Why the China scandal may be Justin Trudeau's most damaging yet

When Michael Chong put his name to a motion in the Canadian parliament declaring China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority to be genocide, he gave little thought to his family.

But not long after the motion passed in 2021 Chinese intelligence agents were on the hunt for his Hong Kong relatives to send Mr Chong a blunt message.

The intimidation tactic was designed to "make an example" of Mr Chong, a strong critic of China's human rights record, and to "deter others from taking anti-PRC [People's Republic of China] positions", according to intelligence leaked last week.

Canada late on Monday night expelled the Toronto-based diplomat accused of being involved in the cross-border harassment campaign.

But the question lingering over Justin Trudeau's government is 'what took so long?'

Mr Chong, Conservative shadow foreign minister, told The Telegraph: "What's deeply disturbing, and shocking, is that the Canadian government knew a [Chinese] diplomat in Toronto was involved, and they did nothing about it. They didn't tell me about it."

Critics of Mr Trudeau said the latest scandal could prove his most damaging yet because it pointed to a lack of command of security threats facing Canada, and weakness in the face of meddling by China.

'Not a significant enough concern'

Canada's Liberal Prime Minister has denied knowledge of the harassment campaign, which was detailed in a top-secret 2021 report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

Two days after the information became public last week Mr Trudeau said he had been in the dark, that he found out about the Chinese plot from the newspaper, and blamed Canadian spies for not telling him.

He said: "We asked what happened to that information, was it ever briefed up out of CSIS? It was not.

"CSIS made the determination that it wasn't something that needed to be raised to a higher level because it wasn't a significant enough concern."

However, in a subsequent committee hearing, Jody Thomas, Mr Trudeau's national security adviser, told a very different story.

The information had been sent by CSIS to her department in the Privy Council Office.

That left the Canadian public asking what Mr Trudeau knew, and when did he know it.

On Thursday, Mr Chong told the House of Commons that Ms Thomas's version "contradicts what the Prime Minister said yesterday".

In a heated debate several other Conservative MPs accused the Liberals of "lying".

Then, at a press conference on Friday, Mr Trudeau again blamed his own intelligence service.

He said: "I shared the best information I had at the time both to Chong and to Canadians. It's also clear that information never made it up to the political level in my office, to me.

"We’re making it very, very clear to CSIS and our intelligence officials that when there are concerns that talk specifically about any MP, or about their family, those need to be elevated."

'Astounding lack of competency'

Mr Chong told The Telegraph: "The Prime Minister is solely responsible for the machinery of government. That he chose to set up the machinery of government in a way that didn't inform him of a serious threat is astonishing. At minimum, it's an astounding lack of competency.

"He also has primary responsibility for national security. There's a pattern here of a government not treating national security and defence seriously.

"My case is one of many across the country. Canada has not expelled a single Chinese diplomat. We got to this point because the government hasn't taken prior action."

He added: "Despite all the intelligence and all the reports of meddling in Canada's affairs they turned a blind eye. And because they have turned a blind eye the PRC have acted with abandon."

Survival of recent scandals

Mr Trudeau has already survived a series of high-profile ethics scandals relating to governmental decisions, and others involving his holiday on the Aga Khan's private island, a $6,000 hotel room in London, and 'elbowgate', in which he allegedly elbowed a female MP.

A recent poll gave him an approval rating of 37 per cent, his lowest since 2021, with 57 per cent of Canadians disapproving of his performance.

According to the CSIS report Mr Chong was targeted after he led an effort in Parliament to condemn China’s treatment of Uyghurs as genocide.

The report also detailed how Chinese operatives tried to influence a number of parliamentary election races in 2019 and 2021.

Expelling diplomats is 'against Canada's interests'

Melanie Joly, the Foreign Affairs Minister, said China's ambassador had been summoned this week.

However, she indicated that expelling diplomats would lead to China taking action against Canada's “economic interest, consumer interest and also diplomatic interests."

She said: "I know that we are under pressure to go fast [but] we need to make sure, as well, that we protect our democracy."

Mr Chong said he was stunned by that response, and the Chinese diplomat who sought information on his relatives should be "sent packing".

He said the Canadian government was "basically putting up a giant billboard for all the authoritarian states around the world that says we are open for foreign interference...with zero consequences".

Dennis Molinaro, a former Canadian government national security analyst, said Canada should "follow the American model in terms of more aggressively pursuing action against China when China is engaged in these actions".

He said: “I think the Canadian public is aware of that now and recognises that and supports a lot tougher action."

China has rejected accusations of meddling in Canada as “totally groundless" and its ambassador Cong Peiwu "strongly protested" when he was summoned.

However, it was the latest in a litany of alleged cases of Chinese interference in Canada. Kenny Chiu, a Conservative politician who represented an area of Richmond, British Columbia as an MP, said he was the victim of a Chinese misinformation campaign in the 2021 election.

Mr Chiu, a leading critic of Beijing's crackdown on protests in Hong Kong, had proposed the introduction of a Foreign Influence Registry Act.

He said election meddling was a "contributing factor" in him losing his seat.

Around half of his constituents were Chinese and some relied on social media channels, in particular WeChat, to get their news, which created a "fertile ground for the spread of this misinformation".

Mr Chiu told The Telegraph: "Throughout this whole thing he [Mr Trudeau] has been denying and delaying.

"And then lately, he's hidden behind anti-Asian racism. This guy who doesn't know how many times he's dressed up [in brownface], he's accusing us of racism."

He added: "That's exactly the same song sheet and narrative that the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] has been using internationally - in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

"This Prime Minister is a disgrace as far as I'm concerned, and Canadians need to take a look at what is being done to safeguard Canada. He's done nothing to safeguard Canada."

Mr Chiu said Canada was facing a "very pressing danger" not just from the CCP, but from Russian and Iranian interference.

He said: "If we don't do something to the most brazen ones, we are unfortunately sending a message that we are weak, and come and exploit and do dirty business here.

"That's not a message we want to send to these regimes or our allies. Our stature has already taken a hit."