Top Trudeau Aides Deny Involvement In 54-Day Delay of CSIS Warrant Targeting Liberal Powerbroker Michael Chan
OTTAWA, Canada — Justin Trudeau's top aides, including Chief of Staff Katie Telford, faced intense examination during Hogue Commission hearings regarding their knowledge of a CSIS warrant targeting Liberal Party powerbroker Michael Chan. The questioning also focused on Telford’s close relationship with political staffer Zita Astravas, who was scrutinized for inquiring into a warrant appendix naming collateral wiretap targets — called a “Van Weenen list” — potentially including senior Liberal Party politicians.
The Trudeau government's handling of the warrant, which sat unsigned in Public Safety Minister Bill Blair’s office for at least 54 days, has raised concerns about whether party politics interfered with crucial national security operations ahead of the September 2021 federal election, in which China allegedly favored the Liberal Party, according to leaked intelligence reports.
“China employed a sophisticated strategy to disrupt Canada’s democracy in the 2021 federal election campaign as Chinese diplomats and their proxies backed the re-election of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals — but only to another minority government — and worked to defeat Conservative politicians considered to be unfriendly to Beijing,” The Globe and Mail reported last year.
In his testimony and a public statement last week, Chan denied any involvement in Chinese election interference and accused CSIS of wrongfully investigating him. CSIS investigators suspected that Chan had attempted to influence Trudeau’s office regarding the replacement of a Liberal MP with another candidate in the 2019 election. This was the most consequential argument for the intrusive March 2021 warrant application, according to confidential sources cited in The Bureau’s exclusive reporting.
Setting the stage for Telford’s questioning today, in previous testimony, a Conservative Party lawyer pressed Astravas, saying: “The warrant involved high-ranking members of your party and people you had known for years. Isn't that why you wanted to delay it?”
But Astravas firmly denied the allegation.
Another lawyer asked Blair whether Astravas had informed him of the names on the list, or if Blair recognized anyone on the “list as being parliamentarians?” The lawyer asked Blair: “Were any of your cabinet colleagues included on the Van Weenen list?”
“I’m not going to say anything that would tend to identify any individual on that list because it would be quite improper,” Blair answered.
While Chan has already been identified as the warrant’s target in media reports, Canadian government lawyers have sought to bar that information, citing national security.
On Tuesday, Commission lawyers pressed Trudeau's Chief of Staff, Katie Telford, and senior aide Brian Clow about their knowledge of the warrant and whether political motivations were behind the delay. The hearings explored the long-standing working relationship between Telford and Zita Astravas, which began during their time in the Ontario Legislature, where Michael Chan was a minister and reportedly a key player in the government’s fundraising within Chinese Canadian communities.
Astravas was hired by Telford for Trudeau’s 2015 election campaign team and later took on a senior role in Bill Blair’s office. Despite Astravas’ involvement in the warrant process, Telford maintained she had no knowledge of the warrant targeting Michael Chan when it was sought.
“You hired Ms. Zita Astravas from Queen's Park to work on the 2015 Trudeau election?” a Conservative lawyer probed.
“Yes,” Telford confirmed.
“And you hired Ms. Astravas as the Prime Minister's Director of Issues Management?”
“Yes.”
“Whether or not Minister Blair asked you, did you put forward Ms. Astravas as a recommended candidate for Mr. Blair?” the lawyer pressed, inferring that Telford maintained influence and lines of communication with Astravas.