under threat in any significant way.” Conservative MPs want an investigation into allegations that China used a sophisticated strategy to enable a Liberal minority government in the 2021 federal election. Bloc Québécois and Conservative MPs raised the Globe report in Parliament on Feb. 17, with Conservative MP Tom Kmiec criticizing the Liberal government’s inaction on foreign interference in Canada. Bloc MP René Villemure said the information from the CSIS documents is “very concerning” and called for the government to “take action with transparency.” In response, Liberal MP Jennifer O’Connell argued that the government has taken action on foreign interference, citing measures including the creation of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians and tighter rules on third-party funding. Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair also defended his government’s response to foreign threats, saying that he had in December 2020 warned MPs about foreign interference, particularly the threat posed by China. Conservative MP Raquel Dancho called for an investigation into the allegations in the Globe article and was joined by several other Conservative MPs, Bloc, and NDP MPs in issuing a joint statement calling for an emergency meeting of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) to discuss the revelations in the CSIS documents. The documents revealed by the Globe also say that the CCP leadership in Beijing was “pressuring its consulates to create strategies to leverage politically [active] Chinese community members and associations within Canadian society” and that people sympathetic to Beijing’s cause were encouraged to give campaign donations to candidates favoured by China. The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force set up by the Trudeau government to monitor threats to federal elections never issued any public warning about foreign interference during the 2019 or 2021 campaigns. Conservative MPs are now calling for an investigation into the allegations of China’s interference in the 2021 federal election. Bloc Québécois and Conservative MPs raised the Globe report in Parliament on Feb. 17, with Conservative MP Tom Kmiec criticizing the Liberal government’s inaction on foreign interference in Canada. Bloc MP René Villemure said the information from the CSIS documents is “very concerning” and called for the government to “take action with transparency.” Conservative MP Raquel Dancho called for an investigation into the allegations and was joined by several other Conservative MPs, Bloc, and NDP MPs in issuing a joint statement calling for an emergency meeting of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) to discuss the revelations in the CSIS documents. The documents revealed by the Globe also allege that the CCP leadership in Beijing was “pressuring its consulates to create strategies to leverage politically [active] Chinese community members and associations within Canadian society” and that people sympathetic to Beijing’s cause were encouraged to give campaign donations to candidates favoured by China. The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force set up by the Trudeau government to monitor threats to federal elections never issued any public warning about foreign interference during the 2019 or 2021 campaigns. In light of these allegations, Conservative MPs are now calling for an investigation into China’s interference in the 2021 federal election.
MPs investigate allegations of Chinese interference in 2021 election to help Liberals.
