Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino initially stated at the Commons Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) in April that the RCMP had shut down covert Chinese police stations operating on Canadian soil. However, during an interview with CTV’s “Question Period” on May 14, Mendicino backtracked, stating that the RCMP had taken concrete action to disrupt any foreign interference regarding these so-called police stations. While specific addresses for these police stations are publicly available, these have been investigated by the RCMP, and the activities at these locations have ceased.
In the Greater Toronto Area, there are reportedly three suspected locations- a convenience store on Warden Ave in Scarborough, a residential home in Markham, and two units in a building in Markham, which also serves as the headquarters of the Canada Toronto Fuqing Business Association (CTFQBA). CTFQBA states on its website that it operates under the guidance of Chinese and Fujianese government organizations, including a municipal committee of the United Front Work Department. The RCMP has been investigating reports of criminal activity related to these unofficial police stations, and uniformed officers were sent to disrupt their operations.
In Richmond, B.C, the RCMP Integrated National Security Enforcement Team is reportedly investigating a building that serves as the headquarters of the Wenzhou Friendship Society (WFS), a non-profit group linked to Chinese interference in Canada. The RCMP investigations have been initiated following “15 serious tips” in relation to Chinese Family Service of Greater Montreal and the South Shore Sino-Québec Center, both based in Quebec. Following the media reports about the RCMP investigations, the Quebec Ministry of Immigration has cut funding to the two groups. Safeguard Defenders, a Spanish-based human rights NGO, reported that these police stations are part of an ongoing effort to monitor Beijing’s growing global transnational repression.
Number of Chinese police stations operating secretly in Canada.
