There is little doubt that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has attempted to meddle in Canadian politics over several decades. Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong wrote in a recent statement. “It’s long past time for the Trudeau government to come forward with a robust plan to counter Beijing’s foreign interference operations here on Canadian soil.” Recently, we learned that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) informed Mr. Chong that they were aware of a Chinese diplomat’s threats to his family in Hong Kong. This alleged intimidation created further outrage among the opposition members who continue to call for a full public enquiry into the CCP’s attempts to interfere in Canadian politics at the local, provincial and federal levels. The federal government is currently looking into the matter through an independent review as to whether a full public enquiry is needed.
However, anyone and any organization that has had dealings with or received funds from Chinese sources is now under greater scrutiny, whether deserved or not. The first instance of note was related to donations apparently given to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, which of course can be indirectly connected to his son, current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. However, the Foundation is an independent non-profit organization whose mandate is to provide generous financial support for doctoral research by outstanding Scholars, and to support the development of future engaged leaders who inspire innovative approaches as they blaze new trails in the Social Sciences and Humanities. Being devoted to educational endeavours and scholastic research, there is no proof of any direct influence on the federal government attributed to previous Chinese funding to the Foundation. However, the optics are not great!
Now, it has been reported that Toronto mayoral candidate Olivia Chow, and a veteran New Democratic Party politician, has won support of a group aligned with China. However, Chow has been defending democracy activists in Hong Kong and was among a handful of federal MPs who stood in the House of Commons and commemorated the Tiananmen Square massacre and attended Tiananmen vigils. Toronto has a large Chinese community, so Chow has had meetings to reach out to Toronto’s community of mainland-China immigrants, some of which unfortunately were organized by the CCP branch that spearheads Beijing’s influence and interference efforts worldwide. In fact, she’s not the only prominent Toronto-area politician to have rubbed shoulders with the group. Current Liberal Trade Minister Mary Ng posted pictures of her celebrating the lunar New Year with the same group in 2019, praising its efforts to promote “diversity and inclusion.” As for Vancouver, CSIS reportedly noted that Chinese diplomats tried to get sympathetic candidates elected in last year’s municipal vote, in part by using groups that represented Beijing’s interests. Ken Sim, who won the mayor’s race in a landslide, has denied that such interference played any part in his victory. It would now appear that no Canadian politician of Chinese descent is immune to being investigated by the media over possible support received from CCP-affiliated organizations in Canada of which there are several.
The case of Michael Chong has led to the expulsion by the federal government of the Chinese diplomat accused of attempting to intimidate him as a Member of Parliament and outspoken critic of China’s regime. This is the first high profile case acted upon involving findings by CSIS, and there could potentially be others. The danger is that, under the current environment, more Canadians of Chinese descent could unjustly become the targets of the media and security agencies simply because of their ethnicity. One commentator compared the current situation to that of the McCarthy era in American history that saw U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy produce a series of investigations and hearings during the 1950s in an effort to expose supposed communist infiltration of various areas of the U.S. government. Numerous Americans suffered unfairly and severely simply from investigations by his Senate committee and its widely publicized indiscriminate allegations. One can only hope that we will not see a similar witch-hunt taking place in Chinese communities across Canada. Chinese Canadians have every right as citizens not to be unjustly targeted. Cooler heads need to prevail during these difficult times.
FROLITICKS 
Leave a comment