Trudeau says there wasn’t ‘sufficient’ intelligence to remove Dong in 2019
Despite learning of “concerns” of allegations of potential foreign interference in the Don Valley nomination race in 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he decided not to remove Han Dong as the Liberal candidate because it would have been a “drastic option” based on the available intelligence.
“I didn’t feel that there was sufficient or sufficiently credible information that would justify this very significant step,” Trudeau told Canada’s inquiry into foreign election interference.
“I also asked whether or not (the Canadian Security Intelligence Service) had information that Han Dong knew about this, whether he was a witting and aware that China had mobilized or Chinese officials had mobilized busses for him or not. And the answers were not clear from CSIS at that point.”
After the election, Trudeau said, he then went back to CSIS to say they needed more information on the allegations.
“We (needed) to understand what the context is because the answers that we get on that will have a bearing on choices we could make in the future about different roles or responsibilities for an individual in such a situation,” Trudeau said.
Wednesday’s testimony marks the first time Trudeau has acknowledged he was briefed about alleged Chinese planning for interference in the Toronto-area riding of Don Valley North in 2019.
Foreign interference has dominated the headlines ever since Global News first revealed in November 2022 that China allegedly tried to meddle in Canadian democratic institutions – including the nomination contest for Don Valley North.
The prime minister told the inquiry that his former campaign director and longtime staffer, Jeremy Broadhurst, alerted him on Sept. 30, 2019, in the middle of an election campaign,
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