This is not saying that he was briefed before the 2019 and 2021 elections though…specifically about names of MPs receiving Chinese $$$….
A document tabled before a House of Commons committee Friday says that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has received at least six briefings on foreign election interference since October 2018. The document reports who in the federal government was briefed on foreign interference and when.
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A document tabled before a House of Commons committee Friday says that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has received “at least” six briefings on foreign election interference since October 2018.
The Privy Council Office (PCO) tabled the document, entitled "Briefings on Foreign Election interference," just before the prime minister's chief of staff Katie Telford
began her testimony before the procedure and House affairs committee (PROC).
The document lists those who have been briefed on foreign interference since 2018, when they were briefed and who provided the briefing.
"Specific topics are not included in the list below to protect their classification, though briefings may address specific threats or adverse activity, as well as broader policy proposals and approaches related to foreign interference in elections," the document says….
not necessarily as advertised or seen on TV, may or may not contain milk or milk products, nut or nut derivatives, etc….
The PCO document says that its lists are not exhaustive because records of the briefings may be incomplete. The first list in the document details briefings to the prime minister; it starts with a briefing on Oct. 22, 2018 by the national security and intelligence adviser (NSIA). The most recent briefing of the prime minister listed in the document happened on March 20, 2023, and was delivered by the NSIA and the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). The document says Trudeau was also briefed on Feb. 9, 2021, June 14, 2022, Oct. 27, 2022 and Nov. 30, 2022. Those briefings all came from either the NSIA or the director of CSIS.
Cabinet as a whole received eight briefings since 2018, according to the document. It does not say when the briefings happened or who delivered them — only that they came from "senior public servants." (?)
The minister of democratic institutions got the most individual briefings — ten of them, all between 2018 and 2019 (the government dropped the portfolio in 2019).
The last list tabled before the committee cites briefings given to political party representatives the PCO cleared to receive classified information.
There are 13 such briefings listed, dating from June 17, 2019 to Oct. 22, 2021. Most were given to cleared political party representatives, though two were given only to Liberal Party representatives and three were given only to Conservatives. The document does not say who gave the briefings, etc…blah blah blah….The rest of the above CBC link.
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Katie Telford wanted to be very clear, she could neither confirm nor deny any allegations about China’s election interference.
Telford, chief of staff to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since he was first elected in 2015, was testifying before a Commons committee on Friday.
Despite her repeated claims that she couldn’t talk about allegations, she wanted to make one thing clear, claims of “$250,000” being disbursed to “11 candidates” in the “Greater Toronto Area” in the 2019 election were not backed up by fact in her view.
Katie Telford wanted to be very clear, she could neither confirm nor deny any allegations about China’s election interference. Telford, chief of staff to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since he was first elected in 2015, was testifying before a Commons committee on Friday. Despite her repeated...
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“The connection that was being made between these candidates and the funds was inaccurate,” Telford said.
If Telford wanted to claim that she couldn’t talk about allegations due to national security concerns, that should have applied to everything, not just things she wanted to selectively speak about. It also raises questions about other allegations.
Does her statement mean that just the funds part was inaccurate? Does it mean that all the other allegations that she wouldn’t discuss are accurate?
Telford’s appearance was frustrating to put it mildly, not only because of her refusal to answer questions she easily could have answered that were not covered by anything to do with national security secrets, but also because of the conduct of the MPs.
Liberal MPs on the committee attempted to use their time to either ask softball questions or attempt to prosecute the Conservatives for being partisan.
One Liberal MP even asked Telford to comment on the need to differentiate between allegations of Chinese election interference and Chinese-Canadians???
Of course, there is a difference and MPs have heard that from Chinese-Canadians themselves who have appeared before the Commons begging them to take this issue seriously and pointing out that they are the victims of the bullying and harassments that comes with China’s attempts to sway our elections.
As usual, the Liberals brought this up to insinuate racism is even asking questions about China’s meddling in Canada’s democracy, etc…
In a matter such as this, there will always be questions that cannot be answered in a public forum due to security concerns. Telford was willing to deal with one question that would be covered by security issues – the money and 11 candidates – but she refused to answer other questions that could be answered without violating national security laws or regulations.
Her appearance was self-serving at best for the government, it was frustrating for the viewing public and brings us no closer to understanding what has happened over the last few elections.
The Trudeau Liberals have said they don’t want a public inquiry but are also making it a necessity for anyone who wants real answers to what happened.