Commissioner rejects Conservatives’ appeal for full standing at foreign interference inquiry

Open this photo in gallery:

Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, who heads Canada’s public inquiry into foreign interference by China and other states, on Friday rejected an appeal by the Conservative Party for full standing during the fact-finding phase of the probe.

Earlier this month, the Conservative Party was granted intervenor standing during the first phase looking into foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections. This means it can present evidence and suggest witnesses but will not have the power to cross-examine witnesses or gain access to evidence presented outside of the hearings.

Commissioner Hogue has, however, already granted full standing, or what is called party standing, to Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong, whom The Globe and Mail revealed in May was targeted by China along with his Hong Kong relatives over criticism of Beijing.

The inquiry commission announced Friday that hearings will begin Jan. 29.

The commission said it has asked permission of the government to delay its first report by about two months to allow sufficient time for a public process and hearings on the issues. The new due date would be May 3.

Also, on Friday, Commissioner Hogue rejected an appeal from some members of a self-described Human Rights Coalition representing diaspora ethnic communities. The group challenged her decision to grant full standing in the first phase of the inquiry to independent MP Han Dong and Michael Chan, deputy mayor of Markham, Ont., as well as intervenor status granted to Senator Yuen Pau Woo.

“In its application, the Human Rights Coalition claims that Mr. Chan, Mr. Dong, and Senator Woo have possible links to and support for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” Commissioner Hogue wrote Friday.

“They argue that the participation of these three individuals in hearings and their access to sensitive information shared by witnesses or victims will deter witnesses from speaking freely about their firsthand experience and information regarding foreign interference and transnational repression by the CCP,” she wrote.

She rejected the appeal, saying the commission “cannot make findings of fact or jump to conclusions before hearing the evidence.”

Commissioner Hogue erroneously identified Mr. Chan as a member of Parliament in her Friday decision. Her office said it was a typo and would be corrected.

Mr. Chan, a former Ontario cabinet 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. Mr. Chan has said he is a loyal Canadian.

In February, he said CSIS had never talked to him. “CSIS has never interviewed me regarding their false and unsubstantiated allegations,” he said. “However, I am aware that they have conducted intimidating interviews with my friends and acquaintances and then instructed them to keep their mouths shut.”

Mr. Dong left the Liberal caucus in March, saying he wanted to clear his name after Global News reported, citing unnamed national-security sources, that he allegedly told a Chinese diplomat in February, 2021, that releasing imprisoned Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor from detention in China would benefit the Conservatives.

Former governor-general David Johnston, named by the government as special rapporteur on foreign interference, issued a report in May in which he called this allegation false. Mr. Dong has strongly denied the allegation and is suing Global News.

Commissioner Hogue wrote Friday 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.”

Sebastian Skamski, director of media relations for the Opposition Leader’s Office, called the decision on the Conservatives deeply concerning.

“Political parties are directly affected by foreign interference in our democracy and are central to the issues at hand. Conservative candidates and MPs have been specifically targeted by Beijing’s efforts to influence our elections and reports from the media have suggested that it was the explicit strategy of the CCP to target the Conservative Party and benefit Liberals,” he said.

“Most bewilderingly, while the Conservative Party has been denied full standing, the Liberal Party – via the Government of Canada – do have full standing.

“The Trudeau government is not a neutral, non-partisan entity and will naturally represent the interests of the Liberal Party of which it is comprised of. This decision expressly benefits one party – the governing Liberals – and further puts into question the credibility of this public inquiry.”

Commissioner Hogue said she believes there is “a distinction between the government of the day and the political party that controls the House of Commons,” she wrote in her Friday decision. She said that the terms of reference setting out the commission’s mandate “concern the conduct of the Government of Canada rather than that of the Liberal Party.”

She said political parties have other vehicles for addressing foreign interference, such as Commons committees.

Some Canadian activists who frequently criticize the Chinese government have said they do not feel comfortable testifying at an inquiry where Mr. Dong and Mr. Chan, accused of close ties to China, have been granted the ability to cross-examine witnesses.

Mr. Woo, the senator, has been accused by Conservative senators of being an apologist for Beijing after he opposed a motion that was critical of China constructing artificial islands and military airfields in the South China Sea.

Both the Conservatives and NDP are granted full standing in the second part, or “policy phase,” of the inquiry, when the probe looks for reforms to counter foreign interference.