“China – Communist Slave State”

The disintegration continues. The latest revelation about the Trudeau Liberals’ blindness to Chinese election meddling is that then-public safety and emergency preparedness minister Bill Blair took months to grant CSIS a warrant to monitor election activities by former Ontario cabinet minister infamous for his links to communist China. And they still have no idea how to respond.

As my former Sun News colleague Alex Pierson tweeted, “Either they are complicit or incompetent. Everyday it is another jaw dropper.” To which I responded, “Of course they could be both.” And certainly, incompetence is playing a key role.

With allegations that China meddled in the last two federal elections dominating the political conversation for months, experts say an inquiry would allow for a detailed, transparent conversation about what kind of threat Canada is actually facing.

It would also allow the Liberal government to demonstrate that it is doing more to address the issue, they say.

David Johnston was appointed special rapporteur by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in March to look into allegations of Chinese interference in Canada’s election process. The former governor general has apparently met with Trudeau, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, and Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet to discuss his role and mandate.

No such meeting will be taking place with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, however.

Special rapporteur David Johnston is expected to release his decision next Tuesday on whether the federal Liberals should hold a public inquiry on foreign interference.

The recommendation is anticipated to be included in an initial report about how the government should proceed with allegations that Canada’s last two federal elections were subject to meddling by other countries.

OTTAWA – The federal government gave up to $200,000 in funding since 2020 to a Quebec charity the RCMP suspects may be hosting a secret Chinese “police station.”

Experts on Chinese foreign interference fear that funding may have helped pro-Beijing actors grow the Chinese Communist Party’s network in Canada, while “legitimizing” the organization police suspect may be supporting efforts to intimidate or silence critics of China’s ruling regime.

OTTAWA – A senior Conservative campaign official said the government’s system for sharing foreign interference information left him with the impression there were no major issues during the campaign.

Walied Soliman, who was co-chair of the Conservatives 2021 campaign, was also one of the party’s representatives to a special task force of Canada’s intelligence agencies.

Will the public finally be provided some details behind the mysterious firing of Chinese-Canadian scientists who were working at the country’s top biosafety lab?

The Liberal government announced on May 17 that an ad-hoc committee of selected MPs will be able to review documents pertaining to the matter, and a panel of arbiters composed of three former justices will decide what can be released to the public.

Up to now, the government has resisted revealing details about the scientists Qiu Xiangguo and Cheng Keding, who were escorted out of Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Lab (NML) in 2019 amid a police probe and then fired in January 2021.

A panel of members of Parliament and judges are going to review documents related to the firing of two scientists at Canada’s highest-security laboratory.

On Wednesday, House of Commons leader Mark Holland revealed the names of MPs and judges who will serve as arbiters on an ad hoc committee tasked to examine both redacted and unredacted documents pertaining to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.