“Canada’s China Class”

Two Ontario-based Chinese media outlets that had published information aimed at former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu weeks before the 2021 federal election have been identified in the foreign interference inquiry report as having “close links” to the Beijing regime.

“Canadian intelligence holdings identify both 105.9 Yes My Radio and CGCTV as having close links to the PRC [People’s Republic of China] government or PRC state-media,” stated the interim report published by the foreign interference commission on May 3.

As the dust settles on the landmark findings of the foreign interference inquiry, Canada’s intelligence agency is warning that China likely will back more meddling campaigns and expand its online pressure tactics over the coming year.

In its latest annual report, released Tuesday, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service says the People’s Republic of China (PRC) remains “an enduring threat” to Canadian technology, democracy and diaspora communities.

“The PRC’s negative perceptions of select Canadian domestic and foreign policy initiatives may also drive more foreign interference, disinformation efforts and cyber activity in 2024,” said the report.

Former B.C. Conservative MP Kenny Chiu feels vindicated by preliminary findings from a federal inquiry that found foreign interference may have cost him his seat in the 2021 election.

Chui, who ran in the riding of Steveston — Richmond East, is calling on the Liberal government to follow through with its promise of a foreign agent registry like the ones established in the U.S. and Australia.

No one will go to jail. The only ones who won’t lose faith are the Liberals.

Given an impossibly short deadline to complete the initial report of the public inquiry on foreign interference in federal elections – just two weeks from the close of hearings to publication – Justice Marie-Josée Hogue has elected to punt on some of the key questions she was expected to address until her final report at the end of the year.

That, at least, must be the hope. This first instalment is, perhaps understandably, largely a “what we heard” exercise, summarizing the evidence while for the most part withholding judgment on what it all means.

A handful of candidates in Canada’s 2019 federal election “appeared willing” to go along with foreign interference schemes, a federal public inquiry has found.

Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue’s preliminary report, released Friday, concluded that while hostile states attempted to covertly influence the 2019 and 2021 general elections, those efforts did not change which party took power.

What will it take for the federal government to deal seriously with Chinese technology theft?

I imagine everyone has heard the phrase “shooting the messenger.” This refers to a tactic where a person who receives bad news, or information that is unwelcome, decides to take his frustration and anger out on the individual who brought it to his attention in the first place. In other words, rather that deal with the consequences of the data and figure out mitigating strategies, just harangue the bearer of bad news. Not a great strategy in all honesty, but one that is used all too frequently.

Canada’s top spy says China’s concerted efforts to steal cutting-edge Canadian technology is mind-boggling, and is designed to build the People’s Liberation Army as a formidable force against Western interests.

David Vigneault, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told MPs on the Canada-China committee Monday that Chinese hacking and other espionage activities have become a serious threat since Xi Jinping became president in 2012.

A Quebec professor is a participant of a Chinese talent recruitment program deemed by Canada’s intelligence service as a “serious threat” to Canadian research and intellectual property.

Changhui Peng, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) since 2003, joined China’s Thousand Talents Plan in 2010. His participation in the Chinese talents recruitment plan was highlighted on his online profile at the Northwest A&F University, a school in China’s Shaanxi Province, which specializes in agriculture and forestry.