Hogue finds witnesses on PRC-targeting of Chinese candidates face credible threats, records will be sealed for 99 years.

By Sam Cooper | The Bureau

Summary

In an “extraordinary move,” notes investigative journalist Sam Cooper, Canada’s foreign interference inquiry, led by Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue, will hear from two new secret witnesses (referred to as Person B and Person C) with firsthand knowledge of PRC influence operations that have targeted electoral candidates and community associations in Canada.

Both witnesses face credible threats to their safety and that of their families due to their insights into the PRC’s United Front Work Department (UFWD). Their identities will be protected, and only sanitized summaries of their testimonies will be made public.

Person B has provided vital information on how Beijing’s agents co-opt Chinese Canadian community associations and politicians to further PRC interests. This evidence is considered critical for the inquiry’s final report due in December.

The inquiry will implement extraordinary protective measures to protect the identities of the witnesses, who will submit their statements confidentially via affidavits that will remain sealed for 99 years.

Commissioner Hogue’s decision marks a significant deviation from standard inquiry practices, highlighting the necessity to safeguard those revealing sensitive information about foreign state actors.

Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch welcomed the decision to hear from new witnesses, emphasizing the need for continued evidence collection regarding foreign interference. However, he criticized the overall lack of transparency in the inquiry and pointed out existing loopholes in Canada’s laws that facilitate foreign influence. He called for stronger measures to prevent such interference in the future.

Read the full report by The Bureau at the publisher’s website here.