Han Dong says he hasn’t asked PMO to verify Chinese election interference allegations – National | 24CA News
Liberal MP Han Dong mentioned Wednesday he has reached out to Canada’s safety intelligence company for extra data on allegations he was a part of a Chinese international interference community through the 2019 federal election.
But he additionally mentioned he has not made an identical request to the prime minister’s workplace — regardless of Global News reporting that senior aides to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have been briefed by nationwide safety officers concerning the allegations in opposition to Dong three weeks earlier than voters headed to the polls.
Asked why he has not reached out to senior PMO workers to confirm the allegations, together with Trudeau’s nationwide safety advisor Jody Thomas, Dong mentioned he trusts his marketing campaign.
“Because I know the truth,” he responded when pressed by reporters outdoors the House of Commons Wednesday, which marked the primary time Dong has taken questions on the matter. “I know the truth because I know my campaign.”
Read extra:
Liberals ignored CSIS warning on 2019 candidate accused in Chinese interference probe: sources
Pressed once more, he pointed to an unbiased panel’s findings that the outcomes of the 2019 and 2021 elections weren’t influenced or compromised by tried international interference.
“To me, that’s enough.”
Global News reported final month that three weeks earlier than the 2019 federal election, nationwide safety officers allegedly gave an pressing, labeled briefing to senior aides to Trudeau, warning them that one among their candidates was a part of a Chinese international interference community.
According to sources, the candidate in query was Dong, then a former Ontario MPP whom Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had began monitoring in June of that 12 months.
National safety officers additionally allege that Dong, now a sitting MP re-elected in 2021, is one among not less than 11 Toronto-area driving candidates allegedly supported by Beijing within the 2019 contest. Sources say the service additionally believes Dong is a witting affiliate in China’s election interference networks.
In late September, about 48 hours earlier than the federal election nomination deadline, CSIS urged Trudeau’s group to rescind Dong’s candidacy, a nationwide safety official mentioned.
Sources alleged that Dong often referred to as Chinese officers in Ontario and “was considered a close friend of the Toronto Consulate.”
Dong denied the allegations to Global News and likewise in a public assertion three days after the story was revealed. He doubled down on these denials Wednesday, which marked his first in-person feedback to reporters on the matter.
“I’ve never been offered, nor would I accept, any help from a foreign nation. I’m a Canadian,” he mentioned.
Dong mentioned he was “not aware” of any assist being given to anybody else engaged on his marketing campaign, or the marketing campaign itself. Pressed, he mentioned he would categorically deny that his marketing campaign acquired any assist from the Chinese consulate in Toronto “to my knowledge.”
‘Not my job’ to vet voters
CSIS was additionally allegedly involved concerning the Liberal Party’s nomination course of, in accordance with Global News’ sources. Among the irregularities allegedly noticed within the September 2019 contest, sources say, was that Chinese worldwide college students with faux addresses have been allegedly bussed into the driving and coerced to vote in Dong’s favour or else risked shedding their scholar visas.
According to sources, an October 2022 CSIS report included particulars on an investigation into the nomination course of in Dong’s Don Valley North driving.
“CSIS reporting indicates that, during a political party nomination vote prior to the 2019 General Election in Canada, two busloads of Chinese Canadian seniors were brought in to support a specific candidate,” the report says.
It provides that the seniors had the identify of the candidate they have been instructed to vote for hid beneath their sleeves.
Asked about these particular allegations, Dong mentioned transportation for seniors was a daily service supplied by his marketing campaign.
“My campaign offered transportation to seniors, not just Chinese seniors,” he mentioned, including that these providers have been correctly expensed and reported to Elections Canada.
He added that “a lot of young people” got here to assist him and his candidacy from all diasporas within the driving.
“It’s not my job to check if they’re international students, or not international students,” he mentioned.
Dong mentioned he has despatched a letter to CSIS director David Vigneault asking for particulars on the allegations and “to confirm if it was a leak from CSIS” that knowledgeable Global News’ reporting. He mentioned he has acquired acknowledgement the letter was acquired, however nothing extra in response.
He added he has not reached out to the PMO as a result of he “cannot defend myself against an unverified, anonymous source.”
Global News has not confirmed the CSIS allegations in its unique story.
Global’s ongoing investigation over the previous 4 months has revealed unique particulars about considerations over China’s makes an attempt to intervene and affect Canadian elections, together with allegations {that a} community being run out of China’s consulate in Toronto allegedly aimed to assist not less than 11 Toronto-area driving candidates from the Liberals and Conservatives within the 2019 contest.
Those studies, together with studies from the Globe and Mail alleging tried interference within the 2021 election, have put immense strain on Trudeau and the Liberal authorities to element what they knew about these actions and when, in addition to how they’re working to guard future elections from interference.
Government officers have maintained that the interference didn’t compromise the general integrity of these elections. An unbiased report on the panel’s 2021 findings this month reiterated that conclusion.
Multiple investigations are underway by MPs and nationwide safety companies into the problem. Former governor basic David Johnston has additionally been appointed as a particular rapporteur to supervise that work, in addition to to look at whether or not a public inquiry is required.
— with information from Global’s Sam Cooper and Alex Boutilier
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
