Jody Thomas, national security advisor, yesterday said she was on holiday and never read a secret July 20, 2021 pre-election memo warning that Chinese agents had targeted a Conservative MP. Thomas testified at the House affairs committee the “integrity of my statements here” should not be questioned.

“I was the only one in the department who could read it but it wasn’t necessary for me to function as the Deputy Minister of Defence,” said Thomas. “There is a difference there.”

Thomas at the time was one of three deputy ministers who received the Canadian Security Intelligence Service memo warning Conservative MP Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton Hills, Ont.) was targeted by Chinese agents. Subsequent disclosure of the memo prompted the May 8 expulsion from Canada of Zhao Wei, a spy working at the Chinese consulate in Toronto.