Trudeau says it's his job to question CSIS intelligence, call out 'contradictions'

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday he feels it's part of his job to question and call out what he referred to as "contradictions" in intelligence prepared for the federal government.

His comments Thursday followed his closely-watched testimony at the public inquiry into foreign election interference the day before, which is trying to work out what the government knew about claims that China and other countries meddled in the past two federal elections.

During his testimony Wednesday, Trudeau disputed intelligence gathered by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), one of the pillars of Canada's national security infrastructure.

"You have to take this intelligence, you have to take this information with a certain awareness that it still needs to be confirmed or it might not be 100 per cent accurate," Trudeau said.

During a media availability Thursday, Trudeau was asked by a reporter whether Canadians should trust CSIS given his remarks. 

The prime minister said he respects the Canadians who work in national security.

"But no government, no leader, should simply be a passive receiver of information and intelligence," he said. 

"We have a role to play in asking questions, on thinking critically ... encouraging further work on questioning sources and pulling out contradictions. That actually is part and parcel of the work that we all need to do to make sure that everything is done to keep Canadians safe."

Trudeau said he listens "very closely, very carefully to everything" CSIS tells him — but the information that reaches his ears has been called into question at the inquiry.

Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue and members of her team have been poring over a series of documents, including one that showed CSIS believes the Chinese government "clandestinely and deceptively" interfered in both the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

The warning was contained in a document prepared for a February 2023 briefing with the Prime Minister's Office. 

Trudeau said that warning was not shared with him. Earlier this week, his deputy chief of staff Brian Clow also told the inquiry the information in that briefing was not shared with the inner circle.

The CSIS document warns that protecting Canadian democratic institutions against foreign interference "will require a shift in the government's perspective and a willingness to take decisive action and impose consequences on perpetrators." It said foreign interference will persist until it "is viewed as an existential threat to Canadian democracy and governments forcefully and actively respond."

Trudeau also testified Wednesday that he rarely reads intelligence documents and relies on oral briefings, either from his national security and intelligence adviser or from CSIS director David Vigneault.