Claims of foreign interference in Canada’s last two federal elections are “speculative” and “not based on facts,” says Liberal MP Ya’ara Saks, who also said the federal Conservatives are spreading misinformation on the matter.
Saks, who represents the constituency of York Centre in Toronto, made the comments during a meeting of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) on March 14, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
Two opposition leaders in the House of Commons are dismissing the newly named special rapporteur on foreign election interference as a “family friend” of the prime minister and are continuing to press the government to call a public inquiry.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named former governor general David Johnston as the special rapporteur on foreign election interference during the last two federal elections.
In recent weeks, there’s been a great deal of discussion about alleged interference in Canada’s electoral process by the Communist government of China. From what we can gather, from material leaked from CSIS, the Chinese Communist Party allegedly tried to intervene to favour candidates who were sympathetic to their views with illegal donations and to try to help defeat candidates who took a strong position against the Chinese government.
China’s diplomatic mission in Vancouver has actively interfered in the city’s politics, using proxies in diaspora community organizations and grooming politicians to run in last fall’s municipal election, according to Canada’s spy agency.
A Jan. 10, 2022, Canadian Security and Intelligence Service report viewed by The Globe and Mail outlines how China’s then-consul-general, Tong Xiaoling, discussed mentoring – or as the report quoted her, “grooming” – Chinese-Canadian municipal politicians for higher office to advance Beijing’s interests.
Why no expulsions?
China election interference investigation could cause more anti-Asian racism, communities warn
As Ottawa launches investigations into claims China interfered in two elections, some members of the Chinese diaspora are warning about an increase in anti-Asian racism, while others say racism could be used to hinder the search for the truth.
“The first thing we need to be very sure about is that racism is not being used as a shield to deflect or distract from the real issue at hand,” said Cheuk Kwan, co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China.
As anti-Asian racism has spiked as a result of the pandemic and as the Sino-Canadian relationship continues to be strained, many question the effect of the investigations on the Chinese diaspora.
Is the Prime Minister’s Office keeping Justin Trudeau in the dark?
At first blush, such an idea seems outlandish, but what if the PMO had done so in the past? And what if such a manoeuvre allowed the prime minister the luxury and expediency of plausible deniability?
Now the dark arts of PMO advisers would be a major bonus.
During testimony before the House of Commons ethics committee last week, a Chinese-Canadian filmmaker revealed that he witnessed firsthand proxies of the Communist Party of China (CCP) take busloads of people to vote for the regime’s preferred candidate in Canada’s nomination races.
The revelation was made by Toronto filmmaker, Cheuk Kwan. He testified before the committee last Friday that, as co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, he’s well aware that such practices of CCP election meddling are the “standard modus operandi.”
Something rotten has spread through this country’s corporate sector, universities and political class
With all their filibustering and obstructionist “rapporteur” manoeuvres to draw attention away from the interference operations Beijing ran on their behalf during the 2019 and 2021 elections, the Trudeau Liberals might think they’re being clever. But they’re being too clever by half.
The longer this drags out, the more light gets shed on the squalid and intimate relationship between the Liberals’ political base in this country’s wealthy and well-connected Mandarin-bloc hierarchy and the Ferrari-driving consiglieri of Beijing’s strong-arming and influence-peddling network in Canada. It’s the same circle of power.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has named his special rapporteur to oversee a suite of foreign interference probes: former governor general David Johnston.
The Prime Minister’s Office says Johnston was appointed after consultations with all parties in the House of Commons.
He will have a “wide mandate” to look into allegations of interference in the past two elections and make recommendations to the government, the PMO said in a statement.
Just another Laurentian crony.
Trudeau says some politicians are playing partisan games on foreign interference
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the search for answers on foreign interference should be free of partisanship, even as his party’s MPs have filibustered for more than 24 hours at a key parliamentary committee.
What horseshit, Junior turned a blind eye to Communist China’s election interference because it benefited the Liberal party.
Accuracy of leaked CSIS documents is not clear, so let’s not over react
It is possible that Canadian Security Intelligence Service is unofficially correct and that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) embassies, consulates and United Front networks and agents have been, and are, involved in specific efforts to unlawfully impact the outcome of Canadian federal elections.
After all, Australia’s Security Services has openly discussed evidence relating to their election. And European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pointed out that European countries must keep up their guard against these interferences.
Opposition MPs accused Justin Trudeau of a coverup as Liberal MPs continued a filibuster to block the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Katie Telford, from testifying before a Commons committee studying China’s interference activities in Canadian democracy.
MPs on the procedure and House affairs committee met Tuesday during the March parliamentary break to debate an NDP motion to call Ms. Telford to explain what she and the Prime Minister knew about Chinese election interference and what they did to stop it.
“Leaked CSIS and PCO documents now show that Beijing worked to help elect Justin Trudeau. That is an accepted fact. He doesn’t even deny it.”
Poilievre was answering a reporter who asked him why he thinks supporters of the Conservative Party are, based on recent polls, more concerned about foreign interference.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Tuesday the Liberal government’s inaction on alleged election meddling by China has some Canadian voters wondering whether recent election results can be trusted.
Speaking to reporters after a drug-related announcement in B.C., Poilievre said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has “inspired a lot of suspicion” because of his refusal to answer detailed questions about China’s role in the 2019 and 2021 election campaigns.
Poilievre said Chinese interference was known at the highest levels of government but was “kept hidden” until “courageous whistleblowers” leaked national security intelligence to the press.
It’s evident that Trudeau and the Liberal party are compromised.
Communist China has an effective network of useful idiots and fellow travelers well embedded.
Who’s up for mass deportations and confiscation of assets of the guilty ChiComs?
Is this the beginning of the end for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau? The knives are out, and the cuts are coming fast and furious. Not a day goes by without another accusation of political interference by the Chinese communist regime, in not just federal but now also provincial politics. Interference also goes beyond politics and into academia and business. The Chinese Communist Party, for example, trains scholarship students to “avoid detection by authorities” and steal sensitive technology, the Globe and Mail reported Monday.
