Two leaked intelligence reports indicate that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lied about his awareness of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interfering in Canada’s elections.
Sam Cooper reported that intelligence leakers requested anonymity because they fear prosecution under the Security of Information Act.
Cooper said he received one unredacted report from 2019 and one report from 2022.
In early 2022, ten months before Trudeau said he’d never been briefed about the CCP funding Canadian political candidates, a “special report” prepared by the Privy Council Office (PCO) for Trudeau suggested otherwise.
“A large clandestine transfer of funds earmarked for the federal election from the [People’s Republic of China] Consulate in Toronto was transferred to an elected provincial government official via a staff member of a 2019 federal candidate,” the final report read.
Furthermore, Cooper said that another PCO report given to Trudeau just four months after his 2019 election win indicated much of the same.
“Community leaders facilitate the clandestine transfer of funds and recruit potential targets,” the 2019 report said.
The PCO’s 2019 report also said that China’s “extensive network of quasi-official and local community and interest groups allowed it to obfuscate communication and the flow of funds between Canadian targets and Chinese officials.”
Additionally, Cooper alleges he was provided with an unredacted document from a 2019 NSICOP intelligence report which said that “foreign states clandestinely direct contributions to and support for the campaigns and political parties of preferred candidates.”
“A [People’s Republic of China] Embassy interlocutor founded a group of community leaders called the ‘tea party’ to hand-pick candidates that it would support and ultimately publicly endorse,” the report read.
Meanwhile, Trudeau continues to deny having received any briefings about candidates receiving CCP money.
Last week, MPs passed a vote in favour of conducting a public inquiry into the alleged interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 elections. However, Trudeau snubbed the vote and instead formed a Liberal-controlled committee to investigate the matter privately.
On Tuesday, the Liberals filibustered for three hours to avoid having Trudeau’s Chief of Staff Katie Telford testify about what she told her boss and when.
Last week, the Trudeau foundation returned what it called an “alleged” CCP donation it received in 2016.
Donations to the Trudeau Foundation increased tenfold between 2014 and 2016, Trudeau’s first years in office.
