Recent public opinion surveys show most Canadians think the Trudeau government is too complaisant about subversion by the People’s Republic of China..Moreover, two-thirds of Canadians think Trudeau is too afraid of China to do anything. Generally, the common-sensical instincts of Canadians are correct — though treachery rather than fear may be the operative factor..In a rare outburst of investigative journalism, we have a good idea what the Chinese “foreign elections interference network” has done over the past few years. In mid-February, the Globe and Mail reported on the contents of some leaked CSIS documents; their insights were then expanded and developed by Global News, which has considerable experience covering CSIS-related stories about Chinese subversion. CBC effectively ignored the story..Most of the Chinese activity has taken place in the Greater Toronto Area and the BC Lower Mainland. Since the names of the Toronto individuals Han Dong, Zhang Bin, and Michael Chan, were made public, let’s start there..CSIS reported Dong initially received support from the CCP network in 2019. He was described as a “witting affiliate,” which meant he took an active part in the operation. The CCP backed Dong because the Toronto Chinese Consulate was “not pleased” with the performance of the sitting MP for Don Valley North, Geng Tan. Tan was willing to visit Taiwan and Dong was dispatched to persuade him not to. He then replaced Tan in 2019 as the Liberal nominee. Tan said he wanted to spend more time with his family, but said nothing about Dong’s persuasive arguments. Today, Tan said, he’s just a private citizen who likes to remain quiet..CSIS briefed the Government of Canada on Dong’s connection to the Toronto Consulate. Trudeau denied CSIS had warned him about anything, adding making CSIS reports public was “undermining democracy” because “it’s not up to unelected security officials to dictate to political parties who can and cannot run.”.He expanded on another theme: “giving reasons, partisan reasons, to mistrust the outcome of an election, mistrust the experts at Elections Canada, and our security services, and our top public servants, who are saying that the election integrity held, that’s something we have seen from elsewhere, and is not a good path to go down for society or for democracy.”.In case Trudeau’s allusions were not understood, Liberal MP Jennifer O’Connell connected the dots: “This is the same Trump-like tactics, to question election results.”.Still not clear enough? Trudeau then said the notion that Han Dong benefitted from PRC influence operations “should not be entertained” because it expressed “anti-Asian racism.”.One way or another, however, the Chinese Consulate must have been pleased with Dong’s performance: he managed to miss two otherwise unanimous votes in the House of Commons condemning the PRC for how they treated Uyghurs..The second individual, Zhang Bin, is a member of the PRC’s “foreign promotion network” and president of the China Cultural Industry Association, where “cultural industry” and “foreign promotion” mean, at a minimum, soft power, PR, “persuasion,” and propaganda. In 2014 CSIS taped a conversation between Zhang and a CCP diplomat where the latter advised the wealthy Zhang to donate $1 million to the Trudeau Foundation and associated entities, with the promise of PRC reimbursement. Zhang split the donation into three parts: $200k went directly to the Foundation, $50k was earmarked for a statue of Pierre Trudeau, and the balance for scholarships to the University of Montreal law school, which included a travel stipend to enable winners to visit China. According to university spokesperson Geneviève O’Meara, the statue of Pierre was initially to be accompanied by one of Chairman Mao, whom Pierre greatly admired. Zhang also attended a couple of cash-for-access meetings with Justin Trudeau in 2016. When Zhang’s connection to the CPP was made public a few weeks ago, the Trudeau Foundation said it would return the money. They didn’t say whether the cheque would be payable to Zhang or to the PRC..The third Toronto individual, Michael Chan, has a close relationship with Dong. He's a former Ontario MPP and currently serves as deputy mayor of Markham. Like Zhang, Chan also has deep pockets and is in close contact with the consulate. In 2010 Richard Fadden, then CSIS director, said publicly some provincial cabinet ministers and some municipal politicians had been compromised by China. In 2015 the Globe and Mail reported that Fadden was referring to Chan. By that time, Chan was the point man on Ontario’s dealings with PRC officials and, CSIS said, “appeared to favour China’s interests in many of his activities” by providing intel to the consulate and offering to attack “other members of the provincial assembly who raised Chinese human rights issues.”.Those pesky Uyghurs again. CSIS informed the Ontario Government Chan was under the influence of the PRC and earlier this year informed Trudeau that Chan had been in regular contact with PRC intelligence officials. Apparently, no action followed..In BC, the influence of the PRC appears to be more subtle, at least in the sense that no prominent individuals have been named or acknowledged by the mainstream media. Influence appears by way of the economy rather than through electoral politics. Sam Cooper (no relation), now with Global News, has documented for well over a decade 'How a Network of Narcos, Tycoons, and CCP Agents Infiltrated the West,' to use the subtitle of his book, 'Wilful Blindness.' PRC diplomats, CCP-backed “United Front” operatives, triad gangsters, casino operators, real estate agents, and drug dealers have made Vancouver the centre of a global distribution network of fentanyl, heroin, meth, cocaine, and ectasy..CSIS and the RCMP have known about this complex of bad actors since the 1997 Sidewinder Report, which was the basis for Fadden’s 2010 remarks on CCP influence. Moreover, the major findings were confirmed by a 2017 BC government report and by the Cullen Commission in 2022..The relative silence that greeted these documents over the past 25 years suggests another problem: The implications of the Sidewinder Report were ignored by senior bureaucrats in Ottawa. The same pattern appeared in the recent testimony by Jody Thomas before a Parliamentary Committee. She refused to confirm or deny the accuracy of the original Globe story because it was based on information that was “inappropriately obtained.” To which the obvious response is: so what? That would be a good reason to comment on its accuracy..This is the context where Trudeau’s remark, that the CSIS leak was “filled with inaccuracies” (none of which were specified) needs to be considered. How did he know? Was CSIS not doing its job? Does he have his own secret sources? Or, as Nigel Hannaford recently pointed out with his appointment of a “special rapporteur,” was this just more obfuscation, delay, and messenger-shooting?.All of which returns us to the public opinion survey with which we began. Unlike the Trudeau government, most Canadians do not think the CCP is our friend. They know about aggressive Chinese behaviour, from spy balloons and intellectual property theft to the 1019-day hostage taking of the two Michaels, the genocide of the Uyghurs, the suppression of Falun Gong, extinction of Tibetan and Hong Kong independence, the threats to Taiwan, spy buoys in the Canadian Arctic, cyber attacks, and the Wuhan origin of SARS-CoV-2..When the Parliamentary Committee requested Trudeau order a public inquiry into Chinese interference, he refused and repeated the recent elections were legit..Maybe so, but Fadden warned that Michael Chan was serving Chinese interests. Pierre Poilievre’s version was more partisan. China, he said, “wanted to see Justin Trudeau as prime minister because they knew that he would work for their interests rather than Canada’s interest.”.We have a very specific term — call it the T-word — to describe citizens working for foreign countries and against their own. No one has used it yet, but the stakes could hardly be higher..Dr. Cooper teaches political science at the University of Calgary.
