The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) deployed officers to the field in Montreal and Brossard on Wednesday to meet with Quebecers of Chinese origin, after receiving several complaints in recent weeks about harassment, intimidation or threats suspected of being the work of a Chinese Communist Party.
“In the last few weeks, we have had a little over half a dozen people from the community in Canada who have been victims or witnesses of threats, harassment or intimidation,” explains Sergeant Charles Poirier, spokesperson for the police force.
“We see that the Chinese Communist Party is being discussed, or at least the name of the Chinese Communist Party is being used,” he continues. For example, there are people who receive an anonymous call after posting a comment critical of the Chinese regime on social media, and who are advised to remove it, sometimes with a reference to their loved ones who remain in China. Other cases involve in-person visits to certain Quebec residents to suggest that they return to China to resolve their problems with the Party.
“We cannot tolerate this,” says Sergeant Poirier.
“These people came to settle here, they are part of the Canadian community, they have the right to be protected. We want to let them know that we are here to help them if necessary,” he said.
RCMP on the ground
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PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Several traders and workers received a card with instructions on how to denounce foreign interference.
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PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Police asked citizens to contact them if they witnessed or were victims of intimidation.
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PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
SPVM and Longueuil police officers participated in the awareness campaign in Montreal and Brossard.
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PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
When passing from The Presssome people we met confirmed that they felt they were being monitored by the Chinese Communist Party.
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PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
A video in Mandarin was also released by the police force as part of its awareness campaign.
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PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Several complaints have been filed with the RCMP in recent weeks relating to intimidation, harassment or threats.
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PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
The RCMP is also continuing its criminal investigation into clandestine Chinese police stations that are said to have operated in Quebec.
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RCMP officers visited several establishments in Brossard and Montreal’s Chinatown to raise awareness and encourage people to report any acts of foreign interference they witness. Many merchants and passersby were not very talkative, but all took the small card distributed by the officers, with a telephone number and a web link to facilitate reporting.
The RCMP had already received “between 15 and 20 reports” in recent months after publicly confirming that it was investigating the Greater Montreal Chinese Family Service and the South Shore Sino-Quebec Centre, suspected of hiding clandestine Chinese police stations intended to monitor and intimidate the diaspora on Quebec soil. The two organizations publicly announced that they were suing the federal police for defamation last March, but recently agreed to suspend their prosecution for nine months while the criminal investigation continues.
A Mandarin video posted on social media Tuesday also allowed the RCMP to immediately receive four credible reports of other acts of foreign interference.