Justin Trudeau received at least five formal briefings from top national security officials on foreign interference in Canada since 2021, according to documents shared with a House of Commons committee.Those formal briefings are in addition to “numerous” informal discussions about the issue with Trudeau and his staff since November 2022, when Global News began publishing reports about alleged Chinese political interference in Canadian federal elections.
Read more: Trudeau’s chief of staff to face questions about foreign interference The information comes from Jody Thomas, Trudeau’s national security and intelligence advisor (NSIA), in a submission to the House of Commons committee probing the issue of Beijing’s covert influence over Canadian politics and politicians.
The document, which was obtained by Global News, includes an approximate list of national security briefings on foreign interference to Trudeau, his senior staff, cabinet ministers and security-cleared representatives of federal political parties.While Thomas’ submission provides specific dates for almost every briefing to Trudeau, it also states that a total of eight briefings were given to the Liberal cabinet or cabinet committees since 2018 — but does not list specific dates for those group sessions.In November, Global reported that intelligence officials warned Trudeau and “several cabinet ministers” the Chinese government was conducting a “vast campaign of foreign interference,” and those warnings began in January 2022.
Thomas’ submission does not list a specific briefing to cabinet for that month.“Given the nature of national security issues, many of these briefings are conversations which are not formally scheduled.