Mendicino refuses to name MPs targeted by foreign interference, citing secrecy law
Global News
The public safety minister told reporters in Toronto that he can’t say whether other MPs allegedly targeted by China’s security services received briefings.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says he can’t name the other MPs allegedly targeted by China’s state security agencies in foreign interference operations.
At a press conference in Mississauga Monday morning, Mendicino said he was bound by Canada’s official secrets laws and could not divulge which MPs were targeted according to Canadian intelligence assessments.
“I have a legal obligation under the law to respect the parameters within which we keep information classified,” Mendicino told reporters.
“What I can tell you is that very transparently we did meet with (Conservative MP Michael) Chong. We provided him a briefing.”
The Globe and Mail reported last week that members of Chong’s family, who live in Hong Kong, were allegedly targeted by China’s state security service. The targeting came after Chong supported a vote – which was unanimously approved by the House of Commons – to designate China’s oppression of the Uyghur minority as a genocide.
Both Mendicino and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters that they first became aware of the allegations through the newspaper’s report. Mendicino pressed the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to give Chong an urgent briefing on the matter.
“We’re making it very clear to CSIS and our intelligence officials that when there are concerns that talk specifically about any MP – particularly about their family – those need to be elevated even if CSIS doesn’t feel that it’s a sufficient level of concern for them to take more direct action,” Trudeau told reporters on Wednesday.
But Chong told the House of Commons on Wednesday that Trudeau’s national security advisor, Jody Thomas, informed him that CSIS had shared that information with her office and the Privy Council Office – raising more questions about how that intelligence was handled.
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