Next week we’ll learn what advice former governor general David Johnston has given to Justin Trudeau to deal with the tentacular issues of Chinese government interference in Canada.
Make no mistake: Johnston has absolutely no decision-making powers, despite the high-sounding title of “Special Rapporteur” with which Trudeau saddled him.
Trudeau often says that he’s waiting for Johnston’s decision. That’s just more poppycock in a dossier filled with coverups, stonewalling and outright deception.
The Liberal government finally expelled Chinese consulate official Zhao Wei last week when it became virtually impossible not to.
With mounting evidence that Zhao had put the family of Conservative MP Michael Chong under surveillance in Hong Kong, even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau understood he needed to do something to indicate Canada’s official diplomatic disapproval that China cannot continue to interfere in Canadian politics—and elections—without any sanction.
The 64 Dollar Question.
Canadian plywood makers seek duties as cheap Chinese rivals carve out half the market
It’s been years since Carlos Zarate and others in Canada’s decorative plywood industry started telling the federal government about a growing problem in their business.
The president of the Canadian Hardwood Plywood and Veneer Association warns of an industry in decline, but not due to falling demand for things like kitchen cabinets, decorative wood panels, furniture, and other non-structural wood products.
Zarate, who’s also president of Industrie Ergie Inc. in Victoriaville, Que., said the association’s members have seen their market share in Canada drop because they are unable to compete with plywood products imported from China at prices domestic producers could never hope to match, let alone beat.
Yet another example of Trudeau serving the interests of the China Class.
Canada’s politicians need to be more proactive to responding to foreign interference by establishing a “national security culture” within the government to recognize threats when they emerge, former intelligence and security officials say.
While they believe institutions like the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) are equipped to respond to national security issues — though underfunded — very few people outside those agencies are experienced with the issue.
There is a security culture in Ottawa, the LPC is fully cooperative with Communist China.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino concedes there may be new so-called “Chinese police stations” in Canada after saying last month they’d all been shut down, but he insists the RCMP will close any new sites if they do exist.
The Spanish human rights organization Safeguard Defenders said last fall it had identified more than 100 of these alleged Chinese overseas police stations, including several in Canada. The groups says these stations serve to spy on Chinese dissidents in Canada and abroad and collect information about opponents to the regime in Beijing, under the guise of providing resources to Chinese people living abroad.
Could be? That’s the answer you’d expect from a CCP compromised government.
On Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister Melania Joly announced the expulsion of Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei, the official from China’s Toronto consulate believed to be responsible for threats against a Canadian MP’s relatives in Hong Kong.
The MP, Conservative Michael Chong, is one of Parliament’s most outspoken critics of the Communist regime’s human rights record. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) two years ago told senior members of the Trudeau government that Zhao was allegedly coordinating intimidation tactics against Chong’s relatives in China in an effort to get Chong to clam up.
Canadians overwhelmingly view China in a negative light, according to a recent survey conducted by Nanos Research.
The online survey asked Canadians to provide their opinions on several countries and whether each would make a valuable trading partner for Canada. Nearly three in four (73 percent) of the 1,080 Canadian adults surveyed say they have a negative (41 percent) or somewhat negative (32 percent) view of China.
Canada’s spy agency is drawing up a list of parliamentarians for briefings on Chinese political interference and has already reached out to two opposition MPs, more than a week after Conservative MP Michael Chong was informed that he and family members in Hong Kong were targets of Beijing state intimidation.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has contacted former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, who was a candidate for prime minister in the 2021 election, and Jenny Kwan, an NDP MP who has been an outspoken critic of China.
The federal government will move forward with the creation of a registry of foreign agents to help prevent China and other countries from meddling in Canada’s affairs, Radio-Canada has confirmed.
As first reported in La Presse, Canada will table a bill either this summer, or if the Justice Department is not able to draft the legislation in time, in the fall, according to a government source.
The federal government launched public consultations on the concept in March. That outreach effort closed May 9 and a government source said it showed Canadians broadly support the initiative.
A former officer with Canada’s spy agency says that individuals involved in the political process should have to declare they will not cooperate with a foreign power, adding that they should serve jail time if caught doing so.
“Because we’re close to treason here, literally,” said Michel Juneau-Katsuya, former chief of the Asia-Pacific Unit within the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
A Liberal MP says a foreign agent registry could be a “wake-up call” for Canadians regarding potential Chinese interference in the country’s affairs.
John McKay, the MP for Toronto’s Scarborough—Guildwood, told Global News he’s not sure whether Canadians have completely come to grips with the extent China may be manipulating not only its diaspora in Canada but also the society at large.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has a significant counterintelligence file on Chinese consulate official Zhao Wei, and since 2020 has shared that information with Global Affairs Canada, the department with the authority to expel foreign representatives for engaging in non-diplomatic activities, according to two national security sources.
To David Johnston:
You have accepted the unenviable task of deciding upon the course of action to be followed by the government in the matter of Chinese intervention in Canada’s electoral process. You’ve been asked to review the findings of two closed-door panels that the federal government has set up to investigate Beijing’s interference activities in the 2019 and 2021 elections, and make recommendations that could include a formal inquiry, a judicial review, or some other process. That is the commitment that was made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he appointed you as the independent special rapporteur on foreign interference in March.
OTTAWA – The former deputy chief of staff to Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper says the Liberal government isn’t doing enough to combat foreign interference, echoing similar testimony from experts who study the matter.
Jenni Byrne, who was also the Conservatives’ campaign manager in the 2015 election, is testifying today at a House of Commons committee.
She says the government is too soft on China and is turning a blind eye to the country’s alleged meddling in Canada’s democracy.
More often than not, when China is involved in a confrontation – whether it be a military, economic or political row – it is assumed that Beijing has the upper hand, or that the country is in a more advantageous position than its foe.
Indeed, given the expectation that China will surpass the United States as the world’s largest economy in the not-too-distant future, the fact that it boasts the world’s largest military, and its history of rather successfully leveraging global dependencies on crucial goods to navigate disputes, it makes sense why China’s ability to out-escalate and prevail in adversarial situations is presented as a sort of fait accompli. However, this thinking is flawed and it certainly does not apply to Beijing’s continuing row with Canada.
Interesting as the impression to date is that Canada would be mauled by ChiCom retaliation and therefore we should meekly kowtow to Xi. Was that just the China Class crying wolf to protect their financial interests?
