Markham deputy mayor Michael Chan sues CSIS, 2 leakers, 2 reporters

Former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister seeks $10M in damages, says leaked classified information harms his reputation

Yorkregion.com
May 31, 2023
Yoyo Yan

Markham deputy mayor Michael Chan is suing the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and two of the spy agency’s unidentified employees who he says “unlawfully disclosed classified information” to cause harm to Canadian politicians of Chinese ancestry such as himself.

In a statement of claim filed May 25 to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Chan alleges that anonymous employees' actions from November 2022 through to May 2023 were influenced by “a stereotypical type-casting of immigrants born in China as being somehow untrustworthy.”

Chan, a former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister, is also suing the Crown, the attorney general of Canada, CSIS director David Vigneault and two journalists who used leaked classified information in writing their stories.

The reporters being sued are Global News online investigative journalist Sam Cooper and The Globe and Mail’s Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife.

Chan is seeking a total of $10 million in damages, as he believes the media reports falsely implicated him with foreign interference allegations, causing real and permanent damage to his family.

CSIS is not immediately available for comment on the lawsuit, but in a previous email to YorkRegion.com, CSIS did not provide details regarding Chan’s specific case, stating the need to protect sensitive activities. It did confirm, however, that it had identified foreign interference in Canada and the "targeting" of Canadians by the People’s Republic of China.

The claims have not been proven in court and no statements of defence have yet been filed.