Canada: Not Yet a Vassal of China

"We are very concerned with the leaks, particularly because there are so many inaccuracies in those leaks."

"The allegations in the Globe story are false."

"It's certainly a sign that security within CSIS needs to be reviewed. And I'm expecting CSIS to take the issue very seriously."

"In a free democracy, it is not up to unelected security offiials to dictate to political parties who can or cannot run [in general elections to Parliament]."

"One of the things we've seen, unfortunately, over the past years is a rise in anti-Asian racism linked to the pandemic and concerns being raised or arisen around people's loyalties."

"I do not have any information, nor have I been briefed on any federal candidates receiving any money from China."

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

"I would put the threat level at about eight out of ten. That's mainly because the Chinese authorities are absolutely determined to achieve their goals, no matter what people think."

"I'm particularly concerned about their willingness to use almost any method to succeed."

Richard Fadden, former director of CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he does not believe the interference efforts influenced the outcomes of the last two federal elections, in which he was re-elected   Pool

 

The use of the imperial 'we' fairly well sums up Mr. Trudeau's sense of entitlement. To lie as  he sees fit. And he sees fit to lie any time he is challenged with doubts to his credibility. Because incriminating documents showing that he was repeatedly warned by Canadian intelligence of the divided loyalty of some Liberal candidates running for office, his major concern is that someone in CSIS leaked that information and should be found and prosecuted. Despite the warnings, Mr. Trudeau ignored them. And then denied ever having been given the evidence of Chinese involvement in Canadian elections.

That threat level is now recognized as being conservative; what was seen as alarming in Beijing's interference in Canada, and China's ambitions of coercive controls within the country several years ago when that statement by Mr. Fadden was aired at a special committee on Canada-China relations in the House of Commons, has since undergone significant changes, all of them alarmingly revolving around Beijing's interfering in Canada's politics. 

In the past several weeks, stories have broken in the Canadian media revealing just how blatantly intrusive Beijing's interference has become. The last two general elections gave China the opportunity to intrude on purely Canadian affairs by slipping funding to favoured Liberal candidates from within the Chinese-Canadian community supportive of Beijing, while Liberal candidates for office from among Chinese-Canadians critical of Beijing suffered from malign and systematic slander causing them to lose their seats in Parliament.

Various CSIS briefing notes and secret Privy Council memoranda have been covertly released to selected members of the press revealing that the claims made by Justin Trudeau of never having been alerted of Chinese election interference are inventions. Publication of evidence revealed that Chinese diplomatic missions in Canada have surreptitiously urged Chinese students studying in Canada to volunteer as aides to select Chinese candidates and to support them financially, which Beijing would later refund to the students.

Wealthy Chinese-Canadian businessmen loyal to Beijing have similarly made donations totalling $1 million to the Pierre Elliot Trudeau memorial charitable foundation, in a clear move for influence. The foundation's rules are never to accept offshore funding, so they were white-washed through Canadian funders who later recouped their financial outlay via Beijing. Only when the matter was made public, did the foundation state its intention to return the funding.

Justin Trudeau, as an elected Parliamentarian, made himself accessible at Liberal fundraisers mounted by Chinese businessmen when tickets to attend were several thousand dollars. Attending the fundraisers to benefit the Liberal Party, Justin Trudeau certainly compromised the integrity of a future prime minister in hugely questionable judgement calls.

 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government has taken 'significant actions' since 2015 to respond to the threat of foreign interference in elections.   CBC

 

Prime Minister Trudeau responds to questions from the news media and from taxpayers by denying all reports of questionable conduct on his part relating to Chinese influence in Canada. Only when the public became aware through news reports that China was operating 'police stations' whose purpose was to persuade Chinese-Canadians who oppose Beijing to return to China to stand trial, was the RCMP dispatched to close down the Chinese police presence in Canada.

Amendments to China's National Intelligence Law in 2017 stipulate irrespective of citizenship, expatriate Chinese are legally bound to cooperate with Chinese military intelligence, state security agencies, and the United Front Work Department. The 2020 National Security Law stipulates Chinese-Canadians supportive of Hong Kong democracy are criminals who should be returned for prosecution to China. Chinese Communist Party interference and harassment of Chinese-Canadians is an insult to Canadian sovereignty and citizenship.

The United Front Work Department keeps tabs on Chinese-Canadians, creates influence through Chinese-language local newspapers distributed to the Chinese-Canadian community and is influential in persuading voters whom to vote for and whom to sideline. The result has been that a number of Chinese-Canadian citizens have been elected who clearly prosecute Beijing's influence in Canada, while Chinese-Canadian Parliamentarians critical of China and loyal only to Canada, are targeted by Beijing.

 

Mr. Trudeau classifies any who question the legality of Chinese machinations in Canadian affairs as 'bigoted views', 'racist' in intent and harmful to Canada-China relations. The Prime Minister has always been enthralled with China, and the Liberal Party in particular has always striven for closer trade and investment ties with China. Only when the Conservative government of Stephen Harper was in power was there hesitation to allow Chinese investment and buy-outs of sensitive Canadian mineral resources put on hold.

 

The public is now sitting up to take notice of the troubling and dangerous interference in Canadian affairs, particularly that of election interference. Opposition parties in Parliament have called for an independent investigation. Something that the Prime Minister evades. The Parliamentary House Affairs Committee voted in favour of an open-ended public inquiry into "allegations of foreign interference in Canada's democratic system, including but not limited to allegations of interference in general elections by foreign governments".

The latest allegations to strain an already challenged diplomatic relationship between Ottawa and Beijing have a majority of Canadians of the belief the Chinese government did indeed attempt to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, while demanding a stronger response from the federal government on the issue.

These are the latest findings of a new public opinion survey from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute.

Amid allegations Beijing attempted to influence the outcomes of both the 2019 and 2021 elections to ensure the federal Liberal Party formed a minority government over the opposition Conservatives, two-thirds of adult Canadians express belief that Beijing “definitely” (32%) or “probably” (33%) tried to meddle.

Majorities across the political spectrum are of this view, while half of Canadians say this attempted interference represents a serious threat to democracy (53%).

Angus Reid Institute, March 1, 2023