The Beijing-Mark Carney Mutual Admiration Society

"This content has been amplified in a co-ordinated and inauthentic way. This information operation had contrasting positive and negative narratives, first amplifying Mr. Carney's stance with the United States and then targeting his experience and credentials."

"The SITE Task Force assesses that the foreign state-backed information operation was intended to influence Canadian Chinese communities and look to mould perceptions [about Carney]."

"At this time, the panel has determined that this is not affecting Canada's ability to have a free and fair election."

"This case is contained to one platform and has not spread further, nor is it affecting Canadians' abilities to make informed decisions about their vote."

"The PRC [People's Republic of China] should not be trying to shape the opinions of Canadians, especially during an election period."

PCO (Privy Council Office) assistant secretary for communications Laurie-Anne Kempton

 

"They know that for a decade the Liberals have turned a blind eye to Beijing's interference in Canada's democracy."

"They know that the Liberals have stood by as Beijing interfered in our democracy, targeted and harassed our citizens, and threatened Canada's interests at home and abroad."

Conservative candidate Michael Chong 

 

"[The point of sharing the information with the public is not about whether the campaign was pro- or anti-Carney but] to be clear with Canadians that the account that made these posts is linked to the People’s Republic of China, and the Communist party in particular."

"Our intelligence has [shown] there is a concerted effort within an entity in the Communist party to spread and manipulate the narrative Canadians are seeing."

"We should all keep in mind that a hallmark of democracy is to be able to have such a debate during the election period, and it is to Canadians to have that debate unfettered by the influence of a foreign state."
Vanessa Lloyd, deputy director, operations, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and chair SITE Task Force

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at the Victoria Edelweiss Club during his Liberal Party election campaign tour in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada April 6, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Light

That Beijing is interfering in this latest federal election campaign should come as no surprise to anyone, since this is simply a repeat performance. Chinese agents were busy in previous elections, using Chinese-language media aimed at Chinese-Canadian expatriates from Mainland China to mark out candidates -- mostly Chinese-Canadians from Hong Kong who are critical of Beijing -- in an effort to persuade against their electoral success. Michael Chong, as a Conservative MP, had that experience and he was by no means alone in Beijing challenging his electoral success.

 

Aside from which, as a candidate for the prime ministership in the upcoming April 28 general election, Mr. Carney has his very own Chinese-experience baggage. Most of the Liberal Party elites, from Jean Chretien to Justin Trudeau have been focused on doing business with China -- and to that end, the pot at the end of the rainbow, a free trade deal, still elusive -- spurred them to do their utmost to shield Beijing from criticism over its heavy-handed intrusions into Canadian sovereignty, from buying up major stakes in Canada's energy sector and rare earth materials to funding China-friendly academics in Canadian universities.

 

Mark Carney's private sector employment with Brookfield Asset Management saw him negotiating deals with senior Chinese authorities, inclusive of directly meeting with President Xi Jinping in ingratiating overtures in the promotion of trade. Mr. Carney succeeded in persuading the state-controlled Bank of China to extend a hefty $276-million loan for Brookfield Asset Management. Like all the Liberal elite overlooking Beijing's human rights abuses while currying favour for special benefits with Beijing in the interests of lucrative agreements.

 

Liberal leader Mark Carney and his wife Diana Fox Carney arrive in Victoria, B.C., during a campaign stop on Sunday, April 6, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

 

Recent revelations that the Youli-Youmian popular Chinese-language account on the WeChat Chinese social media platform featured posts about Carney that presented him as a generally-Beijing-positive Canadian government leader, one whose governance would clearly continue to be friendly to the CCP, unlike the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre. The Youli-Youmian account posts gain traction at a peculiarly quick pace with 85,00 and up to 130,000 interactions, along with an estimated  one to three million views. That could be a lot of active users and it could also feature a lot of bots.

 

As a result of the pace of that activity, Canada's Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) was alerted and when analyzing the situation discovered an information campaign led by the People's Republic of China. SITE, in turn alerted the Privy Council Office. And although SITE warned the public to be aware of manipulation in information promulgated among Chinese-Canadians, they forbore from spelling out what they felt China's intention with the campaign would be. Other than to mention an earlier targeting of Conservative MP Michael Chong in 2023. 

"[The posts on Carney appear] loosely positive [but not a] full-throated endorsement [clearly to support the Liberal leader]."

"It could be that they're trying to support Carney. It could be that they're just testing the waters."

"And then the third thing could be that this is something that they felt sent a message that perhaps is just not clear to us."

"Because, I want to be very clear here, they [Chinese Communist Party] don't always understand democracy."

Former national security analyst Stephanie Carvin

Liberal Leader Mark Carney speaks during a campaign rally at the Metropolitan Centre in Toronto on April 4, 2025. pm

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

The Democratically Helpful Chinese Communist Party

"They are by and large an extension of the apparatus of Beijing."

"I definitely think this is an area where our security agencies or the police should pay close attention."

Karen Woods, founder, independent Canadian Chinese Political Affairs Committee

 

"This really is like an ideological invasion."

"I think that undermines our national security, our social security."

Jonathan Fon, Toronto paralegal

 

Deposit Photos

"{The Chinese Council for Western Ontario Elections'  goal is simply to] introduce Canadian democracy to the Chinese community, to help Chinese Canadians better understand Canadian elections, participate in the democratic process, and participate actively in elections."

"We support candidates of any race, as long as they oppose racial discrimination and support multiculturalism."

"We are willing to share our network resources with them to help them gain recognition and support from Chinese voters."

Toronto businessman Guo BaoZhang, executive president, Canada Toronto Fuqing Business Association

The Canada Toronto Fuqing Business Association building in Markham, Ontario. Photo by Peter J. Thompson/National Post/File

Now that is really interesting. Chinese Canadians have a long history of residence and citizenship in Canada. A history that dates back to the 19th Century with the building of Canada's national railways. Chinese Canadians have established themselves in every facet of life in Canada, from little shop owners to the professions of law and medicine, to professorships in Canadian universities and to the ordinary-man-in-the-street or family-on-your street category.

As Canadian citizens, they know all about Canadian politics, they pay their taxes and they vote in all elections just like any other Canadians. Now, in the last few  years Beijing has turned its eyes on these Canadian citizens of Chinese extraction -- including many who have more recently arrived in Canada as immigrants or to study at Canadian universities, from both the mainland and Hong Kong. Beijing's United Front Work Department operates in tandem with Chinese diplomats assigned to Canada in Chinese consulates and embassy to impress on Chinese Canadians their obligations to China.

That obligation as ethnic Chinese, is to help promote China and China's interests broadly, within Canada. In the 2019 general election, Canadian Intelligence tracked the Chinese Communist Party's interference in promoting candidates of Chinese extraction suborned by China through ideological indoctrination and financial funding to election wins. It has also been revealed that political insiders defend and promote China's interests in various provincial and federal legislatures.

Now the introduction of a new organization whose goals on the surface are to assist Chinese Canadians in becoming more accomplished members of a democracy. Who might've thought? Yet another group has infiltrated Canada whose purpose is to further the interests of Beijing in a country that it is clearly at odds with, given fairly recent events, and a new, frosty relationship between China and Canada. China's growing aggressive tendencies are not limited to Canada, they surface elsewhere as well.

The website of the Canada Toronto Fuqing Business Association identifies it as having been established under the guidance of the United Front Work Department, itself a branch of the Chinese Communist Party with a clear mission to expand Beijing's worldwide influence. Influence made its presence years ago with the endowment by China in Western university-based Confucius Institutes; established ostensibly to help the world know of the wisdom and culture of China.

Beijing is well known for its ulterior motives in relations with other countries; its constant espionage feelers out via Chinese-loyalists in relaying back to China industrial, military and political state secrets. It has latterly been revealed that Beijing operatives and police forces have opened 'police stations' in Canada as well as in other foreign countries to keep tabs on expatriate Chinese, and to 'persuade' those critical of Beijing to return to China, under the guise of giving them assistance in renewing passports and driver's licenses; the while subtly threatening the well-being of family members in China.

The Canadian Security and Intelligence Service saw fit to brief Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office in January regarding a Chinese program that funded 11 candidates sympathetic to China during the last federal electon; a member of the Ontario legislature and community groups were engaged as go-betweens. In a brief, unscheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 meeting in Indonesia, Trudeau claims to have raised the matter of Chinese political interference in Canada. Followed by Trudeau later denying he had ever been briefed.

Beijing's underhanded, interfering CCP-linked groups have not yet been challenged by the Government of Canada in a manner that would reflect the unwelcome nature of their organizational destabilization of the country. That Beijing is the least bit involved in promoting anti-discriminatory measures in Canada is beyond ironic, given its treatment of Tibetans and Muslim Uyghurs in Tibet and Xinjiang.

A multi-party committee in Ottawa has agreed to examine China's influence in Canada's elections following a Global News story citing a Beijing campaign to subvert Canadian democracy.