Judge finds no documentation to support Global News' reporting on Han Dong allegations

An Ontario Superior Court judge has found no documented evidence to support allegations made against former Liberal MP Han Dong in series of Global News stories last year.

The judge made the comments as he rejected an application from Corus Entertainment to throw out Dong's lawsuit against the news service, saying it is in the public interest to hear the case.

A report early last year that cited unidentified sources suggested Dong privately advised a senior Chinese diplomat to hold off on freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians who were being held in arbitrary detention in China.

Dong left the Liberal caucus in March 2023 to sit as an Independent. He said he was looking to clear his name after those and other allegations related to foreign interference emerged.

The court found the reporter who wrote the story had no documentation to back up the allegations, did not see a transcript of the conversation between Dong and the diplomat and did not keep notes that reflected what the sources said.

Corus says in a statement it is disappointed in the decision, but it is encouraged by the judge's acknowledgement that foreign interference is a matter of public interest.