One of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s most trusted cabinet ministers says he’ll meet with Han Dong in the “coming weeks” to discuss the Don Valley North MP’s future with the Liberal caucus.
Speaking to reporters in Moncton Wednesday, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he has “exchanged messages” with Dong in recent weeks and hopes to meet with him in person in soon.
“I’m still going through the process. It’s something the prime minister asked me to do (and) I want to do it properly,” LeBlanc said.
In May, Trudeau asked LeBlanc to assess whether Dong should rejoin the Liberal caucus after the Toronto-area MP, currently sitting as an independent, stepped aside in the wake of Global News’ reporting on China’s foreign interference activities in Canada. At the time, Dong said he was stepping aside so he could clear his name.
Dong’s future with the Liberal Party has been up in the air since March, when Global reported allegations he benefited from covert support from the Chinese consulate in Toronto.
“The Prime Minister asked me to begin a process that would look at all of these issues … And when we have more to say at the right moment, I’d be happy to do so,” LeBlanc said at a press conference.
Asked if he could provide a timeline for his deliberations, LeBlanc responded “no.”
Citing unnamed national security sources, Global News reported in March that Dong allegedly told a Chinese diplomat in February 2021 that releasing the “Two Michaels” would benefit the Opposition Conservatives. At the time, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig had been detained on national security charges for two years in what was widely seen as retaliation for Canada’s detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
Global’s sources suggested that Dong advised Chinese consul general Han Tao that Beijing should show some progress on the Two Michaels’ file, which became one of the dominant foreign affairs issues facing Trudeau’s government.
Global also reported that according to sources Dong was allegedly a target of a probe by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which had been investigating a “subtle but effective” election interference operation being run out of China’s consulate in Toronto.
Dong denied that he was a target of a CSIS probe into election interference saying “I am unaware of the claims provided to you by alleged sources, which contains seriously inaccurate information.”
Dong confirmed that he discussed the Two Michaels’ detention with Han, but denied that he advocated against their release. Dong told Global News that “At every opportunity before they returned home, I adamantly demanded their release to Canada without delay.” The Prime Minister’s Office said they were unaware of those discussions before being approached by Global News.
“The allegations made against me are as false as the ones made against you,” Dong told the House of Commons in March, referring to Kovrig and Spavor.
“Let me assure you, as a parliamentarian and as a person, I have never and would never advocate or support the violation of basic human rights of any Canadian – of anyone, anywhere, period.”
He is now suing Global News over the stories.
After Dong stepped away from the Liberal caucus, Trudeau tasked LeBlanc with reviewing the situation to determine if the former Ontario MPP will rejoin the Liberal fold.
It’s not clear what criteria LeBlanc will use to make that determination.
In his initial report on foreign interference activities in Canada, David Johnston concluded that there were “irregularities” around Dong’s 2019 nomination for the federal Liberals, and a “well-grounded suspicion that the irregularities were tied to the (People’s Republic of China) consulate in Toronto, with whom Mr. Dong maintains relationships.”
However, Johnston said he did not find evidence that Dong was “aware of the irregularities or the PRC Consulate’s potential involvement in his nomination.”
Johnston concluded that the allegation Dong had advocated for the Two Michaels’ continued detention to be “false” – a finding that Dong referred to as “vindication.”
Johnston suggested that the allegations Dong pushed for the Two Michaels’ continued detention were based on a draft memo that was substantially revised and came to “quite a different conclusion of what transpired.”