Former Harper deputy chief of staff says CSIS never briefed her on foreign interference

A former top aide to Stephen Harper told a House of Commons committee that CSIS never briefed her on foreign interference when she was deputy chief of staff in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) — but some committee members expressed doubts about her claim.

Jenni Byrne, who served as Harper's deputy chief of staff from 2013 to 2015, when he was prime minister, testified before the standing committee on procedure and house affairs (PROC) Thursday as part of PROC's examination of foreign interference in Canadian elections and institutions.

Byrne also was a senior adviser on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's successful leadership campaign and was the Conservatives' national campaign manager in the 2015 and 2011 federal elections.

"I can tell you with all certainty that I was never briefed on foreign interference," Byrne told the committee.

"It never came to mind because there was never any thought that I had that there were foreign actors participating into the election process."

NDP MP Matthew Green called Byrne's testimony "highly suspicious."

"I find that odd," he said.

WATCH | NDP MP questions testimony of former Harper aide

"Either you knew and did nothing, or you didn't know and you're incompetent — and I'm not saying you're incompetent because I consider you to be a highly intelligent person so ... which one is it?"

Liberal MP Ruby Sahota agreed with Green.

"For you to say today that there was no knowledge, absolutely no knowledge, of this … it really does seem suspicious," Sahota said.

"Or you've built up some type of structure in that time that you were an adviser to Mr. Harper ... where you were happy to be ignorant about what was taking place."

Byrne said the only foreign interference she was aware of during her time at the PMO was foreign funding of Leadnow, a group that promoted strategic voting in the 2015 campaign to oust vulnerable Conservatives. Byrne said Leadnow was partly funded by the Tides Foundation, a United States-based charity dedicated to supporting progressive causes.

She said she learned about the foreign funding through media reports and not through a briefing. She alleged the funding contributed to Conservative defeats in several ridings.