Conservative Party voices criticism of foreign-interference inquiry

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As the much-sought-after foreign-interference inquiry gets under way Monday, the Conservative Party is strongly objecting to being denied the same right as the Liberal government to cross-examine witnesses and view confidential submissions.

Party lawyer Michael Wilson wrote to Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue late this week, saying the Conservatives are dismayed that she granted full standing to the governing Liberals, former Liberal MP Han Dong, now an Independent MP, and former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister Michael Chan, now deputy mayor of Markham.

While the governing Liberals and the two politicians have the right to cross-examine witnesses and see confidential briefs, the Conservative Party was only granted intervenor status. Intervenors cannot ask questions of witnesses but can make submissions to the inquiry. They can also only gain access to evidence that is presented publicly to the probe.

“The Conservative Party continues to have serious concerns regarding how the Commission has played out thus far,” Mr. Wilson wrote in the letter obtained by The Globe and Mail. “It remains deeply concerning that political parties with official status in the House of Commons have been denied full standing equivalent to that of the governing Liberal Party.”

Mr. Wilson said the Conservative Party will protest its exclusion from full standing by refusing to attend the hearings in person.

“We expect to watch the video feed rather than watch in person,” he said.

Commission spokesperson Michael Tansey declined to comment on the Conservative Party letter.

However, Justice Hogue, a judge of the Quebec Court of Appeal, has granted full standing to Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong, who The Globe and Mail revealed in May was targeted by China along with his Hong Kong relatives over his criticism of Beijing.

She also granted full standing to NDP MP Jenny Kwan, who Canada’s spy agency says was also targeted by Beijing during the 2021 election. Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, who was also a target of China, was granted intervenor status.

Mr. Dong stepped out of the Liberal caucus in March, saying he wanted to clear his name after Global News reported that he allegedly told a Chinese diplomat in February, 2021, that releasing imprisoned Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor from detention in China before the election would benefit the Conservatives.

David Johnston, the government’s former special rapporteur on foreign interference, deemed those allegations false. Mr. Dong has strongly denied the allegations and is suing Global News.

The Globe has reported that Mr. Chan, a former Ontario trade minister, has for years been a national-security target of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service because of alleged links to China’s Toronto consulate and association with proxies of Beijing.

The Globe reported in 2015 that Mr. Chan had been the subject of CSIS security briefings in Ontario.

In February, Mr. Chan told The Globe: “CSIS has never interviewed me regarding their false and unsubstantiated allegations.” But he added: “I am aware that they have conducted intimidating interviews with my friends and acquaintances and then instructed them to keep their mouths shut.”

Mr. Chan is suing CSIS, the government and reporters from The Globe and Mail and Global TV over leaks of information about him.

Justice Hogue ruled in December that Mr. Chan and Mr. Dong require the full range of rights at the hearing to defend themselves.

“Furthermore, it is precisely because there are allegations made against Mr. Chan and Mr. Dong that it is paramount that they be afforded the full range of participatory rights and protections, including the ability to cross-examine other witnesses when affected by their evidence,” she said. “Procedural fairness is essential where the findings of a commission of inquiry can damage the reputation of a witness.”

The first part of the inquiry will examine foreign interference by states such as China in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. The second phase will examine what reforms are necessary to fight foreign interference. The first report will be presented on May 3 and the second one at the end of December.