Toronto lawmaker Han Dong has launched legal action over media reports alleging he spoke with Chinese diplomats about delaying the release of two Canadians then detained in China in February 2021. said to be taking
Global News reported earlier this month that Dong told the Chinese Consul General in Toronto that keeping Michael Kovrig and Michael Speiber in jail would be politically damaging to the opposition Conservative Party.
The network has attributed this information to two anonymous national security officials. CTV News has not confirmed this claim.
“I have taken every opportunity to represent and defend Michael Kovrig and Michael Speiber and call for their immediate release,” Don said. The statement he posted on his Twitter account on Monday.
In a statement, the Don Valley North MP said his father was imprisoned and re-educated in China in 1970 during the Cultural Revolution.
“It is inconceivable that I would suggest that an individual falsely accused should spend another minute in prison,” he said.
According to another report in The Globe and Mail, the prime minister’s office examined records of Dong’s phone calls with diplomats and found they contained no “working evidence.”
Dong said he has hired a lawyer to file a lawsuit against Global News and its parent company Corus Entertainment.
Under Ontario’s defamation laws, as a first step in filing a complaint, Dong must notify the press before filing a suit for damages. Dong has not yet filed a complaint in court.
According to Global editor-in-chief Sonia Verma, the network has not received a defamation notice from Dong.
“Global News is governed by a rigorous set of journalistic principles and practices, paying close attention to the public interest and legal responsibility of reporting on this important accountability issue,” she said in an email. rice field.
After the Global Report, Don announced that he would be leaving the Liberal caucuses to sit as an independent MP while he fought to clear his name.
Last week, he voted against the opposition and Liberal parties in a motion calling for a full public inquiry into alleged foreign interference in Canada’s elections. In his statement, he said he did this to show that he “has nothing to hide”.
He said he supported the Prime Minister’s decision to appoint former Governor David Johnston as Special Rapporteur on election interference and offered to meet with him and provide the necessary information.
Shanghai-born Dong says his family left China two months after the 1989 massacre of pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square.
“Despite the abuse and humiliation my family has endured over the last few weeks, I truly believe my parents made the right decision to come to Canada,” he said.
