China's communist government has been interfering in Canadian politics for years, but the 2021 election marked an escalation, with some Canadian federal campaigns colluding in illegal activity.
China’s Election Meddling: Canadians Deserve a Serious Response | The Walrus - Ira Wells:
March 2, 2023 - " On February 17, the Globe and Mail published evidence that China had deployed a sophisticated campaign to interfere in the 2021 Canadian federal election with the apparent aim of securing a minority Liberal victory. Drawing from classified Canadian Security Intelligence Service [CSIS] documents, the Globe’s reporting revealed a multipronged Chinese interference strategy, which included disinformation campaigns, undeclared cash donations, and mobilization of international Chinese students in a bid to defeat (mostly Conservative) politicians deemed hostile to Beijing’s interests.... The Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs was already investigating allegations that China had supported eleven candidates —nine Liberal and two Conservative—in the Greater Toronto Area in 2019....
"For years, China has maintained an espionage network comprising spies, party propagandists, and secret police in Canada and elsewhere. According to veteran foreign affairs journalist Jonathan Manthorpe’s 2019 book Claws of the Panda: Beijing’s Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada, the methods employed by CCP agents in Canada include “cyberattacks, harassing phone calls, the distribution of hate propaganda, following and monitoring of individuals by CCP agents, harassment at anti-CCP demonstrations, detention and bullying of Canadians visiting China, [and] intimidation of relatives in China'.... So widespread are these rights violations that Amnesty International Canada published a 2020 report documenting a 'systematic campaign of harassment and intimidation that is often clearly linked to or backed by Chinese state authorities.'
"Among the arms of CCP influence said to be operating in Canada are the Confucius Institutes [CIs] — language and cultural centres which began appearing here in 2006. The Confucius Institute of Toronto currently lists thirteen Canadian CIs affiliated with various universities (Carleton, the University of Waterloo, St. Mary’s) and school boards (Edmonton and, for a while, the Toronto District School Board).... Manthorpe describes these institutes as 'espionage outstations for Chinese embassies and consulates through which they control Chinese students, gather information on perceived enemies, and intimidate dissidents'....
"[T]he CCP’s 2021 Canadian election interference feels like an escalation. The leaked CSIS documents reveal the extensive role played by Chinese diplomats and consulate staff. Diplomats spread disinformation about Conservative intentions to impose a Trump-style ban on Chinese university students. They facilitated undeclared cash donations to—mostly Liberal—candidates favoured by the CCP. (While the precise amount of these transfers is unknown, Global News reported that a CCP proxy group allegedly funnelled approximately $250,000 through an Ontario MPP and federal campaign staffer in the 2019 election.) They helped businesses hire international Chinese students and then enlist them as paid, full-time “volunteers” on chosen campaigns.
"But it gets worse for Liberals, especially given the material advantages that Chinese meddling appears to have conferred on the party. According to the December 20, 2021, CSIS report quoted by the Globe, CCP agents encouraged donors to contribute to Beijing-approved candidates, for which they received tax credits from the federal government. Those campaigns themselves then illegally returned 'the difference between the original donation and the government’s refund' to the donors. In other words, ... Canadian campaigns were willing participants in illegal activity. Conservative MP Michael Cooper, who sits on the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, said in an interview that these details from the CSIS documents ... suggest 'collusion' between 2021 federal candidates and 'the CCP interference network.' All of this, needless to say, is in obvious violation of the Canada Elections Act, and the RCMP should open an investigation if it hasn’t already.....
"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau immediately downplayed the issue.... On February 28, the government issued a report indicating that national security agencies believed the attempts at foreign interference had not 'met the threshold of impacting electoral integrity'.... The report, penned by Morris Rosenberg, a former deputy minister of foreign affairs and former CEO of the Trudeau Foundation, adds that the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol 'is somewhat confusing as to what is required in order for the threshold to be met' but that the threshold is being construed as 'requiring an incident or incidents that threaten the integrity of the entire election'.... But even if the Chinese did not tilt the overall election result, that still means a foreign power may have rendered the votes of tens of thousands of Canadians moot....
"CSIS has advised the prime minister that public transparency is crucial in cases involving foreign interference in Canada’s democratic processes. Liberals themselves used to campaign on transparency and accountability. In this case, the prime minister kept Canadians in the dark, sitting on highly sensitive evidence of foreign election meddling for seventeen months, until enterprising reporters and CSIS whistleblowers took matters into their own hands. In the interest of rebuilding public trust, the government should listen to its own national security advisers and come clean. That begins with releasing the names of the eleven GTA federal candidates in whose campaigns China is alleged to have interfered in 2019, then providing Canadians with a full account of what actually happened in 2021.... A serious response from the government would include the creation of a foreign agents registry, already on the books in Australia and the United States, which would require the public disclosure of those working for foreign interests....
"One final revelation from the CSIS documents should give Canadians pause: an unnamed Chinese diplomat quoted as saying Beijing 'likes it when the parties in Parliament are fighting with each other.' In other words, China’s interference campaign may have been about more than swinging ridings or influencing the election as a whole and also about exacerbating the political polarization in this country. Each and every partisan outburst resulting from this affair is another minor gesture appreciated by Beijing."
Read more: https://thewalrus.ca/chinas-election-meddling-canadians-deserve-a-serious-response/
Majority of Canadians want inquiry into alleged election interference, CBC, March 15, 2023:
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