Key NSICOP allegation of foreign state supporting a witting politician apparently stems from defeat of MP Kenny Chiu and September 2021 CSIS brief. Sam Cooper reports.

By Sam Cooper | Published by The Bureau

Summary

Ten days prior to Canada’s 2021 election, Justin Trudeau’s candidate in Richmond, Parm Bains, was interviewed by Rise Media, a platform allegedly linked to Chinese Communist Party foreign influence and intelligence operations.

During the interview, a Chinese community activist questioned Bains about the Foreign Influence Registry bill proposed by his opponent, Conservative MP Kenny Chiu. Bains stated he would not support the bill, saying it discriminated against certain communities.

On the same day, Rise Weekly published a front-page ad and an endorsement article urging Richmond’s Chinese-Canadian voters, who make up about 50% of the riding, to vote for Bains and Prime Minister Trudeau, citing promises to combat online hate speech.

Days later, the Chinese Canadians Goto Vote Association (CCGV), a group formed by Rise Media journalists during the 2021 campaign, campaigned for Bains alongside several of Beijing’s top proxies in British Columbia. Social media videos appeared to show Bains echoing insinuations of racism against Conservative leader Erin O’Toole and Kenny Chiu that had been circulating on China-linked media outlets.

This seemed to indicate a reciprocal relationship involving Chinese media and political activists guided and funded by Beijing’s United Front Work Department, China’s foreign influence arm.

One of the community leaders campaigning for Bains with CCGV was later personally recognized by President Xi Jinping and United Front cadres, after the RCMP investigated the group’s alleged involvement in Chinese police stations in Canada.

Now, three years after Bains defeated Chiu, allegations of Chinese election interference have resurfaced with the release of a Parliamentary committee’s 92-page review, prompting opposition parties to demand transparency on the identities of MPs and Senators alleged to be “witting or semi-witting” collaborators. The Trudeau government refuses to disclose this information.

In his analysis, journalist Sam Cooper raises questions about whether Bains and other Parliamentarians could be seen as witting, semi-witting, or merely duped collaborators in sophisticated Chinese media operations that support some candidates and attack others in Canadian elections.

Bains denied any inappropriate influence in his 2021 campaign, stating, “The only interests that have ever influenced my actions are those of the nation I was born in, Canada, and the community where I was raised, Richmond.”

Cooper’s analysis suggests the case involving China’s disinformation campaign against Chiu and support for Bains might be the “textbook example of foreign interference” described in the censored Parliamentary report, where a foreign state supported a “witting politician.”

Records indicate the Liberal Party judged against action after receiving specific intelligence from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) on September 12, 2021, regarding China’s attacks on Chiu and support for Bains.

Read the full-text version of this report at the publisher’s website here.