Independent Senator Yuen Pau Woo (British Columbia) says Canadian media have done a “great disservice to this country” and “great damage to our democratic system” in casting a “pall of trust and faith in the electoral system” in recent remarks following the release of special rapporteur David Johnston’s report into foreign election interference.

Woo was one of a number of panellists to attend a session hosted by the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, titled “Talking Freely: A Chinese-Canadian Conversation,” on May 24.

In addition to a discussion about the 100^th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which Woo described as legislation that, at the time, was “heartily supported by all parliamentarians and given much encouragement from both Senators and Members of Parliament, particularly from British Columbia,” the panel touched on headlines surrounding alleged Chinese interference in Canadian elections.

In a highly-anticipated first report released last week, former governor general David Johnston, appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) in early March as the special rapporteur assigned to look into allegations of foreign interference in Canadian elections, recommended public hearings instead of a full-blown public inquiry, and called into question the veracity of media reports.

“When viewed in full context with all of the relevant intelligence, several leaked materials that raised legitimate questions turn out to have been misconstrued in some media reports, presumably because of the lack of this context,” reads the report. “The controversy that led to my appointment arose out of media reporting by Global News and The Globe and Mail over the past several months, based on classified information,” said Johnston in his report, noting that “much of what was reported was based on limited intelligence.”

In a press conference following the release of the report, Johnston said that “in some cases, the materials I reviewed tell a very different story than what has been reported to date.”

“Foreign interference is not usually embodied in one-off pieces of intelligence,” said Johnston.

“The limited leaked intelligence and subsequent reporting have led to misapprehensions related to incidents that are alleged to have occurred in the 2019 and 2021 elections,” said Johnston.

“Moreover, I have found no examples of ministers, the prime minister, or their offices knowingly or negligently failing to act on intelligence and advice or recommendations on the issues I have investigated related to the 2019 and 2021 elections,” he said. “However, I did find there were significant and unacceptable gaps in the machinery of government.”

Woo said that “even after David Johnston’s clear statement about the falsity of these reports, [the media] have said nothing.”

“They’ve damaged the lives of individuals,” alluding to the Global News story on now-Independent MP Han Dong (Don Valley North, Ont.), who gave a tearful speech in Parliament upon his departure from the Liberal caucus and is now seeking $15-million in damages from Global News and Corus Entertainment. Global News reported that Dong “privately advised a senior Chinese diplomat in February 2021 that Beijing should hold off freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, according to two separate national security sources.”

Johnston also said that the attention media has given to foreign interference in Canadian elections shows that “the very substantial danger” is “growing and it needs to be combated.”

According to a Global News spokesperson, “in connection with our investigation and preparation of our entire series of recent stories on alleged Chinese interference in Canadian elections, Global News spent months reviewing dozens of CSIS, Privy Council and other relevant statements and documents.”

“Global News spoke with highly qualified sources on multiple occasions and made painstaking efforts to verify the information prepared by senior intelligence officials, many of whom have spent decades investigating security threats to Canada,” the spokesperson said.

“Our sources risked their careers and livelihoods to warn Canadians about the extent to which the People’s Republic of China was interfering in Canada’s democratic processes and government institutions. We believe in the integrity of our journalism in all the reporting in this series, and the critical role it plays in seeking accountability and transparency on issues vital to the public interest,” they continued.

David Walmsley, editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail, said “the reporting was based on written intelligence assessments and intelligence briefs.” 

“We stand by the stories,” wrote Walmsley in response to questions from The Hill Times. 

Dong, who left the Liberal caucus back in March, saying at the time that he was looking to clear his name, could rejoin the Liberal caucus if he wants to, said the prime minister as of May 24 according to multiple media reports.

Following the release of Johnston’s report, opposition MPs on the Procedure and House Affairs Committee called for the special rapporteur to testify before them about why he recommended against a public inquiry. During a May 25 committee meeting, Liberal MP and committee chair Bardish Chagger (Waterloo, Ont.) confirmed that Johnston had agreed to appear on June 6.

‘Maybe they’ve got a silver bullet of evidence they want to show us’

In an interview with The Hill Times following the May 24 panel session, Woo said “I’m waiting for the media to come to grips with what David Johnston said about the veracity of the various claims, and for just one minute not talk about whether they like Johnston or whether he’s a buddy of Trudeau, and deal with the substance of his report vis a vis the veracity of media claims.”

“I’d like to see a coming to terms—maybe they’ve got a silver bullet piece of evidence that they want to show us, in which case we deserve to see it too,” said Woo. “The time has come for them to demonstrate transparency and accountability when the former governor general has said point blank that many of these claims are erroneous.”

“They have set this up now for the whole country to believe that really bad things, nefarious things have been going on in this country, and Johnston has said there’s no evidence for it,” he said.

But in his report, Johnston highlighted that in advance of the 2019 and 2021 elections, the government “publicly acknowledged on multiple occasions that Canada is a target for foreign interference,” with warnings coming from multiple agencies and officials, including the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and a December 2020 letter from then-public safety minister Bill Blair (Scarborough Southwest, Ont.) to parliamentarians “respecting foreign state-backed interference and intimidation activities in Canada.”

When asked about any fears he had in the lead-up to the next election, Woo said he was “fearful that the media and others will come up with fresh examples that may not be substantiated and use it in a way to disenfranchise candidates and suppress turnout.”

“Voters might feel that if they were to vote in a certain way, they would be labelled as sympathizers of the [Chinese Communist Party], dupes of the Chinese Communist Party, or some other pejorative appellation,” said Woo.

In his maiden speech in the Senate in 2016, Woo said that “what we are witnessing, honourable Senators, is power politics of the highest order at a moment in history when the unipolar dominance of the United States is giving way to a more diffuse global balance of power.”

“China, of course, looms the largest in the so-called power transition that we are witnesses to, and it is in the interest of all states, including Canada, maybe especially Canada, to avoid the Thucydides trap of great power conflict,” said Woo.

More recently, during a March 16 press conference, Woo was asked whether he had “any ties with the Chinese regime,” and also how he wanted to respond to attacks on his character from pundits who have accused him of being a mouthpiece for China’s government.

“I’m not sure I want to dignify that question. It’s deeply insulting,” replied Woo. “It’s actually an example of the dangers of a foreign influence registry that is based on the views that I express rather than on any demonstrable evidence of arrangements with a foreign government.”

“The individuals who use this kind of extreme language should be careful about what they say; not so much for my sake, because I am a privileged and somewhat protected individual,” said Woo.

“I don’t like getting these attacks, but think about all of the other Chinese people who don’t have my privilege, or my protections. Are they going to be accused of being fifth columnists because of the views that they hold? Are we going to have a foreign influence registry that is going to use the views that one holds as the litmus test of being a foreign agent?”

In Johnston’s Own Words, His Five Conclusions:

“Based on my review, I have reached five clear conclusions. First, foreign governments are undoubtedly attempting to influence candidates and voters in Canada. Foreign interference is a real and growing threat, and more remains to be done promptly to strengthen our capacity to detect, deter, and counter foreign interference in elections. Second, when viewed in full context with all of the relevant intelligence, several leaked materials that raised legitimate questions turned out to have been misconstrued in some media reporting, presumably because of the lack of context. Third, I have identified serious shortcomings in the way intelligence is communicated and processed from security agencies through to governments. Fourth, a further public process is required, but there should not and need not be a separate formal public inquiry. A public inquiry examining the leaked materials could not be undertaken in public, given the sensitivity of the intelligence. However, public hearings on the serious governance and policy issues identified today should and will be held at the earliest possible date as part of the second piece of my mandate. Finally, I recognize this report’s conclusions will be met with skepticism by some, especially by those who have worked to raise legitimate questions around these issues. The challenge is this: what is allowing me to determine whether there has, in fact, been interference cannot be disclosed publicly. A public review of classified intelligence simply cannot be done. Therefore, this I recommend: the prime minister invite the two oversight committees on national security to review my conclusions and provide them with all supporting materials, including an annex which contains the classified information. If they disagree with my conclusions, they should say that.” —David Johnston, at his press conference at the Sir John A. Macdonald Building on May 23, 2023.

mlapointe@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times

 

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