OTTAWA – A former chief of staff to a Liberal public safety minister has denied suggestions she worked to stall approval of a spy service warrant in early 2021 because it directly touched the operations of the Trudeau government.
Zita Astravas called the allegation “categorically false” during testimony late Wednesday at a federal inquiry into foreign interference.
The inquiry has heard that it took 54 days for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service warrant application to be approved by Bill Blair, public safety minister at the time.
The average turnaround time for such applications is four to 10 days.
Michelle Tessier, CSIS deputy director of operations during the period, has told the inquiry there was frustration with the delay.
A timeline tabled at the inquiry says Astravas attended a briefing on the warrant application 13 days after CSIS sent it to Public Safety.
Astravas told the commission in a closed-door session during the summer that the questions she asked at the briefing were typical of those she would pose concerning such an application.
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A newly disclosed summary of that testimony says she recalled a separate conversation about the accompanying Vanweenen list — a list of individuals who may be in contact with the target of the warrant and therefore could be affected.
Federal officials have cited national security in refusing to publicly discuss who CSIS hoped to surveil through the warrant.
Gib van Ert, a lawyer for Conservative MP Michael Chong, suggested to Astravas on Wednesday that after she saw “how deeply involved this warrant would bring CSIS with the affairs of your party and your government, you didn’t want it to go ahead, and if it had to go ahead, you wanted to slow walk it.”
Astravas replied that she couldn’t mention specifics of the warrant, “but I can tell you that your assumptions are categorically false.”
Blair, now defence minister, is slated to testify at the commission of inquiry Friday.
He has already told the inquiry behind closed doors he first became aware of the warrant application on the date he recalls signing it.
“He did not know that it had been received by his office before that date,” says a summary of Blair’s evidence. “He was not aware of the date his office received it and no one showed him the earlier dates on the documents.”
The summary says on the date he signed the warrant, he became aware that there had been some discussion and questions raised by his office with the director of CSIS and the deputy minister of public safety. “However, he was not aware of how long it had been with his office.”
Astravas testifed Wednesday that CSIS director David Vigneault would flag matters of priority and “we would work with the director and his team” in order to put an item on the minister’s agenda.
During this period of time, there were a number of contacts involving the CSIS director, the minister and the deputy minister, she said.
“At no point was (the warrant) raised as a matter of urgency.”
The commission of inquiry’s latest hearings are looking at the ability of federal agencies to identify and counter foreign interference. A final report is due by the end of the year.
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