Trudeau’s Office Prevented Han Dong from Joining Commons Committee on China Following Intelligence Briefing, Inquiry Reveals
The Prime Minister’s Office blocked former Liberal MP Han Dong from sitting on the Commons Canada-China committee in 2019 after intelligence officials raised concerns about his actions, a senior official testified at the foreign interference inquiry.
Brian Clow, deputy chief of staff to the prime minister, told the Foreign Interference Commission that around December 2019, Dong’s name was proposed for membership on the Commons Canada-China committee. He said that “because of the concerns that officials had raised, PMO intervened and Mr. Dong was not appointed.”
Clow’s testimony was released by the commission on Oct. 16, along with testimony from other senior staff in the PMO.
Formed in 2019, the special Canada-China committee was tasked with reviewing “all aspects” of the countries’ relationship. Its meetings have primarily focused on the Chinese communist regime’s human rights violations and aggressive behaviours, including the use of hostage diplomacy against Canadians.
The PMO’s intervention regarding Dong’s appointment followed a briefing from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to security-cleared Liberal Party representatives about “concerning potential irregularities” in the party’s 2019 nomination process for the Don Valley North riding, which Dong was elected to represent.
These irregularities include reports that buses were arranged to transport international students to the Liberal nomination to vote for Dong, despite not being residents of the riding. These students allegedly used falsified documents provided by individuals linked to a known proxy agent, according to an intelligence summary from CSIS released by the inquiry.
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The summary also said that the students received “veiled threats” from the Chinese Consulate regarding potential impacts on their student visas if they did not support Dong.
