Foreign agents could install Prime Minister, Premiers without election, testifies Conservative MP
'We could have a situation where a Prime Minister resigns, and a Prime Minister is appointed and elected through a leadership process impacted by non-citizens and foreign state actors,' Conservative MP Michael Chong testified at the Commission on Foreign Interference.
Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong believes Chinese agents could infiltrate closed-party leadership races to appoint premiers and the prime minister.
On April 3, Chong testified that foreign agents could dictate leadership contests after classified intelligence documents alleged China operated through consulate proxies to elect favourable candidates.
Chinese community leaders and alleged proxies belonging to the United Front Work Department, a Chinese intelligence service, have faced incredible heat at the ongoing Commission on Foreign Interference.
Classified intelligence tabled by Commission lawyers suggests the federal government knew of foreign meddling in the 2019 and 2021 general elections but chose not to intervene in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto.
However, an October 2022 intelligence assessment alleged that Chinese agents became active in a provincial and federal party leadership contest that year.
Michael Chong walks the foreign interference commission through the process of a potential election of a foreign contaminated party leader/Prime Minister, pic.twitter.com/X7LzlsmHoR
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 3, 2024
Chong told Commission lawyers that foreign states could wield influence on leadership contests, giving rise to concerns about political leaders installed by foreign operatives.
“We are effectively opening up the appointment of heads of state or provinces,” he said.
“We could have a situation where a Prime Minister resigns, and a Prime Minister is appointed and elected through a leadership process impacted by non-citizens and foreign state actors,” testified the member of Parliament.
Without identifying candidates by name, the assessment detailed efforts to influence officials before and after recent elections, as first reported by The Bureau. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) monitored a candidate identified only as “CA3” in 2022 when Alberta and British Columbia held leadership races.
A spokesperson for B.C. Premier David Eby rejected the assertion of foreign influence in its entirety.
"There is absolutely no truth that Premier Eby had any meetings with or invited support from the Chinese Consulate, or any of their representatives, during his time as a candidate for the leadership of the BC NDP,” reads the statement. “The publishing of such an assertion is defamatory," the spokesperson said.
ooof, that's gonna leave a mark.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 3, 2024
CPC MP Michael Chong lights up the Canadian government for their lack of transparency about threats to candidates of foreign interference.
Chong says it is the Trudeau government that is fomenting anti-Asian hate while accusing others who… pic.twitter.com/JlUoqHK4AP
The 2022 report also alleged that “a PRC-linked proxy” tried to “help elect the next leader of a federal political party in Canada” by “encouraging individuals who are supportive of the Chinese Communist Party to join this same political party to influence … a more positive view of China.”
Party spokesperson Sarah Fischer earlier told the publication they were “not aware of the allegations.”
“Party memberships purchased during the last leadership race could only be purchased with a personal credit card, personal cheque or Canadian bank-issued money order,” penned Fischer in an emailed statement to The Bureau.
A federal memo published one week before the 2021 general election confirmed that Chinese state media slandered Conservative incumbents during the writ period.
From September 9 through 12, several WeChat news accounts peddled the false narrative that Erin O’Toole “wants to break off relations with China.”
Foreign Interference Threats, penned by the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force (SITE), confirmed Chinese slander against the Conservative Party.
last clip from the day.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 3, 2024
CPC MP Michael Chong debunks the excuse that foreign interference is really just innocuous foreign opinions. pic.twitter.com/XCBKSNvw1j
The following month, a Chinese community group urged the Conservative leader to step down for alienating Chinese Canadian voters.
The same group supported a Conservative leadership candidate during the 2022 Conservative leadership which saw MP Pierre Poilievre winning the race.
On Wednesday, O’Toole told Commission lawyers that Chinese clandestine attacks against Conservatives in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto impacted his tenure with the Party.
In June 2022, he claimed the Conservatives lost “about eight or nine seats” due to foreign meddling.
If the party had won those seats, O’Toole claimed he may have remained on as Party leader with a “more sturdy leg to stand on.”
He ultimately walked back those comments, stating that only an election victory would have guaranteed his job security.
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