Trudeau’s Top Intelligence Advisor Reveals Dates of Briefings on Foreign Election Interference

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security and intelligence adviser has revealed the dates of foreign interference briefings given to Trudeau, his cabinet ministers, and other political party representatives between 2018 and 2023.

The documents were provided to the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) ahead of Trudeau’s Chief of Staff Katie Telford’s appearance at the committee today.

According to National Security and Intelligence Adviser (NSIA) Jody Thomas, Trudeau personally received a total of six briefings from either CSIS or the NSIA between October 2018 and March 2021, and the prime minister’s office received two briefings from CSIS and the NSIA in September 2022 and February 2023.

In a letter sent to PROC on April 14, Thomas said the Privy Council Office and CSIS had been “diligent in actioning the committee’s requests” and undertook an “exhaustive” search of records for information on the briefings.

“Both organizations are providing information that is as complete as possible within a reasonable timeframe, respecting limitations in sharing classified details,” said the letter.

The documents provided to PROC also said that cabinet or a cabinet committee was briefed by senior public servants on election interference eight times from 2018 onward.

Additionally, specific individual ministers received a total of 15 briefings from either CSIS or the head of the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), while political party representatives received four briefings between June and September 2019, and another nine briefings between July and October 2021.

While testifying at PROC in early March, both Thomas and Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director David Vigneault had said they would provide declassified documents that detailed when officials were briefed on the Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

Last week, MPs representing all major opposition parties sent a letter to the Clerk of the Privy Council expressing frustration that the information promised by Thomas and Vigneault had not yet been sent. The MPs had requested the information be provided before Telford’s testimony at PROC today.

“The fact that no information has been provided, despite repeated follow-ups, appears to be a deliberate effort to obstruct the committee’s study on foreign election interference,” the MPs said in the letter.

Telford is set to testify at PROC for two hours starting at 12 p.m.