Key questions Trudeau could face at the foreign interference inquiry

When the prime minister testifies at the public inquiry into foreign interference Wednesday he will face meticulous questioning from a room full of lawyers intent on getting to the bottom of what Justin Trudeau knew about China’s meddling in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

But it’s the questions about what Trudeau did after he found out about Beijing's interference that could set off political fireworks in the room.

Starting in the afternoon, Trudeau is scheduled take the witness stand for nearly three hours.

During the first 75 minutes of his examination-in-chief, the inquiry’s lawyers will walk Trudeau through a summation of his testimony that he provided weeks earlier.

Then comes 90 minutes of cross-examination, when lawyers representing Conservative and NDP targets of interference, along with counsel for diaspora groups, get their chance to seek answers from a prime minister under oath.

Han Dong, Don Valley North, and the 'two Michaels'

National security expert Wesley Wark, a senior fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), says he will be paying attention to how the prime minister answers questions about former Liberal MP Han Dong’s nomination process in the riding of Don Valley North in 2019.

“Why did the prime minister allow Dong to stand? And why has the prime minister not allowed him to return to caucus?”

As was discussed during prior testimony, the Liberal party allows people as young as 14 years old to become members, and that Canadian citizenship is not required to vote in nomination meetings. All that’s required is proof that a party member lives in the riding.

Dong testified that he encouraged international students from a private high school to get involved in his campaign, and that on the day of his nomination vote in September 2019, a busload of international students arrived to cast ballots. Dong said he didn’t know who organized the students and paid for their bus.

At the inquiry on Tuesday, the Liberal party’s national campaign director for the 2019 election said he briefed the prime minister about the “irregularities” surrounding Dong’s nomination, but Jeremy Broadhurst said he did not recommend any action.

“Based on what I thought should be an extremely high bar for overturning a democratic result I recommended to the prime minister that no action be taken,” Broadhurst said.

Additionally, Wark said he is also anticipating questions to be directed at Trudeau about Dong’s alleged conversation with a senior Chinese consulate official regarding delaying the release of the "two Michaels" – Spavor and Kovrig.

Deputy Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister’s Office Brian Clow testified on Tuesday that he saw a more fulsome intelligence report about the alleged conversation. That report, he said, revealed details that could help Han Dong clear his name, but Clow testified that he was told the information couldn’t be declassified.

Artur Wilczynksi is a former director general of intelligence operations at the Communications Security Establishment. He says he’s not surprised that the PMO was advised against releasing intelligence which could have painted Dong in a different light.

The first leak may have been wrong, and a later release to correct the record could lead to more trouble, he said.

“If there was an intent to obfuscate in the original report by the adversary, by releasing that document would allow the adversary to understand how that information was collected and who it went to,” said Wilczynksi.

34 CSIS briefings about PRC clandestine activity

A top-secret document prepared in February 2023 for the Prime Minister’s Office after intelligence leaks to media made headlines for months revealed that there were 34 CSIS briefings on Chinese interference between June 2018 and December 2022.

The document asserted that the “(People's Republic of China) clandestinely and deceptively interfered in both the 2019 and 2021 elections.”

In both cases, the document stated that the foreign interference was “pragmatic and focused primarily on supporting those viewed to be either “pro-PRC” or “neutral on issues of interest to the PRC government.”

Among those briefed on different occasions were cabinet ministers, top government officials and senior election officials.

It’s expected that the prime minister will also be asked what he knew about the extent of Beijing’s interference in ridings with large numbers of Chinese immigrants during the 2021 election. Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole said on the witness stand that up to nine ridings where the party’s internal polling projected Conservative wins resulted in losses that could have been impacted by foreign interference.

Lawyers are expected to hone in on the B.C. riding of Steveston-Richmond East, where Conservative candidate Kenny Chui was seeking re-election.

Chui testified he was a victim of a disinformation campaign that painted him as a “race traitor” on the Chinese social media app WeChat. Intelligence reports reveal that officials thought the damaging portrayal of Chui may have been amplified in ethnic media funded by the People’s Republic of China, but could not say for certain that there was a PRC directive to do so.

During this inquiry, new information has clarified and bolstered previous media leaks. Despite strong intelligence of Chinese meddling, the critical election incident public protocol was not triggered to warn the public of threats to election integrity in 2019 or 2021. The RCMP says no complaints about foreign interference were passed on to the Mounties during those elections.

In light of this, Wilcyznksi says, the most important question the prime minister should be asked is: what has he done since finding out?

“After (Trudeau) heard all this information in his briefings about foreign interference - did he ask for change? If he didn’t then why not?”