Former Conservative leader MP Erin O'Toole (Durham, ON) said in the House of Commons that the House Affairs committee should look into efforts made by Chinese agents to influence possible Conservative voters during the 2021 election.. China Cong Peiwu .“My parliamentary caucus and myself were the target,” said O’Toole following a secret briefing with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service..The numerous examples also demonstrate there was an orchestrated campaign of foreign interference in the 43rd Parliament into the 2021 general election.”.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, O’Toole was briefed last Friday. .O’Toole would not detail specifics of the briefing but said the evidence included “payment of funds by the Chinese Communist Party” to aid political opponents, anti-Conservative slander by Chinese language posts on WeChat and “an active campaign of voter suppression against me, the Conservative Party and a candidate in one electoral district during the 2021 campaign.”.O’Toole did not name the candidate. However ex-Conservative MP Kenny Chiu (Steveston-Richmond, BC) testified on May 10 at the House Affairs committee that he believed a WeChat campaign cost his re-election by 3,477 votes and lowered turnout in the riding from 60% to 53%..“The briefing from the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service confirmed to me what I suspected for quite some time, that my parliamentary caucus and myself were the target of a sophisticated misinformation and voter suppression campaign orchestrated by the People’s Republic of China before and during the 2021 general election,” said O’Toole. He was never told at the time..“We must truly understand the goal of Beijing’s retaliatory campaign here. The Communist government’s ideal outcome is to have its critics pull their punches and turn a blind eye. It is to create at the end of the day a chilling effect on our public policy and the debates in this chamber, a chilling effect on our parliamentary democracy.”.The Commons Speaker deferred ruling on sending O'Toole's complaint to the House Affairs committee for an investigation. On May 10, MPs unanimously passed a motion for the committee to investigate a separate case involving MP Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton Hills, ON)..“I have received threats,” MP Chong testified on May 16. The threats were so serious that he called police, added Chong. .“I conveyed those threats to the appropriate agencies and authorities in the federal government and to my local police.”.“Is there a way for you to give us a general idea of what type of threat it is?” asked Liberal MP Ruby Sahota (Brampton North, ON). .“Sure,” replied MP Chong. .“It was more than one threat.”.“One of the incidents involved something that happened in the last federal election campaign,” said Chong. .“The other incidents were outside the federal election campaign and involved threats sent to me regarding the People’s Republic of China and my travel outside the country.”
