In a heated mayoral race, one Chinese candidate with a mysterious background and ties to Justin Trudeau is being overlooked
A Chinese immigrant who came to Canada in 2002, Gong, a businessman who established Edward International Group, is also the owner and founder of Markham-based Chinese-language media outlets Canada National Television (CNTV) and Canadian National Chinese Television.
With the Toronto mayoral by-election just weeks away, Edward (Xiaohua) Gong signs are suddenly popping up everywhere – so many of them that the campaign has received complaints. “They are actually a road hazard,” complained one resident in a BlogTO column.
Mayoral candidate criticized for littering Toronto with way too many election signs https://t.co/ViaNf7N02G #Toronto #TOpoli
— blogTO (@blogTO) June 6, 2023
Edward Xiaohua Gong’s (龚晓华) election signs boldly declare that he’s “Here to Rescue Toronto,” but who is he?
A Chinese immigrant who came to Canada in 2002, Gong, a businessman who established Edward International Group (德華國際集團有限公司), is also the owner and founder of Markham-based Chinese-language media outlets Canada National Television (CNTV) and Canadian National Chinese Television. He received a Queen's Diamond Jubilee medal in 2012 and runs multiple estate ventures. According to his election site, he’s delivered a speech at the UN and claims to have met with investment tycoon Warren Buffet.
He also agreed to forfeit over $60 million in profits – a record-breaking settlement – to the Government of New Zealand for running a massive pyramid scheme out of Canada, and has friendly ties to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “This is the largest forfeiture of proceeds of crime ever secured in New Zealand,” one detective said in a statement at the time of the bust.
Gong was also charged by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) with fraud and money laundering related to his company; he was ordered in 2021 to pay almost $1 million in fines and forfeit $15 million to the Canada Revenue Agency. Charges against Gong himself were withdrawn, and he was never convicted of any offence.
An article in China Daily (中国日报) – a state-run newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party – says that Gong’s media companies are “closely connected with Chinese, not only locally but also in China.”
How closely connected?
CNTV (加拿大国家电视台) began holding elaborate galas in 2014 to celebrate “overseas” Chinese networks. A visit to the media outlet’s site shows links to Canada Chinese Television (CCTV) – a state broadcaster outfit run by the National Radio and Television Administration which reports directly to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Central Propaganda Department. It has been described as a “weapon in Beijing’s arsenal of repression.”
Links show that the Canadian media outlet was visited in person by a delegation of members from the State Administration of China Radio and Television in 2016.
It also shows something else on the site: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau was the guest of honour at an Overseas Chinese Spring Festival Gala, delivering an inspiring speech to an adoring crowd in a packed house.
Justin Trudeau at a 2015 CNTV Chinese New Year gala as the guest of honour of host and CNTV chairman Xiao Hua (龚晓华) Gong.
— Andy Lee - Special Rebel Rapporteur (@RealAndyLeeShow) April 15, 2023
Gong would later go on to meet with Trudeau at his pay-to-play fundraisers before being arrested for defrauding investors out of $202 million in 2017.… pic.twitter.com/Q5RuVpw9MS
Gong, a Liberal Party of Canada donor, would surface again shortly after that alongside Justin Trudeau at the now infamous pay-to-play Chinese fundraisers which would be investigated for ethics violations.
It was also reported that Liberal Member of Parliament Geng Tan “acted as an intermediary” for Gong, and that he personally delivered a letter to a diplomat at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing and vouched on behalf of the Liberal donor while he was under criminal investigation by the RCMP and Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).
Geng Tan is mentioned and featured on CNTV’s site.
Another article shows that the Overseas Spring Festivals are a celebration and part of the “Silk Road” (Belt and Road) initiative. They are a joint collaborative project between CNTV and China Central Television – a direct collaboration between Canada and China’s state broadcaster. They were led by the CCP’s Ministry of Culture (now dissolved). They involved thirteen other Chinese government departments, according to the article, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the National Radio and Television Administration, the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, and the State Council Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, which is also now known as the United Front.
Gong filed a lawsuit in early 2023 against the OSC, claiming that his Charter rights were violated when Canadian law enforcement agencies collaborated with China’s Ministry of Public Safety (MPS) to investigate him for fraud. The lawsuit claims his rights were violated when authorities cooperated with “a known human rights abuser.”
Gong expressed in a campaign interview that he was “committed to serving as a ground-breaking leader and transformative force for positive change."
When contacted for comment about the allegations contained in this article, Gong did not respond.
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