Live updates: Katie Telford testifying now on foreign interference

Happening now: Katie Telford testifies on foreign interference 1:12 p.m. Telford: Unsanctioned release of intelligence information ‘can put lives at risk’

MPs from each party are getting a chance to question Ms. Telford in brief increments of only a few minutes. Ontario Liberal MP Jennifer O’Connell asked if there are concerns that the leaks of top secret intelligence puts Canada at risk because Canada is a “net importer” of intelligence – meaning allies share more with Canada than it shares with them.

Ms. Telford said unsanctioned releases of intelligence information “can put lives at risk.”

“It is in Canada’s national interest to keep information protected,” she said.

In subsequent questioning from Bloc Québécois MP Christine Normandin, Ms. Telford further disputed reporting from Global News that the Prime Minister or his office were briefed on Beijing’s foreign interference in January, 2022.

Ms. Normandin asked Ms. Telford if she was present at the meeting reported by Global. Ms. Telford replied: “There wasn’t such a meeting to be present at.”

– Marieke Walsh

1:07 p.m. Conservative MP asks about January, 2022 report

Conservative MP Michael Cooper asked about a January, 2022, report and whether Mr. Trudeau read it.

Ms. Telford said she could not speak as to whether he had been briefed on any particular document or subject. But she said Mr. Trudeau reads every document.

Mr. Cooper asked her when Mr. Trudeau was first briefed on Beijing’s interference in the 2019 election.

Ms. Telford noted the PROC committee has received a list of foreign interference briefings.

Mr. Cooper interrupted, saying he is not just asking about formal briefings.

“Canadians deserve to know when he first learned about it.”

Ms. Telford said this has been an ongoing conversation.

Mr. Cooper persisted. He asks about the PCO intelligence assessment secretariat’s report of Feb. 21, 2020, a document already shared with the committee.

It speaks of “subtle but effective” interference networks by Beijing in the 2019 election.

He asked when Mr. Trudeau received the document.

Ms. Telford said she could not tell him when the Prime Minister received that document.

“Your inability or refusal to answer whether the Prime Minister had in fact read this document … is troubling,” Mr. Cooper said. “It invites suspicion.”

Ms. Telford said if Mr. Trudeau receives documents, he reads them.

She said he is briefed on a regular and ongoing basis.

– Steven Chase

12:54 p.m. NDP MP asks Telford if public inquiry is needed

NDP MP Rachel Blaney prefaced her question to Ms. Telford by saying she feels Canadians “are losing faith in our systems.”

Ms. Blaney said foreign interference is eroding Canadians’ trust in our elections.

She asked Ms. Telford whether she feels a public inquiry is needed, noting, “even your former colleague Gerald Butts has called for a public inquiry.”

Ms. Telford said the matter has to be “taken out of the partisan arena.”

Ms. Blaney said it seems Ms. Telford is not interested in really answering the question and asked if she had ever advised Mr. Trudeau against launching a public inquiry.

Ms. Telford talked about how the public inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act worked well.

She said the government decided “we actually needed someone” to figure out what was needed – what could other bodies such as NSICOP not cover off.

She noted that former governor-general David Johnston will make that decision and file a first report next month.

Ms. Blaney asked whether she was informed last year about the Chinese government funding at least 11 candidates in the 2019 federal election.

Ms. Telford said she will repeat what national security adviser Jody Thomas said. “The connection that was being made between these candidates and the funds was inaccurate.”

Ms. Blaney asked Ms. Telford again: “Every time we turn around it feels like there is another article, another thing coming out and this slippery slope of information … is leading people to distrust.”

She asked the chief of staff to speak more clearly on the matter.

Ms. Telford said she was not sure what to say because she doesn’t want to confuse matters.

– Steven Chase

12:47 p.m. Opposition MPs question Telford on government response to foreign interference attempts

Opposition MPs have repeatedly focused their questions on the government’s response to foreign interference attempts in the last two federal elections around what the Prime Minister knew, when he knew it and how he responded to it.

Throughout her first 40 minutes of testimony, Ms. Telford has been very careful not to disclose any information about what was said in her intelligence briefings.

But she did tell MPs that on the issue of foreign interference “there is nothing that is ever kept from the Prime Minister.”

“Any time the Prime Minister can take action, he takes it.”

– Marieke Walsh

12:30 p.m. Conservative MP questions Telford on Trudeau’s foreign interference briefing

The first questions for Ms. Telford came from Ontario Conservative MP Larry Brock, who began by asking when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was briefed on foreign interference. A document presented by the Privy Council Office just before the committee began detailed when the Prime Minister was given formal briefings on foreign interference in the past few years.

However, the document does not detail when he received informal briefings, and Ms. Telford was unable to specify when those occurred. She also cautioned MPs that in a public setting she cannot provide information on what she herself has or has not been briefed on.

– Marieke Walsh

12:10 p.m. Katie Telford makes opening remarks

Katie Telford starts with opening remarks right away, playing down the value of intelligence, saying it is rarely actionable on its own.

“Intelligence rarely paints a full concrete or actionable picture.”

Instead, she stresses the need for decision-makers to analyze intelligence as a piece of a puzzle.

Ms. Telford reiterates familiar talking points about how the Liberals set up a panel of public servants to monitor the 2019 and 2021 elections and that these monitors determined the elections were held freely and fairly.

Foreign interference is an evolving threat, she said.

She cautioned that she may not be the most important witness for the committee.

“I am a consumer of intelligence, not the one who briefs on intelligence,” she said.

Ms. Telford in her opening remarks she is usually with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he receives national security briefings.

She said over the years she has seen a huge range of intelligence from all parts of the world. “Some of it has been wrong, proven wrong, some of it right. Some we may never know or only with time will we learn if it’s true even intelligence.”

The PMO’s chief of staff said she would always fight for democracy and the right of Canadians to conduct elections fairly and freely.

She said she will do her best to answer MPs’ questions but cautioned that she is constrained by security concerns.

– Steven Chase

10:00 a.m. Katie Telford to testify at committee: How we got here

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s top adviser, Katie Telford, will appear today before the Commons procedure and House affairs committee, to testify on foreign election interference.

Ms. Telford has been the Prime Minister’s chief of staff since the Liberals won power in 2015. During her testimony, which is scheduled to begin at noon, she is expected to be asked to explain what she and Mr. Trudeau knew about Chinese interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections and what they did to stop it.

Ms. Telford attends most national-security briefings and would know how the Prime Minister responded to warnings from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service about Chinese state meddling in Canadian politics.

Despite the convention of ministerial accountability – which holds that ministers, rather than their staff, are supposed to answer for their departments – this will be the third time that Ms. Telford has testified before a committee. She first testified during the WE Charity scandal. The second time she appeared at a committee was to answer questions about the government’s mishandling of sexual harassment allegations in the military.

All of her committee appearances have occurred during the past three years, a period during which opposition parties have had more control over committee work because of the minority Parliament.

The Liberals tried to thwart the latest push for her to testify by filibustering, but ultimately acquiesced to an NDP motion rather than risking a more sweeping parliamentary study proposed by the Conservatives.

Opposition parties have strongly criticized the Prime Minister’s response to a series of reports in The Globe and Mail, based on secret and top-secret CSIS documents, that detailed meddling by the Chinese government and its proxies in Canadian elections. In response to opposition calls to strike a public inquiry, Mr. Trudeau instead appointed former governor-general David Johnston to advise him on whether he should launch one.

Mr. Trudeau has also asked two closed-door panels, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA), to study China’s interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections. Mr. Johnston will review the results of their work. He will have until May 23 to make a recommendation on whether to call a public inquiry.

– Steven Chase and Marieke Walsh