Trudeau's chief of staff Katie Telford to testify on foreign interference at committee: PMO

Trudeau's chief of staff Katie Telford to testify on foreign interference at committee: PMO

Procedure and House Affairs Committee's work has ground to a halt because of Liberal filibustering for a total of 24 hours to date in an attempt to prevent Telford from testifying

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Published Mar 21, 2023  

Katie Telford, Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, smugly leaves after a meeting of the Liberal Caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa earlier this month.

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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office says his chief of staff, Katie Telford, will testify before a Parliamentary committee on foreign interference, putting an end to dozens of hours of Liberal filibustering and a political deadlock on the issue.

“While there are serious constraints on what can be said in public about sensitive intelligence matters, in an effort to make Parliament work Ms. Telford has agreed to appear at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee as part of their study,” the Prime Minister’s Office spokesperson, Alison Murphy, said in a statement Tuesday morning.

Opposition members on the committee, commonly referred to as PROC, voted weeks ago to launch a study into allegations Beijing interfered in Canada’s electoral process. As part of the study, they called on Telford to testify on what she was told by security agencies after the media reported that the PMO had been briefed multiple times on Chinese attempts to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

But the committee’s work ground to a halt in early March because the Liberal members on the committee mounted a filibuster — totalling 24 hours to date — in an attempt to prevent Telford from testifying.

Minutes after the news broke that Telford would testify, Liberal members in a PROC meeting proceeded to remove their names from the speakers list, ending the filibuster. The committee then voted unanimously to summon Telford to testify for two hours before April 14.

Bardish Chagger, the Liberal chair of PROC, said the clerk would contact Telford to determine the best time for her to appear.

The PMO’s decision to allow Telford to testify came hours before a much-anticipated vote on a similar motion was to take place Tuesday afternoon in the House of Commons.

After weeks of trying at the committee level, the Conservatives on Monday introduced a motion in the House of Commons calling on Telford to testify at another committee, Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. They had the support of the Bloc Quebecois but needed the NDP’s backing to push through the motion in the minority Parliament.

On Tuesday morning, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said his party was ready to vote in favour of the Conservatives’ motion if Trudeau did not stop the obstruction at PROC. In the end, Singh’s caucus sided with the Liberals when it came time to vote and defeated the motion.

Singh took credit for the fact that Telford was ultimately testifying in PROC, and said it was thanks to his party’s efforts. Liberal MPs said Telford volunteered to testify.

Until Monday, the Trudeau Liberals were steadfast in opposing Telford’s testimony, arguing that MPs would be better served by hearing from past campaign directors instead.

Government House leader Mark Holland said that with Telford agreeing to testify before the PROC, he considered the Conservatives’ motion before the House to be “moot.” He also said the Liberals were attempting to work with the opposition to make sure that Parliament worked properly.

In fact, said Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer, the Liberals chose between the lesser of two evils, as the committee on ethics is chaired by a Conservative MP whereas PROC is chaired by a Liberal.

“They’d much rather have this hearing happen at a committee where the Liberals hold the chair because the chair will be able to use procedural tactics to their advantage,” said Scheer.

“Clearly, that was part of the deal,” he added, suggesting it was part of the Liberals’ discussions with the NDP.

The government also pushed back against rumours — that were not dismissed by Holland on Monday — that it considered making Tuesday’s vote a matter of no confidence, which would trigger an early election if the NDP voted against the government.

Trudeau said on Tuesday morning that it would not be a confidence vote.

The prime minister also insisted that there are many things that his chief of staff would not be able to share when it comes to national security matters, and that a parliamentary committee might not be the best way to seek answers to MPs’ many questions.

The federal government has asked former governor general David Johnston to act as a “special rapporteur” to decide by May 23 on whether or not a public inquiry is required.

He is expected to submit regular reports on his findings to the prime minister, which will be shared with leaders of the opposition and all Canadians, the PMO said. His review is expected to end on Oct. 31.

Comments

1 MIN AGO

We shouldn't want an election. Search for the truth and determine if we have been lied to, and why? Actually what has taken place, namely the antics of the PM and Liberals, since the story arrived of the PM being advised, and the denials, delaying tactics to avoid finding the details. This should tell us what we need to know, and we should be shocked and upset about those tactics, regardless of the results.

Shame on anyone who has been involved with avoiding investigation and not wanting to help with finding the truth.

And now more costs and delays while we wait for results of another enquiry whose "results" will be revealed in OCTOBER???

Kind of makes me do what so many others have done in the past: Avoid involvement and participation. But the tremendous number of comments does show many more are involved now in this important issue.

JUST NOW

Put a lie detector on her,her face has deceit written all over it

21 MIN AGO

I guarantee you that Telford will have significant memory losses of certain events, even if she is under oath.

These people think they are above all of us peasants.

43 MIN AGO

I called it ! Singh did side with the Liberals despite all his bluster!

John Brackenbury

2 HRS AGO

That soulless piece of trash will just lie if necessary.

3 HRS AGO

Has anyone else noticed how Trudeau obstinately refuses to do the right thing for many days, and then does a sudden turnabout? Why is that, I wonder. Hmm... Could it be to always give himself and his cronies enough time to rehearse the non-answers they will provide?

I'll repeat my prior suggestion: Whomever is doing the questioning had better utilize skillful tactics by asking only yes or no questions. And, for good measure, use that fantastic nailer, "So, Ms. Telford, were you lying then, are you lying now, or are you not in fact a chronic and habitual LIAR!"

3 HRS AGO

The woke Trudeau liberals "affection" they had from other countries has evaporated. Our allies have become frustrated with Trudeau's seemingly acquiescence attitude of the Chinese influence on Canada's elections. Even the Australian Senate are discussing this issue.

Singh plans I think, to remain in political power until Trudeau and himself are booted out of power . The NDP cannot afford another election this year..

Because a confidence motion was passed, the trigger was not pulled on the Trudeau and Singh 'partnership" The woke fools power is finished. Poilievre and his conservatives will politically crush the scheming idiots.

4 HRS AGO

Get ready for the word salad of all word salads. She will obfuscate and deflect. 

Liberals float possibility of making motion on foreign interference a confidence vote

 

Liberals float possibility of making motion on foreign interference a confidence vote

The Tories challenged the NDP to side with them instead of the ‘corrupt government’

• Mar. 20, 2023

Liberal House leader Mark Holland isn’t ruling out turning a Conservative motion on foreign interference into a confidence vote that could topple the government and would test the strength of the supply-and-confidence deal between the Liberals and the NDP.

The Conservatives tabled the motion in the House of Commons Monday demanding that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief of staff, Katie Telford, appear at the House ethics committee before the middle of April. They want her, along with more than a dozen other witnesses, to answer questions about allegations that the Chinese government interfered in Canada’s last two federal elections.

The move follows weeks of filibustering by the Liberals to prevent Telford from being summoned to appear at the House procedure committee on the same topic.

Alberta Tory MP Michael Cooper said Telford is “a critical witness to get to the heart of the scandal.” He said she should be able to answer what Trudeau knows about Beijing’s attempts at meddling, when he learned about it and what he did about it.

The Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois both seem prepared to vote in favour of the motion. The NDP has yet to say where it stands on this specific motion, but intends to push its own motion demanding a full public inquiry be called on the issue of foreign interference.

NDP House leader Peter Julien reiterated Monday that his party wants an inquiry to look at the issue as a whole, rather than focus only on China. But the Conservatives have rejected calls to expand the probe to include meddling by other governments, such as Iran.

The Tories challenged the NDP to side with them instead of the Liberal “corrupt government.”

“While this motion is a test for this government, it is also a test for the NDP,” said Cooper.

It certainly could be the first real test of the supply-and-confidence arrangement the NDP and Liberals agreed to a year ago. Under that deal, the NDP is supporting the government on budgets and other votes that are automatically viewed as confidence matters, in exchange for the government moving on key NDP priorities such as dental care.

A confidence vote is one that the government must win — or be forced to resign.

The agreement, reached in early March 2022, does address situations in which the government declares a confidence vote on other matters. It requires the Liberals to inform the NDP of a confidence vote as soon as possible, and the NDP to discuss with the Liberals how its MPs intend to vote before announcing so publicly, “to permit discussions” to take place.

Holland hinted those talks are underway now, when asked specifically if the government would move to declare the Conservative motion a confidence matter.

“I think it’s not helpful to jump to the end of a process when we are still having conversations in a contemporaneous circumstance,” Holland said in a scrum with reporters outside the House Monday afternoon.

The Liberals are on the same page with the NDP about wanting to look at foreign interference from all other countries, not just China. However, thus far, Trudeau has rejected calls for a public inquiry, choosing instead to appoint a “special rapporteur” to oversee an investigation on the issue.

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Trudeau named former governor general David Johnston for the role. The prime minister has committed to abiding by his advice, including any recommendation to hold a full public inquiry.

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Holland accused the Conservatives of playing partisan games with the very serious issue of foreign interference in Canada’s democratic processes. He said the government has offered to bring its national campaign chairs from 2019 and 2021 to the committees to answer questions.

He said the Conservatives won’t offer the same, though the Conservative motion Monday includes not just Telford but more than a dozen others, including all the campaign chairs for every official party in the House of Commons for both the 2019 and 2021 elections.

The campaign chairs and co-chairs were briefed during the elections about any signs of foreign interference.

Holland said the decision to focus so intently on Telford is entirely about partisan politics.

Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer said the Tories would support the motion even if the Liberals made it into a confidence motion noting the issue is important enough.

“It’s up to Justin Trudeau to make those kinds of decisions. And it’s up to the NDP to decide whether or not they’re going to allow themselves to be bullied around to cover up Liberal scandals,” Scheer told reporters on Parliament Hill.

Scheer rejected Holland’s contention that seeking Telford’s testimony amounts to partisan games. He argued she is one of the few people in Trudeau’s orbit during both elections and regular government work.

“She also would have had incredibly sensitive information as to the Liberal campaign itself, and that’s why it’s so important.”

CSIS attempted to warn Trudeau China's tactics becoming more 'sophisticated ... insidious'

CSIS attempted to warn Trudeau China's tactics becoming more 'sophisticated ... insidious'

 Dec 07, 2021 

China's President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attend a working session at the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan on June 29, 2019. 

As Canada's spy agency warns that China's efforts to distort the news and influence media outlets in Canada "have become normalized," critics are renewing calls for Ottawa to take a far tougher approach to foreign media interference.

The warning is contained in briefing documents drafted for Canadian Security Intelligence Service Director David Vigneault in preparation for a meeting he had with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this year.

That meeting focused on the rise of foreign interference in Canada — something CSIS says has become "more sophisticated, frequent, and insidious."

One way foreign states — including the People's Republic of China (PRC) — try to exert pressure on other countries is through media outlets, say the documents, obtained through an access to information request.

"In particular, PRC media influence activities in Canada have become normalized," it reads.

"Chinese-language media outlets operating in Canada and members of the Chinese-Canadian community are primary targets of PRC-directed foreign influenced activities."

CSIS director David Vigneault holds a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, July 16, 2020. 

CSIS spokesperson John Townsend said foreign states target both mainstream media outlets — print publications, radio and television programs — and non-traditional online outlets and social media channels to pursue their goals.

"Mainstream news outlets, as well as community sources, may also be targeted by foreign states who attempt to shape public opinion, debate, and covertly influence participation in the democratic process," he said.

"Considering Canada's rich multicultural makeup, foreign states may try to leverage or coerce individuals within communities to help influence to their benefit what is being reported by Canadian media outlets."

China has an effective influence network, report finds

It's a tactic former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu said he knows all too well. He said he was targeted during the recent federal election by a misinformation campaign run through Chinese language media outlets and social media.

"If that's the normal behaviour, then we should really become concerned," he said. 

Chiu said he was attacked online as anti-Chinese after introducing a private member's bill that would require agents of foreign governments to register and report on their activities. He lost the B.C. riding of Steveston-Richmond East to Liberal Parm Bains by almost 3,000 votes.

"I just felt, first of all, very sad. I feel ridiculous. I feel sad because some of my fellow Canadians of Chinese descent, why would they even believe in this information?" he said.

Former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu says he felt targeted by misinformation during the last election campaign. 

Earlier this year, Alliance Canada Hong Kong — an umbrella group for Hong Kong pro-democracy activists in this country — released a report alleging the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) runs a sophisticated network that inserts Beijing-friendly narratives into various media outlets.

The report says China has been exploiting a lack of oversight in short-staffed newsrooms to push the party line abroad.

It says China sometimes pushes those narratives in the open — through sponsored posts or advertorial inserts written by Chinese party-state media — while groups closely tied to Chinese authorities buy digital or print ads parroting party rhetoric.

"It's meant to portray that it's indicative they're the group that speaks on behalf of all Chinese folks, all the Canadian Chinese, which is just not true," said Ai-Men Lau, an adviser with Alliance Canada Hong Kong.

China also uses its toehold in Canadian ethnic Chinese media to keep journalists in line, she said. 

• State actors could use blackmail, threats to influence voters, politicians in the next election, CSIS warns

• State actors are looking to join political parties to 'exert influence,' chair of security committee warns

"For years, reporters in ethnic media are often required to self-censor themselves or face uprisings. We've seen journalists being fired. If they take a certain line, they don't get their columns posted anymore in ethnic media," she said. 

Alliance Canada Hong Kong's report says Beijing influences voices in mainstream media outlets as well.

"In the mainstream media, vocal supporters wooed through elite capture deliver Beijing's messages in op-eds and media appearances, helping to sway popular perceptions," says the report.

On Tuesday, China's ambassador to Canada denied that Beijing engages in espionage.

"China, we don't do this kind of thing, you know, spying, or electronic monitoring. It is the United States that have been doing these kinds of things over the past decades," Cong Peiwu said while answering a question about Huawei Technologies at a speaking event.

The CSIS briefing note said a number of countries (their names are blacked-out in the note) work to undermine Canada's political processes at the federal, provincial and municipal levels, and within Indigenous governments.

'Persistent targeting' ongoing says CSIS

The heavily redacted document says that politicians and party riding associations are targeted by these foreign influence operations, along with members of Chinese-Canadian communities.

Earlier this year, CSIS reported that foreign states were looking to bribe or blackmail voters and politicians. That same report said some such operations also rely on flattery, money and even romantic entanglements to push their agenda.

Ai-Men Lau said she expects to see China's harassment of dissidents abroad continue.

"You see out of Hong Kong, people are leaving and they're leaving because of the national security law. It's kind of like baggage — whether you want it or not, it follows you," she said.

"So that's something that I think Canadian officials or decision makers and policymakers and politicians need to think of when we talk about addressing these issues ... It's going to stay with us for a while."

Townsend said CSIS is reaching out to communities under pressure.

"While I cannot speak in detail about the specifics of our assessments and investigations, I can say that CSIS has observed persistent targeting of specific communities here in Canada, both in person and through the use of online campaigns, by foreign state actors," he said.

'Sunlight' policy needed: Vigneault

In his meeting with Trudeau, Vigneault said Canada has a role to play in calling out media influence tactics in public.

"Canada can make use of a policy that is grounded in transparency and sunlight in order to highlight the point that foreign interference should be exposed to the public and clandestine practices are not equivalent to public diplomacy," the CSIS briefing documents said.

"Various state actors are currently using foreign interference activities with limited impunity to undermine Canada's interests."

Chiu said he wants to see a stronger approach from the federal government.

• Representatives of Chinese dissident groups reject Trudeau's comments on racism

• CSIS says 2020 was a banner year for espionage operations targeting Canada

"The Chinese government controls WeChat, has a monopoly on many Canadians' lives and their ears and their brains ... we need to find a solution to that," he said.

"We also need to monitor and make sure that our regulators ... make sure that ... broadcasters and the commentators are held responsible for this information they help spread, especially during the election or before the election."

Ai-Men Lau also called for more oversight to make sure China isn't manipulating media and threatening journalists.

CSIS said it recently increased its investigative efforts and triggered threat reduction measures — a term referring to its broad legal powers to reduce threats to the security of Canada.

The main restriction on CSIS's threat reduction powers is that the service can't intentionally — or by criminal negligence — cause death or bodily harm, violate sexual integrity or willfully obstruct justice.

Montreal Chinese community groups react with anger following RCMP investigation

Montreal Chinese community groups react with anger following RCMP investigation

Global News

Tue, March 14, 2023

Members of Montreal's Chinese community are reacting with anger at the decision by the RCMP to publicly name two community organizations in their investigation of alleged Chinese police stations. They say that move has caused devastating effects in the community. Global’s Phil Carpenter reports.

Leaders of Montreal’s Chinese community are angered with the RCMP’s decision to publicly name two local Chinese community organizations in their investigation of alleged Chinese police outposts.

“There may be complaints, then do your investigation,” reasoned immigration and human rights lawyer Walter Chi-Yan Tom.  “But why the heck are you publicly ostracizing these two community organizations?”

Last week, the RCMP confirmed publicly that they are probing the Chinese Family Service of Greater Montreal and Sino-Quebec in Brossard, Que., both of which have served Montreal-area Chinese communities for decades.

“They are the backbone of the Chinese community,” Tom pointed out.

The RCMP suspects that there are activities within the organizations aimed at intimidating Chinese locals to help advance foreign interference in Canada.

According to the organizations’ lawyer, Virginie Dufresne-Lemire, the groups condemn any such activity and that the federal police service should not have named them publicly.

“We question a little bit the way that this was done because it can cause irreparable damage to these organizations,” she told Global News.

May Chiu, former head of Chinese Family Service, current coordinator for Montreal’s Chinatown Round Table and a lawyer agrees.

“Already we know that some funders are anxious,” she pointed out. “People have been asking a lot of questions.”

Now she and others fear some of those services are in jeopardy, in particular those given to new arrivals.

“People who immigrate here, we’re talking about Chinese refugees that have claimed refugee status from China, we’re talking about people without status, we’re talking about international students,” Tom stressed.

He fears that those who would normally turn to the two groups for help will now have second thoughts about approaching them, when these people already have limited options.

Tom is also concerned about stigmatization of Montreal’s Chinese community, observing that because of the allegations there now exists a climate of fear among some members.

“Didn’t they think of the consequences before they did this?” he wondered.

RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Charles Poirier wrote in a statement that the force’s goal was never to target the community.

“The Québec RCMP decided to publicly acknowledge the presence of two alleged Chinese police stations and their activities in Montréal and Brossard for two reasons,” he wrote.

“First, to reassure the public and the Chinese community in Québec and to send a clear message to them: these activities will not be tolerated and we are here  for them. Second, to elicit their collaboration, because it is key to advancing and furthering our investigation.”

Some community members, however, wonder if xenophobia was a factor in the RCMP’s decision.

“Do they publish a list of everybody who they’re investigating in Canada?” Chiu asked.  “Imagine the kind of chaos that would fall from that.”

Tom said they plan to reach out to the RCMP.

GMO Cows Produce Milk Akin To Human Milk By Chinese Scientists

GMO Cows Produce Milk Akin To Human Milk By Chinese Scientists

In a potential new step for genetically modified food, babies could someday drink human-like milk derived from herds of genetically...

APR 4, 2011 

In a step for genetically modified food, babies will drink human-like milk derived from herds of genetically modified dairy cows, which scientists say will supplement breast milk and replace baby formula.

Scientists have created 300 cows that produce milk with properties of human breast milk, including lysozyme, which fights bacteria and improves infants’ immune systems in their first few days of life.

Scientists in China introduced genes that express human lysozyme (also called HLZ) and other human proteins into Holstein cattle embryos, and implanted the embryos into surrogate cows. When the GM cows started lactating, their milk contained HLZ and two other proteins.

Using a new purification process, the researchers were apparently able to make the milk like humans — they increased its fat content and changed the amounts of milk solids, according to the Telegraph.

Human breast milk contains all the nutrients an infant needs, but cow milk is not as readily digested or absorbed. Making cow milk more human could give dairy products a nutritional boost, according to Ning Li, director of the State Key Laboratories for AgroBiotechnology at the China Agricultural University, and lead author of the study.

And Jiaxiang Hu,

China Agricultural University | CAU · State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology

Doctor of Public Health

“Despite the benefits that HLZ provides to breast-fed infants, mothers do not always desire to lactate and sometimes situations prevent lactation; therefore, the development of alternate sources of HLZ would be beneficial to infant health,” the authors write.

Human milk from cows will be a better breast milk alternative than baby formula.

Beijing GenProtein Biotechnology Company now working on modifying soldiers

Ling and collaborators at the Beijing GenProtein Biotechnology Company took samples from regular cows and GM cows for six months, and found no significant differences in the amount of fat, protein, lactose, and milk solids in the two types of milk. The cows also looked and acted like regular, non-GM cows, they said.

The authors tested the protein expression at pasteurization temperatures, ensuring it would pass muster with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other authorities. They hope genetically modified dairy products could someday be sold in supermarkets.

“The modified bovine milk is a possible substitute for human milk,” they wrote.

The study was published March 16 in the journal PLoS One.