In explosive testimony before the Hogue Commission today, a lawyer for Conservative MP Michael Chong accused the Trudeau government’s National Security Advisor, Jody Thomas, of crafting a “nonsense” memo that deflected responsibility for the government's failure to warn Chong on serious Chinese interference threats targeting him and his family.

The lawyer cited a 2023 memorandum from Thomas, addressed to Prime Minister Trudeau, highlighting efforts to implement better measures to warn Members of Parliament about national security threats.

Thomas, who retired this year after being appointed by Trudeau in January 2022, is scheduled to testify in the coming weeks.

In his earlier testimony, Chong stated that he was only alerted to a Chinese diplomat’s targeting of him by a newspaper story in 2023. At the time, he issued a statement, saying: “I am profoundly disappointed to find out through a Globe and Mail report that the Trudeau government knew two years ago a PRC diplomat, working out of the consulate in Toronto, was targeting my family in Hong Kong.”

In his testimony for the Hogue Commission, Chong expressed disbelief at the Trudeau government’s claims that numerous senior officials didn’t receive or read urgent alerts from CSIS about the threat against him.

"CSIS did its job in conveying that intelligence and those intelligence products to the most senior parts, the central agencies, the senior departments responsible for security, and nothing happens," Chong said.

Chong’s lawyer suggested on Thursday that senior Trudeau officials had likely shifted blame onto CSIS to cover for their own negligence.

He read from Thomas’s 2023 memo, which stated: “Recommendations are being developed on a more systematic and comprehensive approach to proactively elevate key intelligence reports while protecting the privacy of individuals of interest to threat actors. This includes developing processes and advice to enhance the efficiency and accountability framework related to the dissemination and use of intelligence in support of strategic decision making, including by better tracking readership and more effectively flagging specific reports for the minister.”

However, Caroline Xavier, a senior official from CSE—Canada’s signals intelligence agency—testified that no new measures were necessary within CSE.

Xavier confirmed that CSE was already operating effectively under established protocols to share intelligence with senior officials and ensure decision-makers were informed.

She added, though, that it wasn’t surprising that Thomas was reiterating vigilance in response to the Chong controversy.

"Well, it is a little surprising though, in my suggestion to you, because Ms. Thomas seems to be telling the Prime Minister that the national security community generally let the Prime Minister and the ministers down,” Chong’s lawyer said. “But everything that I see indicates that CSE was knocking on doors all over town."

"I don’t know that I can really confirm Ms. Jody Thomas’s intent here,” Xavier responded. “But what I can agree with is that as an agency we continue to do our job effectively."

Chong’s lawyer continued to press, suggesting to Xavier that Trudeau’s security advisor’s promise of implementing "more frameworks and comprehensive approaches to be proactive" was "a lot of nonsense."

“Do you agree with that?” he asked.

“I don't know what to say with regards to what she might've thought, so I think it's kind of hard for me to confirm that,” Xavier said. “But I mean, I guess it's a fair assessment to say that she was generally familiar with who we are, [and] as an organization, that was part of the same portfolio.”

Xavier and fellow CSE witnesses confirmed to Chong’s lawyer that they believed it was extremely likely that CSE managers did, in fact, receive CSIS’s alerts regarding threats to Chong’s family.

This testimony builds on Michael Chong’s earlier statements, where he accused the Trudeau government of “gross negligence.” Chong expressed disbelief that senior officials, including Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, failed to read five critical intelligence reports sent by CSIS in 2021, which outlined specific PRC interference targeting him and his family. Despite numerous red alerts from CSIS, Chong claimed the government failed to act to safeguard Canadian democracy from foreign interference.

"I think the ultimate responsibility was the Prime Minister’s," Chong said, adding that Trudeau had been warned about the growing PRC threat as early as 2018.

Meanwhile, Allen Sutherland, another senior Trudeau government official, said Ottawa’s Privy Council Office has pledged to improve its briefing of threats to MPs and political parties.

Sutherland acknowledged previous issues, saying “different party actors have been dissatisfied with the level of briefing and the content of the briefing.”

“We're committed to doing a better job, hitting the standard,” Sutherland said. “Now, I'm not saying we've hit the standard; there is an issue around exactly what can be done to make them [briefings] more meaningful for parties.”