Jun 6 2023 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — While David Johnston’s first report into foreign interference disputed claims made about Independent MP Han Dong, the special rapporteur said Tuesday he never spoke to the Toronto-area MP in the course of his investigation. “We did not reach out to him,” the former governor general told CBC’s Power & Politics Tuesday after appearing before a […]
Jun 6 2023 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — David Johnston, tasked earlier this year with investigating foreign interference in Canadian politics, is expected to take pointed questions from MPs later this morning about his report on election meddling — and about claims that he’s unfit for the job because of his connections to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Johnston is scheduled to appear for […]
May 29 2023 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is ready to help the thousands of Nova Scotians fleeing a wildfire “in any ways we can.” An estimated 14,000 people have been asked to evacuate as a rapidly spreading fire burns out of control in the Halifax area. Fire officials said Monday that while no injuries […]
May 23 2023 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — A fleet of vehicles for the fledgling Surrey Police Service gathers dust in a windowless room in a hidden warehouse. Parked side by side, the vehicles are all emblazoned with the SPS motto — Safer. Stronger. Together — and outfitted to hit the streets of the British Columbia city. They just can’t respond to any […]
May 16 2023 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — The federal government has directed the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to share more information directly with Parliamentarians under threat, and to create a direct line to the minister of public safety — changes that come in response to questions about who in Ottawa knew China was targeting the family of a Canadian MP. A copy […]
May 5 2023 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino had strong words for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Friday when he claimed the agency failed to brief the prime minister on a Chinese government plan to target Conservative MP Michael Chong’s family. His comments come at the end of a week that saw the government hounded over how it […]
May 4 2023 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — New questions about how the federal government handled a reported Chinese government plot to target MPs are being raised after Conservative MP Michael Chong said Thursday that a 2021 intelligence report on the matter was shared with the prime minister’s national security and intelligence adviser. The news contradicts comments Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made Wednesday. […]
May 3 2023 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has told Canada’s spy agency it needs to share more information with the federal government when it comes to threats against MPs and their families following reports that the Chinese government was targeting Conservative Michael Chong and his family. “We are making that directive now,” Trudeau told reporters on […]
May 2 2023 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Morris Rosenberg, the former president and CEO of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, says in retrospect the embattled charity was naïve to think it would have “soft power” over China when it accepted money in 2016 with ties to the Chinese government. The former veteran public servant told a parliamentary committee Tuesday night that at […]
May 2 2023 — Catharine Tunney — The RCMP’s recruitment situation can be described accurately as a crisis, says the force’s independent advisory board — one that could threaten its ability to serve as Canada’s national police force. That’s the conclusion of a report by the Management Advisory Board, an oversight body that advises the RCMP commissioner, following a review of the […]
Apr 28 2023 — Catharine Tunney — One of Canada’s intelligence watchdogs has scolded the country’s cyber security agency over its approach to international law. The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency reviewed the Communications Security Establishment’s activities in 2019, the first year after it received new powers. While the review was completed in 2020, its report was made public only this […]
Apr 27 2023 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Conservative MP Michael Cooper and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino faced off Thursday over the government’s response to so-called Chinese police stations operating on Canadian soil. But MPs on the procedure and House affairs committee did not ask the head of Canada’s spy agency a single question about Beijing’s meddling in Canadian affairs — despite […]
Apr 25 2023 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — The Conservatives’ national campaign director for the 2021 federal election urged MPs on Tuesday to amend legislation to put Canada in a better position to combat attempts at foreign interference in elections. “We’re spending a lot of time trying to find out who knew what, when and where. I feel a lot of effort should […]
Apr 25 2023 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Canada’s intelligence agency warned MPs and senators ahead of the 2021 election that their public conversations probably would be monitored by foreign states and that threat actors could target their staff, according to recently obtained documents. “You are of immediate and constant interest to certain hostile state actors,” reads a copy of Canadian Security Intelligence […]
Apr 13 2023 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Leaked U.S. intelligence suggested hackers had accessed natural gas distribution network. One of Canada’s intelligence agencies says a cyber threat actor “had the potential to cause physical damage” to a piece of critical infrastructure recently. “I can report there was no physical damage to any Canadian energy infrastructure. But make no mistake — the threat […]