Dong’s nomination anomalies didn’t raise interference alarm: inquiry

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OTTAWA — The panel of senior servants meant to inform the general public of any threats to the integrity of a normal election was knowledgeable of irregularities within the Liberal nomination contest in Don Valley North in 2019 however determined the brink was not met to make a public announcement, the general public inquiry on international interference heard on Monday.

Nathalie Drouin, who was a part of the Crucial Election Incident Public Protocol as former deputy justice minister in 2019, instructed the inquiry that nomination contests often fall outdoors of the panel’s mandate however stated it nonetheless seemed on the info acquired throughout the writ interval because it was one thing that would doubtlessly impression the credibility of the election.

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Drouin described the brink for informing the general public as “very excessive” and would solely happen if an incident or an accumulation of incidents would undermine Canada’s capability to have free and honest elections. She stated {that a} public announcement might do “extra hurt than good” and could possibly be seen as creating confusion or interfering in a democratic train.

Ultimately, she stated the panel concluded that the “threshold was not met” to do any announcement in regard to the nomination, because it didn’t compromise the election.

Han Dong was elected as a Liberal MP in 2019 however stepped down from the caucus final yr after studies stated he had benefitted from a Chinese language international interference community throughout his nomination course of and had shut dealings with the Chinese language consulate in Toronto.

Dong stated he didn’t know who paid for the bus filled with worldwide college students who voted within the nomination in 2019. He instructed the inquiry that his spouse, who acted as his marketing campaign supervisor, had paid to bus seniors to his nomination and claimed it as electoral bills.

Dong stated that he didn’t know “whether or not all these college students voted for him however believes that it’s probably most did” as a result of he visited NOIC Academy, primarily based in Markham, Ont., as a part of his marketing campaign and inspired the scholars to help his candidacy by volunteering and registering as Liberal occasion members.

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The panel’s witness testimony famous that the details about the scholars on the time was “not firmly substantiated” and left many questions unanswered.

“There was no dependable details about whether or not or not college students have been pressured to vote, whether or not or not they voted, whether or not or not they have been beneath risk of dropping their visa, or whether or not or not they have been resident within the driving or coming from out of the driving,” it learn.

Drouin stated that some actions have been taken internally, equivalent to asking CSIS to feed the panel any intelligence it might obtain concerning the driving of Don Valley North and requested that Elections Canada additionally learn of the allegations. Lastly, she stated the Liberal Occasion of Canada was briefed on the topic by the duty drive on safety and intelligence threats.

Marta Morgan, who was deputy minister of international affairs on the time, stated that there have been different mechanisms inside the authorities that could possibly be used. As an illustration, nationwide safety businesses had the authority to take actions as they decided obligatory throughout an election.

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Drouin, who’s at the moment the prime minister’s nationwide safety adviser, stated she was shocked by many allegations that surfaced within the media about international interference lengthy after the 2019 election, notably China’s alleged funnelling of $250,000 to a community and a dialog that Dong had with the Chinese language consulate in Toronto concerning the two Michaels.

The Crucial Election Incident Public Protocol nevertheless spent “appreciable time” discussing the salacious Buffalo Chronicle report about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which was in the end taken down by Fb days earlier than the 2019 election.

The panel, in response to their witness testimony, “felt that the state of affairs had in the end resolved itself with out their intervention” and stated it was an instance of the media ecosystem “cleaning itself.” They didn’t give additional consideration to the incident.

However Allen Sutherland, from the Privy Council’s Workplace (PCO), instructed the inquiry final week that he was instructed by the previous PCO clerk Ian Shugart to ask Fb to take down the content material, which he did. Drouin disputed the model of occasions, saying that Fb proactively knowledgeable Sutherland after which voluntarily eliminated it on its platform.

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Shugart, who was appointed Senator in 2022, handed away final yr.

The members of the 2021 Crucial Election Incident Public Protocol, who additionally appeared on the public inquiry on Monday, have been requested at size concerning the misinformation marketing campaign focusing on Conservative MP Kenny Chiu within the Chinese language-speaking communities.

Of their witness assertion, they stated they might not come to the conclusion that the incorrect claims about Chiu’s international agent registry invoice throughout the marketing campaign was co-ordinated, and that the panel decided that the brink was not met both.

David Morrison, who was Trudeau’s appearing nationwide safety and intelligence adviser in 2021, identified that Chiu was already trying to right the file since he gave a number of interviews to English-language Vancouver newspapers throughout the marketing campaign.

“Inaccurate info circulates on a regular basis, and maybe particularly within the minimize and thrust of an election marketing campaign. Within the case of Kenny Chiu, not solely have been we not capable of attribute it to a foreign-state actor, we have been fairly assured that it was not,” stated Morrison.

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Chiu testified final week that he felt he was “drowning” in misinformation throughout that interval and expressed disappointment and concern that authorities entities knew about all of it alongside.

“There’s plenty of political debate that goes on in a democracy,” stated François Daigle, deputy minister of justice in 2021. “Canadians are allowed to have disputes about plenty of public coverage points, and so they’re allowed to say issues that aren’t true.”

The general public inquiry’s schedule on Monday was disrupted after legal professionals for human rights and diaspora teams complained that proof was being submitted too late for them to learn the paperwork and correctly put together for cross-examination of the witnesses.

Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue delayed the cross-examination till the afternoon however refused to droop the hearings for the day, arguing that the inquiry is working beneath a really tight schedule and that day-after-day counts till she submits her first report on Could 3.

Hogue additionally needed to make a slight change to the schedule for a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.

One of many authorized counsels inquired concerning the afternoon break to be outdoors for the photo voltaic eclipse, which brought on laughter within the room. Justice Hogue later instructed the fee that the afternoon break can be extended to let contributors observe the phenomenon.

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