A 2021 Chinese interference analysis stalled with Trudeau security adviser
Global News
A 2021 intelligence analysis sought to spark discussion in senior government ranks of China’s political interference, but never made it to the prime minister's desk.
A 2021 analysis of China’s foreign interference operations intended to spark discussion among senior government figures did not make it to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or cabinet ministers, the Hogue commission heard Monday.
The report, produced by the Privy Council Office (PCO) and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and delivered in January 2022, was stalled for months in the office of Trudeau’s then-national security adviser, Jody Thomas.
The foreign interference inquiry, overseen by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, has heard repeatedly about the challenges of ensuring that vital intelligence reaches senior decision-makers.
As the nerve centre of government, PCO has a division called the Intelligence Assessment Secretariat, tasked with supporting the prime minister and their national security adviser digest intel from a variety of sources.
The 2021 analysis attempted to combine what CSIS knew about China’s operations in Canada, gleaned from roughly 100 separate intelligence reports, with trends observed in Beijing’s interventions overseas.
National security sources told Global News that the report made it to Trudeau and select cabinet ministers, allegations which the government broadly denied.
Martin Green, a former senior intelligence official with PCO, recommended to Thomas that the report be shared widely — to select senior bureaucrats and cabinet ministers, as well as within the security and intelligence community.
That does not appear to have happened. Green testified Monday that he delivered the report to Thomas in January 2022, and raised the issue repeatedly over several months, but the report does not appear to have received final approval or made it to the prime minister’s desk.
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