(OTTAWA) The Conservative Party says at least eight of its candidates died in the 2021 federal election because of campaign interference from China.
The daily The Globe and Mail reported Friday that China used a sophisticated strategy to undermine Canadian democracy in the last election to secure the re-election of a minority Liberal government and defeat Conservative candidates deemed hostile to the Chinese regime in Beijing.
The daily claims to have seen the extent of the interference operation carried out by China by consulting secret CSIS documents which cover the period before and after the September 2021 elections.
Of the eight Conservative candidates who were allegedly targeted by a disinformation campaign on WeChat aimed at the Chinese diaspora, three were incumbent MPs. They are Bob Soroya, who lost in the riding of Markham-Unionville, Ontario, after being elected in 2015, Kenny Chiu, who lost in Steveston—Richmond East, British Columbia, after one term and Alice Wong, in Richmond Centre, who had been elected continuously since 2011. These three MPs were defeated in 2021 by Liberal candidates.
According to information obtained by The Presssenior Conservative Party leaders submitted evidence of interference to Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) investigators during three meetings that took place after Election Day, September 20, 2021. The last meeting took place two days before the formation of Justin Trudeau’s new cabinet.
“We have provided evidence to the relevant authorities. At least eight candidates have lost due to interference from China,” he told The Press a conservative source who requested anonymity in order to be able to speak freely on this issue.
“This is a very serious issue. It is absolutely essential that our national security agencies are able to detect and prevent this kind of interference to safeguard our democracy,” the source added.
In its Friday issue, The Globe and Mail reports that the CSIS documents were handed over by Canada to its allies of the Five Eyes group which includes, in addition to Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Some of this intelligence was also shared with French and German intelligence services.
Recall that a House of Commons procedure and affairs committee has launched a parliamentary inquiry into allegations that China intervened in the 2019 election campaign to back 11 mostly Liberal candidates in the region. of Toronto.
Over the past decade, Beijing has set itself the goal of expanding its political, economic and military influence around the world by using companies with ties to the communist regime and its vast network of diplomats for this purpose.
According The Globe and Mail, CSIS documents detail the tactics used by China in Canada. Beijing had essentially two objectives: to elect a minority liberal government and to ensure the defeat of certain identified conservative candidates.
Among other things, the documents indicate that the Chinese Communist Party leadership in Beijing “pressured its consulates to create strategies to take advantage of Chinese community members and political associations within Canadian society.” .
The documents reveal that China’s former consul general in Vancouver, Tong Xiaoling, bragged in 2021 that he helped defeat two Tory MPs.
In July 2021, about eight weeks before the election, an employee of a Chinese diplomatic mission in Canada reportedly said that China “likes it when parties in parliament are fighting each other, whereas if there is a majority, the ruling party can easily implement policies that do not favor the PRC. »
Certainly, the documents show that Beijing was determined to ensure that the conservatives did not win the election. China has used disinformation campaigns in the Vancouver and Toronto areas, which have large Chinese communities.
CSIS documents reveal that Chinese diplomats and some members of the Chinese-language media were given the mandate to convince the Chinese diaspora that the Conservative Party was too critical of China and that, if elected, it would could follow in the footsteps of former US President Donald Trump, who notably banned Chinese students from attending certain universities or educational programs in the United States.