Foreign interference inquiry probes CSIS warrant application that lingered on minister's desk

A Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) warrant application that lingered in then-Public Safety minister Bill Blair's office for 54 days included a list of people whose communications were at risk of being intercepted if they communicated with the target of the warrant, the foreign interference inquiry was told Tuesday.

Testifying before the inquiry, Rob Stewart, former deputy minister of Public Safety, was asked repeatedly about the process that led to the long delay in Blair approving the warrant.

«Mr. Stewart testified that there were questions and it would have taken CSIS some time to get the minister and his staff comfortable with this particular warrant,» Stewart told commission counsel, according to his witness statement.

«Mr. Stewart surmised that questions would probably have been asked about certain processes related to the execution of the warrant.»

Gib van Ert, lawyer for Conservative MP Michael Chong, asked Stewart whether it would have taken «some time» because of the names on CSIS's warrant list of individuals whose communications could be intercepted. Stewart replied that it was a general source of concern for ministers' offices and he could not discuss the specifics of the warrant.

While the target of the warrant has not been named, previous news reports have identified former Ontario MPP Michael Chan. If so, the list of people CSIS thought might communicate with Chan could include individuals active in federal or provincial politics.

Testifying before the inquiry in early April, Chan said news reports stating that he had met clandestinely with a Chinese diplomatic official, or had tried to engineer the ouster of former Liberal MP Geng Tan, were inaccurate.

While officials, citing national security,