Beijing is targeting MPs, but not with threats of ‘physical harm’: CSIS – National

The Chinese government is targeting Canadian elected officials but has not yet threatened “physical harm” against MPs or their families, Canada’s domestic spy agency says.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) told Global News that the agency is aware that the Chinese Communist Party is targeting “elected officials from all parties, and all levels of government, across Canada.”

But the spy agency said that those threats have yet to cross the threshold to potential physical harm to MPs or their family members.

“To date, (the People’s Republic of China’s) foreign interference targeting of elected officials or their families has not amounted to any threat of physical harm,” agency spokesperson Evan Balsam said in a response to Global News.

“That said, CSIS is committed to equipping elected officials to identify foreign interference threats and take measures to ensure their personal safety.”

The Liberal government has faced months of questions over how it handled warnings of alleged foreign interference in both the 2019 and 2021 general elections. The scrutiny was prompted after Global News reported that national security officials warned the government of a sophisticated interference network, allegedly connected to the Chinese government, operating in Canada.

But CSIS found itself in the spotlight after the Globe and Mail reported last week that the agency produced a report in 2021 suggesting Canada was a prime target for the Chinese government, and that the agency was aware of threats to MPs and their associates.

Citing an unnamed national security source, the Globe reported one of those MPs was Conservative Michael Chong, who has family members living in Hong Kong. The House of Commons voted unanimously earlier this week to have a committee probe the alleged targeting of Chong’s family by China’s Ministry of State Security.

While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau initially suggested CSIS did not circulate that intelligence to senior officials, the Privy Council Office (PCO) later confirmed that the information was circulated to that department and other national security agencies.

PCO said on Friday that while the information was sent to the office of Trudeau’s national security and intelligence adviser in 2021, that office did not flag the report to either the Prime Minister’s Office or other government departments.

What is not known is the…