OTTAWA — Although the federal foreign interference task force said China had likely manipulated the 2019 Liberal nomination race in a Toronto-area riding, Canada’s election watchdog says she found no evidence federal election laws were broken.
The revelation is buried in the
Commissioner of Canada Elections’ latest annual report
published last week.
In the report, Commissioner Caroline Simard says she looked into two instances of alleged foreign interference that were discussed at length during a public inquiry. In both cases she found “either no evidence or not enough evidence” to support a breach of the Canada Elections Act.
The first instance involved allegations of manipulation by the Chinese consulate in Toronto of the controversial 2019 Liberal nomination race in Don Valley North that ultimately coronated Han Dong.
Both Foreign Interference Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue and the task force monitoring for foreign interference in Canadian elections have reported suspicious behaviour by Chinese authorities during the 2019 Toronto-area Liberal nomination race that likely tainted the result.
A report from Hogue last year said some intelligence, which was not “firmly substantiated,” suggested Chinese students were provided with “falsified documents” and then bused in to the Liberal Don Valley North nomination election so they could vote for Dong despite not being residents of the riding.
Those documents were provided by individuals associated with a well-known Chinese proxy agent, the report read. After the vote, intelligence agencies reported that those students were in fact coerced into voting for Dong.
“Some intelligence reported after the election indicated that veiled threats were issued by the PRC Consulate to the Chinese international students, implying their student visas would be in jeopardy and that there could be consequences for their families back in the PRC if they did not support Han Dong,” read the report.
The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force also stated in its report on the 2019 federal election that “PRC officials likely manipulated one of the nomination contests in the Toronto riding of Don Valley North,” but said that some of the allegations remained “unconfirmed.”
Dong has never been found guilty of any wrongdoing in relation to his nomination race.
In a statement, commissioner spokesperson Pierre Verriere said the office conducted “extensive research, interviews, and analysis” of the Don Valley North Liberal nomination race before deciding in February to close the review without imposing any sanctions.
In a
document submitted to the foreign interference inquiry
last year, the commissioner’s office said it was investigating five potential contraventions including voter intimidation, inducing others to vote outside of their electoral district and illegal electoral donations by an ineligible donor.
Verriere said the office looked into multiple potential Elections Act breaches but found that the evidence to support them was either non-existent or insufficient.
“To take formal compliance or enforcement action, the Commissioner must have tangible evidence to substantiate allegations of wrongdoing,” commissioner spokesperson Pierre Verriere said in a statement.
“Following our assessment of the allegations against potential CEA contraventions, we found either no evidence to support formal enforcement action or insufficient evidence, depending on the provision in question,” he added.
But as it was highlighted repeatedly throughout the foreign interference Inquiry last year, the commissioner’s oversight power during party nomination races is limited.
She
told inquiry staff
that her mandate during internal party elections is limited to political financing and that it would be a major resource challenge for her to have to oversee every nomination race for all 343 federal ridings.
She also noted that she does not have the mandate nor the ability to verify intelligence, which was the basis for most of the allegations in Don Valley North.
Dong, who stepped away from Liberal caucus after a string of media stories regarding these allegations in 2023 and did not run in the 2025 election, has always denied any wrongdoing. In June, he settled a two-year defamation lawsuit with Global News.
He said Tuesday that he was not aware that the commissioner’s investigation was closed until National Post contacted him for comment.
“I have always said that I have always followed the election rules. Unfortunately, my family, my team and I have suffered irreversible harm,” Dong said in a text message.
“I remain hopeful that this conclusion of Commissioner Simard’s investigation will bring DVN electors, especially Liberals, full closure and restore public confidence in our democratic process and institutions.”
The other instance Simard reviewed pertained to allegations of Chinese interference against Conservative candidate Kenny Chiu during the 2021 federal election in the B.C. riding of Steveston–Richmond East.
During her testimony before the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference last year, Simard said her office had already concluded there was insufficient evidence to support charges of “undue foreign influence” or any other breaches of the Elections Act.
National Post
cnardi@postmedia.com
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