2017 memo prepared for PM warns of Beijing election interference – National | 24CA News

National safety officers drafted a warning for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his workplace greater than a yr earlier than the 2019 federal election, alleging that Chinese brokers had been “assisting Canadian candidates running for political offices,” based on a Privy Council Office doc reviewed by Global News.

Written by the workplace of National Security and Intelligence Advisor, Daniel Jean, on the request of Trudeau’s chief of employees — and arguably his most trusted aide — Katie Telford, the doc known as “Memorandum for the Prime Minister” was additionally supplied to Privy Council Office clerk Michael Wernick, data present.

While the doc is neither signed nor stamped, its high-level provenance seemingly signifies that it’s a complicated draft.

It stays unclear, although, whether or not the memo was finalized and despatched to Trudeau and the Prime Minister’s Office or if comparable data was conveyed in one other memo or below a distinct title.

The four-page, June 2017 memo asserted that senior intelligence officers had well-documented proof of China’s efforts to infiltrate “all levels of government” and goes on to allege that “[T]here is a substantial body of evidence that Chinese officials are actively pursuing a strategy of engagement to influence Canadian officials in ways that can compromise the security of Canada and the integrity of Canadian institutions.”

It additionally alleges that to keep away from detection, Chinese officers used native, pro-Beijing neighborhood teams as intermediaries to have interaction Canadian politicians they recognized as strategically priceless.

Recent reporting signifies that Chinese diplomats are conscious that Canadian officers with whom they’ve contact are being scrutinized for potential conflicts of curiosity,” says the memo from the PCO, which usually briefs the Prime Minister’s Office and applicable cupboard ministers on nationwide safety intelligence.”

The 2017 PCO doc additionally highlighted that subversion efforts had occurred earlier than the 2019 election.

“Chinese foreign influenced espionage acts against elected officials and public servants in Canada is well documented,” it says.

Citing confidentiality round nationwide safety points, PMO spokesperson Alison Murphy mentioned she couldn’t touch upon the memo’s specifics or the existence of a observe. She did say, nonetheless, that the prime minister is usually briefed on nationwide safety issues, together with overseas interference, and that he and his employees usually request data on safety and intelligence issues together with because it pertains to overseas interference from China.

Prepared for Trudeau 16 months earlier than the 2019 election, “The Memorandum for the Prime Minister” raises questions on how severely the PMO took the allegations and what steps Ottawa might have taken to handle what nationwide safety officers later alleged was Chinese authorities interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 federal contests.

The memo additionally presages comparable allegations over 5 years that, based on sources, had been one in every of many documentary and oral briefings supplied by senior intelligence officers that warned of China’s infiltration of Canadian political events and elections.

Global News beforehand reported that Privy Council Office memos and briefs in 2020 and 2022 alleged that Chinese officers had covertly funded a clandestine community within the 2019 federal election that focused 11 or extra candidates.

The June 2017 “Memorandum for the Prime Minister” arrived at an amicable time in Sino-Canadian relations.  Stephen Harper, with whom Beijing had a cold relationship, had left workplace as prime minister, and Justin Trudeau’s extra beneficial angle towards the regime — echoing his father’s trendsetting engagement with Mao’s China — introduced new heat to the rapport.

With the assist of China’s appreciable business foyer in Canada, Ottawa was championing a free-trade settlement to offset its reliance on the United States, which gave the impression to be more and more protectionist below then-president Donald Trump.

Privy Council Office data reviewed by Global News clarify that Trudeau’s chief of employees, Katie Telford, requested the workplace to offer an evaluation with extra particular details about an earlier Communications Security Establishment (CSE) report.

While Global News has not reviewed that CSE report, it understands from sources that it referred to intelligence on China’s efforts to have interaction and affect Canadian politicians.

A evaluation of the ensuing June 2017 memo for Trudeau exhibits that it was issued from the workplace of National Security Advisor Daniel Jean, a veteran Canadian overseas affairs official with expertise in commerce and immigration points in Canada’s Hong Kong High Commission.

A yr earlier, Jean changed Richard Fadden, a former CSIS director who was controversial for his personal warnings about Beijing’s affect on Canadian politicians.

The June 2017 draft was additionally copied to Michael Wernick, clerk of the Privy Council Office. Wernick and Jean’s duties included briefing the prime minister and related cupboard ministers on critical nationwide safety considerations.

Provided the contents of the June 2017 memo drafted by Jean’s workplace, each Wernick and Jean mentioned they might not reply Global’s questions.

 “It would be inappropriate for me to comment,” Jean mentioned in a textual content message.

Along with its warning about Beijing’s try to infiltrate the Canadian political system, “Memorandum for the Prime Minister” additionally warned that Chinese safety businesses may attempt to compromise Canadian officers who travelled to China.

Under the subheading “Chinese Efforts to Influence Canadian Politicians,” the 2017 PCO memo additionally cautions that “Canadian officials are highly likely to be subjects of Chinese efforts to exert undue influence or otherwise compromise their independence during travel to China.”

Four months after the 2019 election, one other PCO memo was offered to senior Liberal officers.

Echoing the warnings from the 2017 memo, “PRC Foreign Interference: 2019 Elections” went into some element concerning the alleged community’s financing strategies throughout the contest.

Reviewed by Global News, the memo mentioned that the Chinese Consulate in Toronto used an intensive community of neighborhood teams to hide the move of funds between Chinese officers and community members.

“This network involves the Chinese consulate, local community leaders, Canadian politicians, and their staff,” the 2020 PCO report says. “Under broad guidance from the consulate, co-opted staff of targeted politicians provide advice on China-related issues, and community leaders facilitate the clandestine transfer of funds and recruit potential targets.”

The end result of those operations, the doc says, is that “staff of targeted politicians provide advice on China-related issues” to the Chinese consulate.

Bill Blair, then public security minister, acknowledged in December receiving “certain information” from the 2020 memo however declined to elaborate.

“I’m not able to share the details of that,” mentioned Blair, now Emergency Preparedness minister and the one minister to publicly acknowledge the 2020 briefing.

Starting in January 2022,  a sequence of memos and briefs, allegedly delivered to the prime minister and a number of other cupboard ministers, supplied extra element of the purported community.

The Greater Toronto-based community allegedly included 11 or extra candidates, 13 or extra federal aides, an Ontario MPP and unelected public officers, based on a January 2022 Privy Council Office intelligence doc. Called “Special Report,” the knowledge was derived from 100 CSIS paperwork.

Separate sources instructed Global that the consulate additionally allegedly transferred round $250,000 to a regime-friendly group to behave as an middleman, which in flip disbursed that quantity to community members.

The similar sources say this data was not included within the briefing supplied to the prime minister or his ministers. They additionally mentioned the community consisted of Liberals and Conservatives.

After Global first reported these briefings final November, he and a number of other ministers insisted that the 2019 elections weren’t compromised. “Our integrity held,” the prime minister instructed Global News in December.

When requested by Global News if it had gotten something unsuitable in its reporting, Trudeau didn’t tackle the allegations within the 2022 memo, saying solely that he was not knowledgeable of the allegation about China funding the 2019 candidates.

“I never got in all the briefings and all the serious briefings I got, I never got briefings on candidates receiving money from China.”

More broadly, nonetheless, many within the intelligence neighborhood consider their warnings on China’s interference campaigns have gone unheeded, endangering the integrity of future elections and eroding the belief of Canada’s allies.

“For Canada, Beijing is the biggest threat by far, and it’s getting worse,” mentioned John Schindler, a former National Security Agency analyst. “Washington is definitely noticing the rising debate in Canada about Chinese espionage, illicit influence, and political subversion.”

Schindler added that with out reforms, “Beijing will keep doing what it does with impunity.”

Global News sources who defined these numerous intelligence paperwork say the prime minister’s workplace has been reticent to undertake authorized reforms already undertaken by Canada’s allies, equivalent to a foreign-agent registry that will higher shield Canada’s elections.

One official who was not licensed to talk publicly known as it “inexcusable” that Trudeau’s workplace has but to maneuver ahead with new legal guidelines regardless of years of “interactive” dialogue with senior intelligence officers relating to China’s incursions into Canadian elections.

“The floodgates have been opened in the last five years. There has been ample evidence placed in front of the Liberal Party of Canada, and they have done essentially nothing.”