Liberals trying to save face by quietly discrediting Michael Chong, Conservatives say

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‘The plan of the Liberal Party is to push out this misinformation — this conspiracy theory — to discredit Chong and to exonerate the Prime Minister’

Published May 05, 2023  •  Last updated 7 hours ago  •  4 minute read

Conservative MP Michael Chong Photo by Jim Wells/Postmedia Article content

Attempts by two Liberal MPs to throw cold water on claims the Chinese government intimidated relatives of a member of parliament are part of larger efforts by the party to save face by discrediting the accusations, a Conservative MP said on Friday.

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Grande Prairie-Mackenzie MP Chris Warkentin told the National Post that comments made Thursday by Liberal MPs Kevin Lamoureux and Mark Gerretsen in the House of Commons are part of a larger scheme by the Liberals to sow doubt in the claims of Wellington-Halton Hills MP Michael Chong, who discovered Monday that members of Chinese intelligence service were targeting him and his family as part of Beijing’s ongoing efforts to meddle in Canada’s affairs.

“The plan of the Liberal Party is to push out this misinformation — this conspiracy theory — to discredit Chong and to exonerate the prime minister,” Warkentin said on Friday. 

Warkentin was one of two Conservative MPs called on the carpet during Thursday’s raucous question period for accusing the government of dishonesty over when it became aware of threats against Chong’s family.

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During an opposition motion debate earlier on Thursday, Lamoureux implied Chong had known about the intimidation for years, but chose not to disclose it.

“The question is, has the member actually raised it with any member of their caucus?” Lamoureaux said.

“Has he brought it up in the chamber, has he done anything on the issue?”

During the same debate, Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen likewise attempted to cast doubt on Chong’s claims.

“The statement of fact is this: The prime minister first heard about this incident earlier this week when it was reported in the media, as did everybody else,” he said.

“The member from Wellington-Halton Hills actually had a defensive briefing on this two years ago, so he knew about this when it actually happened.”

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Gerretsen then asked when Chong knew about the alleged harassment, questioning why he didn’t bring the issue to anybody’s attention before the media did.

Publicly casting doubt on Chong’s claims, Warkentin alleges, is the government saving face after a week of criticism from all sides.

“When (Public Safety Minister Marco) Mendicino was asked specifically to condemn the comments of the Liberals members, he refused to do that,” Warkentin explained.

“Then he started to insinuate that briefings were given to members of parliament, therefore insinuating that Chong has received this briefing that would have allowed him to know that his family was under threat.”

He also pointed to comments made Friday morning by the prime minister, suggesting that Chong had “received multiple briefings” to ensure his family was kept safe.

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“It’s also clear that information never made it up to the political level in my office, to me, or the minister of public safety at the time,” Prime MInister Justin Trudeau told reporters from the floor of his party’s annual convention in Ottawa.

Mendicino, who served as the government’s whipping boy on the issue, spent yet another question period ducking questions from all parties on what the Liberals knew about the allegations, and when.

“I want to assure my colleague opposite that we take the concerns that he has expressed and had been expressed in public in regards to foreign interference, and the targeting of himself and his family, extremely seriously,” Mendicino said.

That response garnered heckling from the opposition benches.

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As Speaker Anthony Rota attempted to restore order, an interjection from Warkentin caused an even bigger uproar.

“He’s lying!” he shouted over the din.

“The honourable member — well, I’m not going to say ‘honourable’ member — did he want to withdraw that, please?” Rota responded, to which Warkentin refused.

“You do not respect the chair, the chair will not recognize you while you are in this house,” a clearly irked Rota said.

Poilievre slams Trudeau as Mendicino continues to dodge questions on foreign interference

Privy Council Office was aware of threats to MP and family, Chong says, despite Trudeau’s claim

Chong, who had previously dismissed Lamoureux and Gerretsen’s assertions, told the house it was impossible the PMO had no idea about the threats made against his family.

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“I’ve just been informed by the national security advisor that the CSIS intelligence assessment of July 20, 2021, was sent by CSIS to the relevant departments and to the national security advisor in the PCO (privy council office,)” Chong said, explaining the report concerned himself and other MPs being targeted by the Chinese government.

“This contradicts what the prime minister said yesterday — he said that 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.”

In response, Mendicino maintained that both he and the prime minister only found out about the allegations in the media on Monday.

That began a stream of pointed questions from both Conservative and Bloc Québécois members, questioning the version of events proffered by the public safety minister and the prime minister.

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Tempers flared again during a question from Chilliwack-Hope MP Mark Strahl, who called out the Liberals’ attempts to discredit Chong and directly accused the government of being intentionally untruthful.

“Liberals are now targeting the MP, who himself has been targeted by Beijing,” Strahl said.

“When will the prime minister get up and apologize for these Liberals MPs spreading these outright lies?”

After a 30-second standing ovation from the Conservative benches, Rota asked Strahl to withdraw his statement.

“Mr. Speaker, I stand by what I said,” Strahl responded.

Warkentin described the entire situation as ‘unbelievable.’

“It’s an intentional tactic by the Liberals to try and discredit Michael, but this is what they do,” he told the National Post.

“We saw this with Jody Wilson-Raybould, anytime that anyone has stood up to this prime minister — they attempt to discredit the victim, and victim blame.”

• Email: bpassifiume@postmedia.com | Twitter: @bryanpassifiume

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