CSIS director to testify about transparency at foreign interference inquiry

A commission of inquiry into foreign interference will hear from national security officials today as it looks for ways to be transparent about a highly sensitive subject.

David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, is slated to appear on the commission’s fourth day of public hearings.

Also scheduled to take part is Alia Tayyeb, deputy chief of signals intelligence at the Communications Security Establishment, Canada’s cyberspy agency.

In addition, the commission will hear from Dan Rogers, the deputy national security and intelligence adviser.

The discussions on national security and confidentiality of information will help set the stage for the commission’s next public hearings, likely to take place at the end of March.

The March hearings are intended to delve into allegations of foreign interference by China, India, Russia and others in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, with a report on those matters due May 3.

A voice for Uyghurs in Canada announced Wednesday it would withdraw from the inquiry. The group Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project cited risks to the community posed by certain participants in the proceedings — politicians it alleges have close ties to Beijing.

The group, which was part of a human rights coalition taking part in the inquiry, had previously expressed disappointment at commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue’s decision to grant full standing to MP Han Dong and Michael Chan, deputy mayor of Markham, Ont.

Full participation rights allow Dong and Chan access to certain non-public documents and to question witnesses — privileges the Uyghur advocacy group says could end up “potentially jeopardizing our community.”

The group has also objected to Sen. Yuen Pau Woo having intervener status. Woo has faced accusations of being overly sympathetic to the Chinese government, allegations the senator has openly pushed back against.

In granting Dong standing, Hogue noted he “has been accused of willingly participating in Chinese interference efforts” in the last two general elections, and therefore has “an obvious reputational interest” in the commission’s work.

Hogue cited media reporting that Chan may have engaged in improper activities in connection with one or both of the last two general elections — allegations that “have had a significant adverse impact on him.” She said Chan therefore has a direct and substantial interest in the commission’s work as well.

Dong and Chan have denied accusations of being in league with Beijing.

In a statement late Wednesday announcing its withdrawal, the Uyghur advocacy group said the commission’s “protection of questionable national actors and its simultaneous failure to safeguard victims of transnational repression reveals systemic dysfunctionality in its process.”

The inquiry has said that people fearful of testifying publicly may be permitted to do so in private, while those submitting documents can redact irrelevant personal information before the records are disclosed to others.