Introduction Please note that Mr. Robert Fife, Globe and Mail reporter, cherry-picked my statement to him. He failed to publish my full statement which included these three important facts: 1) That a Report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security investigation into Richard Fadden included: “That the Minister of Public Safety require Richard Fadden to resign” (https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/40- 3/SECU/report-8/page-21#intro) 2) That I met with police to provide information about malevolent organizations that they should investigate if I suddenly disappeared or died; 3) That I travelled overseas 10 times from late 2018 to late 2019.
Email from the Globe and Mail – Wednesday, February 8, 2023: Mr. Chan I am seeking your comment on a story that I will be writing. In an Oct 28, 2023 national security briefing to Prime Minister Trudeau on Chinese election interference in the 2019 election, CSIS Director David Vigneault raised concerns about you and Conservative MPP Vincent Ke. The director mentioned you had returned to active politics and cautioned that government MPs should be vigilant in their dealings with you. In 2019 at another national security briefing with the PMO, your name was also flagged with respect to co-chairing Mary Ng’s election campaign. In the end, you did not take up that role as Ms. Ng was uncomfortable with your comments on Hong Kong police crackdown on pro- democracy protests. I am told that CSIS’s concerns involve meetings you had with Wei Zhao from the Chinese consulate and Vice Consul-General Yaodong Zhuang going back to January and April 2019. Do you have any comment on the fact that CSIS continues to raise alleged national security concerns about you? Has CSIS interviewed you so you could have a chance to respond or refute their suspicions? I look forward to your response. Feel free to call me at 613-302-2246 if you prefer to discuss the matter. Regards-Bob
My response – Friday, February 10, 2023: Dear Mr. Fife,
I am writing in the hope that you will resist both the siren call of sensationalism and the temptation to follow the despicable and embarrassing example of your colleagues who have chosen to collude with malicious, unreliable, and unvetted sources to justify their continuous reporting of false and unsubstantiated allegations about me. As noted by Toronto Star columnist Martin Regg Cohn in 2015, “Journalists at the Toronto Star and various other media learned long ago that Chan was one of those provincial politicians being eyeballed by CSIS, but there was nothing to disclose beyond innuendo — innocuous and innocent activities.” I believe any linking of my name to baseless, slanderous insinuations and innuendo without the full disclosure of the facts and sources is a clear violation of journalistic balance and integrity.
The effect of your colleagues’ publications in 2015 and in the years since, and your own statement to me about a recent briefing by CSIS to Prime Minister Trudeau, serves only to ignite xenophia and cause continued, unwarranted, and irreparable damage to my reputation and the safety of my family. The terror and threats we experienced from the attempts at character assassination made it necessary for me to take extreme measures. Those measures included a meeting a few years ago with a senior York Regional Police official to seek help and with whom I shared information about malevolent organizations to aid their investigation if I suddenly disappeared or died. Your colleagues’ attacks were especially egregious and disheartening for someone like myself who has always put the interests of Canada and Canadians first and foremost, and who has a long, true record of exemplary public service.
As you know, in 2010, former Prime Minister Harper-appointed CSIS Director Richard Fadden first publicly blurted out false and unsubstantiated allegations, stating, “There are several municipal politicians in British Columbia and in at least two provinces there are ministers of the Crown who we think are under at least the general influence of a foreign government.” This reckless and unprecedented behaviour elicited widespread condemnation that resulted in a House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security holding two briefing sessions regarding “CANADIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE DIRECTOR RICHARD FADDEN’S REMARKS REGARDING ALLEGED FOREIGN INFLUENCE OF CANADIAN POLITICIANS”. The Committee issued a report that included, “That the Minister of Public Safety require Richard Fadden to resign . . . “, a conclusion by our own government that was a public judgement on the incompetency of the CSIS Director and his organization. CSIS has never interviewed me regarding their false and unsubstantiated allegations. However, I am aware that they have conducted intimidating interviews with my friends and acquaintances and then instructed them to keep their mouths shut. Your statement to me regarding Mary Ng’s campaign is utterly false. From late 2018 to late 2019, I travelled ten times to Southeast Asia to develop an overseas project. This travel included multiple meetings with numerous consular officials of Southeast Asian and Asian countries. In between those trips, I returned to Canada to fulfil my responsibilities as a member of the Board of Governors for Seneca College. Just in case you were not aware, I met a few days ago with the Deputy Consul-General from China in Toronto and Mr. Wei Zhao. Meetings to discuss business and trade between Consular officials and Canadians, politicians or otherwise, are a common practice.
The pandemic was a time of reflection for me and, after observing its widespread destruction to Markham, coupled with support and encouragement from many people, I chose to re-enter politics municipally to continue my public service and record of positive contributions.
