Delay of CSIS Warrant on Ontario Politician a Flashpoint in Final Submissions to Hogue Commission
The federal government says in its final submission to the Foreign Interference Commission that no political interference led to the delay of a surveillance warrant on an Ontario politician, while other participants say there is no other possible explanation.
"The glaring discrepancy between the delay in authorizing the politically-damaging Chan warrant and two other contemporaneous warrants – taking 4 days and 8 days respectively – demonstrates how far from the ordinary course the Chan warrant process was," they wrote.
The subject of the warrant was not discussed in the most recent phase of public hearings, but during the previous phase in the spring, Blair did not dispute that it related to Ontario politician Michael Chan.
The warrant application was delayed between Blair's chief of staff at the time, Zita Astravas, and its landing on Blair's desk in a timely fashion.
Lawyers for the Conservative Party said it is the commission's duty to solve the "mystery," while adding that the answer "should be obvious."
"Upon receipt of the warrant application – including the Vanweenan list – Ms. Astravas realized that a number of high-ranking Liberals were going to be surveilled by CSIS, and realized that the information that would emerge from this surveillance was likely to be highly damaging to the Liberals," they wrote.
The Vanweenan list refers to an annex to a warrant application that contains the names of individuals whose conversations might be intercepted incidentally due to a connection with the subject of investigation. The commission heard that Astravas had requested a meeting with CSIS to discuss the specific matter.
"There is no evidence of political interference or any other misfeasance by anyone involved in the approval of the application by the then Minister of Public Safety," they wrote, saying that the time for approving warrants differs for every application.
Lawyers for the attorney general noted testimony from Astravas about the complicated situation at the time due to COVID-19. Blair was working from Toronto and had to visit the local CSIS office to review warrant applications.
The government noted that the director of CSIS and the deputy minister of public safety had not expressed concerns about the timing of the warrant's approval.
Former CSIS deputy director of operations Michelle Tessier told the inquiry the delay made CSIS operational staff "very frustrated."
A report from within CSIS said that an official involved in the warrant process believed the application was "in danger of not being approved by the Minister" after a meeting was held with Astravas.
For his part, Rob Stewart, who was deputy public safety minister at the time and had approved the warrant in short order, said, "It would have taken CSIS some time to get the Minister and his staff comfortable with this particular warrant."
"This sensitivity is the most likely explanation for the extraordinary delay in authorizing the warrant," they wrote, noting that Astravas had worked for the Wynne government when Chan was a cabinet minister.
The issue of the delayed warrant approval was also raised by lawyers representing NDP MP Jenny Kwan at the inquiry. One of their recommendations to the commission was to make findings of fact to clarify the concern around the issue.
"Was it because Astravas sought to protect the target? Did she seek to protect the names on the Vanweenan list? Were these individuals prominent members of the Liberal Party? Did they include Cabinet ministers?"
