Former public safety minister Bill Blair approved a spy service warrant to surveil an Ontario Liberal powerbroker without considering partisan politics, despite a 54-day gap in the approval process in 2021. The delay led to frustration among CSIS agents, who felt that Blair’s office was taking too long to investigate Michael Chan, a former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister. While the reason for the delay is still unclear, Blair testified that politics did not play a role in the approval process. The warrant was eventually approved just months before the 2021 federal election, and a Federal Court judge later approved CSIS’s request to investigate Chan.
Media reports surfaced in 2015 identifying Michael Chan as a potential collaborator with the Chinese government, dating back to when Zita Astravas, Blair’s former chief of staff, worked in Premier Kathleen Wynne’s office. Chan, who is now the deputy mayor of Markham, is currently suing CSIS and two reporters over leaks and news articles related to the investigation. The delay in approving this particular warrant has become a central focus of Justice Marie-Josée Hogue’s public inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian democracy, similar to the irregularities surrounding the 2019 Liberal nomination in Don Valley North. The questions raised by the Chan warrant relate to how the federal government responds to allegations of foreign interference.
The warrant approval process was influenced by the global pandemic, with access to CSIS intelligence significantly restricted while officials were working from home. Although CSIS operatives expressed frustration with the delay, former CSIS director David Vigneault did not express concerns about the timeline of the warrant approval. Blair testified that he dealt with the matter promptly once it was brought to his attention, and his office did not suggest any concerns regarding delays. The second phase of testimony at the Hogue commission is set to conclude, with senior officials from the Prime Minister’s Office scheduled to testify. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will also take the stand, after which Hogue and her team will draft their final report with recommendations to safeguard Canadian democracy from foreign meddling.
Blair maintained that he did not consider anything other than his statutory responsibility when reviewing and approving the warrant application, disregarding any political considerations. Despite the frustration among CSIS agents, Blair, now the defence minister, insisted that he addressed the matter promptly once it was brought to his attention. The delay in approving the warrant was a central narrative in the Hogue commission’s inquiry, focusing on how the federal government responds to allegations of foreign interference in Canadian democracy. Media reports in 2015 first identified Michael Chan as a potential collaborator with the Chinese government, leading to a lawsuit against CSIS and two reporters over leaks and news articles related to the investigation.
The second phase of testimony at the Hogue commission delved into the circumstances surrounding the delay in approving the warrant to surveil Michael Chan, a former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister. The delay raised concerns about how the federal government responds to allegations of foreign interference, similar to previous incidents related to the People’s Republic of China. Despite the frustrations expressed by CSIS officials, former director David Vigneault did not raise concerns about the timeline of the warrant approval process. Blair testified that he dealt with the matter promptly and that concerns about delays were never expressed by CSIS or his office. The final phase of the inquiry will include testimony from senior officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, including Chief of Staff Katie Telford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, before the drafting of the final report with recommendations to safeguard Canadian democracy from foreign meddling.
