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Canadian gov’t confirms to Conservative MP that he and his family were targets of Chinese Communists – LifeSite

OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) – The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has finally told Conservative Party of Canada MP Michael Chong that he and his family were the targets of a spying and intimidation tactic campaign by an agent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

On Tuesday, CSIS head David Vigneault confirmed with Chong in an in-person meeting in Ottawa that the spying came about because the MP supported a motion in parliament in 2021 that condemned the CCP’s actions in Xinjiang as genocide.

Chong was given the details in the unusual meeting that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was said to have arranged. Trudeau was in attendance for only about 10 minutes in the meeting, as noted by a Globe and Mail report. At the meeting with Chong and Vigneault was also national security adviser Jody Thomas.

During the meeting, Chong was told that Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei was involved in the spying scandal.

An interesting takeaway from Chong’s meeting is that he was authorized to read to Vigneault from the top secret CSIS report that was leaked to the Globe and Mail “because it relates to a threat to you and your family.” This confirms that the CSIS leak to the newspaper by an unnamed source is accurate.

According to Thomas, Chong was told that the federal government is looking into why he was not told of the spying beforehand.

Earlier this week, LifeSiteNews reported on a highly confidential document from Canada’s top intelligence agency that warned the CCP thinks of Canada as a “high-priority target.” The same report also said the CCP is the “foremost perpetrator” of foreign interference in the nation, and then noted how the regime has targeted Chong’s family.

The bombshell revelations come via a top-secret, nine-page report from the Intelligence Assessment Branch of the CSIS as reported by the Globe and Mail on Monday. The newspaper was privy to the documents via an anonymous source that were produced just before the start of the 2021 federal election.

Chong recently lamented the fact that he was never told by CSIS or the current federal government that he was being secretly spied on.

Chong said about not being told that he and his family were targeted by CCP agents, it is “astounding,” and at a “minimum” he would have “expected my government had a duty of care to inform me that my family was being targeted.”

He then went on to say that CSIS never told him or “ever informed me” of what he said he suspected was going on.

Chong added that it was “astounding” he was not told, and at a “minimum” he would have “expected my government had a duty of care to inform me that my family was being targeted.”

According to Trudeau, he wanted Chong to meet with CSIS to ensure he “got a briefing from our top security officials” about the matter.

The top-secret report shows that an officer from the CCP’s own intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), was looking for information on Chong’s relatives, “who may be located in the PRC, for further potential sanctions.”

According to the report, this action against Chong “is almost certainly meant to make an example of this MP and deter others from taking anti-PRC positions.”

The CSIS report, dated July 20, 2021, shows that the CCP’s own intelligence agency, Ministry of State Security (MSS), “has taken specific actions to target Canadian MPs” who in February 2021 voted for a motion that condemned China’s oppression of Uyghurs and other minorities, calling them an act of genocide.

This motion saw Trudeau and his cabinet abstain from voting, which had the House of Commons voting in a unanimous declaration that the CCP has been committing acts of genocide against the Uighurs in Xinjiang province.

Today on Twitter, Chong wrote, “When the government fails to expel a diplomat who is targeting MPs and their families — particularly when the information becomes public — it signals to authoritarian states that Canada is open for foreign interference.”

Trudeau seemingly tries to deflect blame as the reason Chong was not told he was being spied on

On Monday, Trudeau claimed that he would investigate the matter regarding Chong, which later resulted in the meeting with CSIS officials.

On Wednesday, after calls from Chong and the Conservative Party to come clean about what he knew, Trudeau shifted the blame for Chong being in the dark by saying CSIS is responsible for notifying MPs when they are spied on. He also claimed he did not know about the spying incident.

He then said that CSIS did not send the top-secret report regarding Chong up the chain of command, because the agency felt it “wasn’t a significant enough concern” and did not meet a “threshold that required them to pass it up.”

Trudeau then said he has told CSIS, starting right away, to tell the government when it gets intelligence relating to threats on MPs and their families, as the government still needs to “know about it,” even though the agency might not think it’s relevant.

Chong had met with CSIS in June 2021 as part of a broad outreach to multiple parliamentarians but was not told anything about the CCP spying on him and his family.

According to records from the Department of Global Affairs, Zhao worked at China’s Toronto consulate and was suspected of being an “intelligence actor.”

The potential interference by foreign agents has many Canadians concerned, especially considering Trudeau’s past praise for China’s “basic dictatorship” and his labeling of the dictatorial nation as his favorite country other than his own.

Former Canadian ambassador to China David Mulroney told LifeSiteNews this week that the fact Chong was not notified shows either Canada’s intelligence agency is guilty of not doing its job, or the federal government is “covering” up its own “negligence.”

“Either CSIS is guilty of a major dereliction of duty, or the government actually was aware and is simply covering up its own deeply worrying negligence and lack of concern,” Mulroney said.

CPC leader Pierre Poilievre has demanded to know why Chong was not informed by the Trudeau government, or CSIS regarding the spying incident.

On Tuesday during a debate in the House of Commons, CPC leader Pierre Poilievre ripped into Trudeau, asking him why he did not expel the “diplomat” who was targeting Chong.

“The government knew that an agent from Beijing had organized to threaten the family of a member of Canada’s Parliament because of a vote in the House of Commons. The government knew this,” Poilievre said.

Trudeau ignored Poilievre and did not reply.

Opposition parties, notably the CPC, have been for weeks demanding that Trudeau launch a full independent public inquiry over the China election meddling scandal.

Instead of a full public inquiry, as MPs from all opposition parties had requested, Trudeau appointed an “independent special rapporteur,” former Governor General David Johnston, to look into the allegations.

Of note is that Johnston was a member of the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation but was removed the group’s website after a scandal broke detailing how the non-profit group received a $200,000 donation that was alleged to be connected to the CCP.

Earlier this month, the entire board of directors, including the president and CEO, of the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation resigned after the report surfaced.

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