to the commission, Dong said some Mandarin-speaking students from a private high school voted in the 2019 nomination contest in Don Valley North, and that they likely voted for him, but believes they did it because he visited the school as part of his nomination campaign.

Dong's campaign manager, Ted Lojko, told the commission's lawyers that the campaign did not target international students, emphasizing that it is difficult to motivate young people to attend a nomination meeting. 

He also said that this nomination was heavily scrutinized by the Liberal Party as it was taking place after the 2019 election had already begun. He told lawyers that party brass "wanted to know whether there was anything the media could pick up on to tarnish the campaign." 

Dong has expressed interest in rejoining the Liberal caucus, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday and Thursday declined to answer questions about whether he'd be welcomed back.