Foreign agents should be required to register
A bombshell story last week concerned leaked report from Canada’s Security and Intelligence Service documenting how Chinese government officials and their agents interfered in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
The National Post wrote: “According to CSIS documents obtained by the Globe and Mail, Chinese Communist Party operatives orchestrated cash donations to political campaigns, had business owners hire “volunteers” for specific election campaigns and boasted that it’s “easy to influence Chinese immigrants to agree with the Peoples Republic of China's stance.” What was the goal of these efforts? “To install a minority Liberal government.”
According to the documents, the support for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada is due to the Chinese government viewing the Liberals as more proChina in contrast to how a potential Conservative government would be.
The second goal of the CCP was a minority Parliament because it is said that Beijing “likes it when the parties in Parliament are fighting with each other, whereas if there is a majority, the party in power can easily implement policies that do not favour the PRC.”
Was this clandestine campaign successful in interfering in our Canadian democratic process?
China’s former consul general stationed in Vancouver stated she “helped defeat two Conservative candidates in 2021.”
The Conservative Party of Canada believes that number is significantly higher and may have contributed to losing eight or nine electoral districts.
What is the Trudeau Liberal government doing about this? So far, basically nothing, aside from attempting to downplay the situation and expressing concern around the leaking of the documents.
I am not suggesting Chinese government agents ‘stole the election,’ as I believe Canadian voters ultimately decided the outcome of the last election. However, I am concerned about reports of a foreign government manipulating our democratic process.
If a single electoral district can be manipulated in an election due to foreign interference, we should all be concerned, and the government of the day has a responsibility to Canadians to ensure the proper authorities, like the Commissioner of Elections (that investigates violations) and the RCMP, have the evidence they need to prosecute any violations.
As some may have diplomatic immunity, our government should expel any suspects at the very least.
How else can we prevent future violations? Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, supports following the lead of Australia and the United States in creating a foreign agent registry. This would be similar to the domestic lobbyist registry Canada uses but would apply to individuals in Canada who foreign governments pay to influence our political processes.
For whatever reason, Trudeau has refused to substantially answer the questions from journalists and the opposition on this matter and whether he will immediately implement such a registry here in Canada.