MP Michael Chong says Canada needs to 'catch up' to allies on national security threats

Conservative MP Michael Chong told a committee of fellow parliamentarians Tuesday that Canada needs to "catch up" to its allies on addressing foreign interference threats against politicians.

The Globe and Mail, citing a top secret document from 2021, reported earlier this month that the Chinese government was targeting a Canadian MP. An unnamed security source reportedly told the Globe that Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei was allegedly working on efforts to target Chong's family in China.

Appearing before the House procedure and affairs committee Tuesday evening, Chong said the attempted interference "would likely not have happened" if Canada had policies in place similar to those in the U.S. and the U.K.

"Canada needs to catch up and emulate the best practices of peer jurisdictions to ensure that critical national security and intelligence issues do not become bottlenecked within the bureaucracy and the executive," Chong said.

The government briefed Chong following the report — but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet have maintained that the report in question was never shared at the ministerial level in 2021. They've said they were not aware of the assessment until it was reported on by the Globe and Mail.

Chong has said in the House of Commons that Jody Thomas, the prime minister's national security adviser told him the 2021 CSIS report was sent to the Privy Council Office and to relevant government departments.

During his opening remarks on Tuesday, Chong called on the committee to request the tracking records for the 2021 CSIS report to shed light on where the information went.

He later said the failure to notify him that his family might be targeted by foreign agents amounted to a "systemic breakdown in the machinery of government." He said the buck ultimately stops with the prime minister.

"The machinery of government is the responsibility of the prime minister alone," Chong said. "I think it's clear that the prime minister failed to architect the machinery of government in a way that would ensure that information flowed to MPs and to the House of Commons."

While Chong conceded that intelligence leaks to the media damage Canada's national security, he said intelligence agents wouldn't feel compelled to disclose secret information "in a system that is functioning properly."

Prior to the Globe's report, Chong said he only received one CSIS briefing regarding foreign interference in June 2021. He said that briefing was a general overview of foreign interference tactics — something he said all MPs should be receiving — but that potential threats to his family were never brought up.

"To know that the government of Canada knew about this and didn't do anything about it was deeply disappointing," he said.

During questioning, Chong said he has personally received threats related to his stance on the Chinese government — including during the 2021 election campaign — though he didn't go into further details.

The government expelled Zhao from the country last week. The House of Commons voted unanimously to refer Zhao's alleged attempt to intimidate Chong to a House committee for further study as a "prima facie" case of contempt of Parliament.