CSIS documents reveal Chinese strategy to influence Canada’s 2021 election

[I am Groot]

The Globe obviously has a mole in CSIS, or a whistle-blower, take your pick. Anyway, these reports show yet again what a dishonest government this is and also make it patently obvious how much effort China is putting into keeping them in power and keeping the Conservatives out. Some of the activities are clearly illegal, but with the continued denials by the Trudeau government, we've seen no sign of any effort at law enforcement. Key excerpts. 

The full extent of the Chinese interference operation is laid bare in both secret and top-secret Canadian Security Intelligence Service documents viewed by The Globe and Mail that cover the period before and after the September, 2021, election that returned the Liberals to office.

The CSIS reports were shared among senior government officials and Canada’s Five Eyes intelligence allies of the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Some of this intelligence was also shared with French and German spy services.

***

Drawn from a series of CSIS intelligence-gathering operations, the documents illustrate how an orchestrated machine was operating in Canada with two primary aims: to ensure that a minority Liberal government was returned in 2021, and that certain Conservative candidates identified by China were defeated.

The documents say the Chinese Communist Party leadership in Beijing was “pressuring its consulates to create strategies to leverage politically [active] Chinese community members and associations within Canadian society.” Beijing uses Canadian organizations to advocate on their behalf “while obfuscating links to the People’s Republic of China.”

The classified reports viewed by The Globe reveal that China’s former consul-general in Vancouver, Tong Xiaoling, boasted in 2021 about how she helped defeat two Conservative MPs.

***

In early July, 2021 – eight weeks before election day – one consular official at an unnamed Chinese diplomatic mission in Canada said Beijing “likes it when the parties in Parliament are fighting with each other, whereas if there is a majority, the party in power can easily implement policies that do not favour the PRC.

Most important, the intelligence reports show that Beijing was determined that the Conservatives did not win. China employed disinformation campaigns and proxies connected to Chinese-Canadian organizations in Vancouver and the GTA, which have large mainland Chinese immigrant communities, to voice opposition to the Conservatives and favour the Trudeau Liberals.

The CSIS documents reveal that Chinese diplomats and their proxies, including some members of the Chinese-language media, were instructed to press home that the Conservative Party was too critical of China and that, if elected, it would follow the lead of former U.S. president Donald Trump and ban Chinese students from certain universities or education programs.

“This will threaten the future of the voters’ children, as it will limit their education opportunities,” the CSIS report quoted the Chinese consulate official as saying. The official added: “The Liberal Party of Canada is becoming the only party that the PRC can support.”

CSIS also explained how Chinese diplomats conduct foreign interference operations in support of political candidates and elected officials. Tactics include undeclared cash donations to political campaigns or having business owners hire international Chinese students and “assign them to volunteer in electoral campaigns on a full-time basis.”

Sympathetic donors are also encouraged to provide campaign contributions to candidates favoured by China – donations for which they receive a tax credit from the federal government. Then, the CSIS report from Dec. 20, 2021 says, political campaigns quietly, and illegally, return part of the contribution – “the difference between the original donation and the government’s refund” – back to the donors.

In early November, 2021, CSIS reported, Ms. Tong discussed the defeat of a Vancouver-area Conservative, whom she described as a “vocal distractor” of the Chinese government. A national-security source said the MP was Kenny Chiu. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source, who risks prosecution under the Security of Information Act.

The source said Mr. Chiu was targeted in retaliation for his criticism of China’s crackdown in Hong Kong and his 2021 private member’s bill aiming to establish a registry of foreign agents, an effort inspired by similar Australian legislation to combat foreign interference. The United States has a long-standing registry; Canada is still studying the matter.

According to CSIS, Ms. Tong talked about China’s efforts to influence mainland Chinese-Canadian voters against the Conservative Party. She said Mr. Chiu’s loss proved “their strategy and tactics were good, and contributed to achieving their goals while still adhering to the local political customs in a clever way.”

In mid-November, CSIS reported that an unnamed Chinese consular official said the loss of Mr. Chiu and fellow Conservative MP Alice Wong substantiated the growing electoral influence of mainland Chinese-Canadians.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-china-influence-2021-federal-election-csis-documents/

[SpankyMcFarland]

JT must be pleased the Convoy Commission and Mr. Tory are making news at the moment because this could be very damaging for him. Beyond the partisan hay that will be made we should recognize that the threat from the PRC is enduring and will confront future Canadian governments of any hue as long as the CCP holds sway in Beijing. 

[ExFlyer]

Bottom line is that elections, and not just Canadian, have been influenced or tried to be influenced by all sorts of organizations (unions, companies, corporations), people (Soros ("Ms. Freeland is quoted in the Globe and Mail stating that, “Soros had ‘very great hopes for Canada’", Koch and/or Canadian equivalents like Levant and Black) and news papers/groups/blogs/pages and , of course, countries that have financial or political interests in Canada.

[Moonbox]

2 hours ago, I am Groot said:

The Globe obviously has a mole in CSIS, or a whistle-blower, take your pick. Anyway, these reports show yet again what a dishonest government this is and also make it patently obvious how much effort China is putting into keeping them in power and keeping the Conservatives out. Some of the activities are clearly illegal, but with the continued denials by the Trudeau government, we've seen no sign of any effort at law enforcement. Key excerpts. 

So I read this article earlier this morning and was waiting for someone to post about it. 

Two things that stuck out:

1) It's clear the PRC worked to support the Liberals over the Conservatives, much like the Russians supported the Republicans over the Democrats. 

2) It's interesting that their desired outcome wasn't a Liberal majority, but rather a Liberal minority, as a weak and disharmonious Canada government is easier to manipulate.  

What's problematic here, I think, is how permissive Canada seems to have been over the last 15-20 years.  I never understood why it took years for Canada to finally ban Huawei.  I don't understand why we allow Chinese quasi-police stations in Canada to monitor and influence their expats and students here.  Has anyone ever been to Pacific Mall in the GTA?  It's a 50% black market, and law enforcement just turns a blind eye.  

I don't get this lazy (or cowardly) complacency from the Liberal governments.  

[West]

Far left Chinese communists work to have far left extremists in the LPOC elected. Called this a few years ago... another conspiracy theory comes true

[I am Groot]

5 hours ago, Moonbox said:

So I read this article earlier this morning and was waiting for someone to post about it. 

Two things that stuck out:

1) It's clear the PRC worked to support the Liberals over the Conservatives, much like the Russians supported the Republicans over the Democrats. 

2) It's interesting that their desired outcome wasn't a Liberal majority, but rather a Liberal minority, as a weak and disharmonious Canada government is easier to manipulate.  

What's problematic here, I think, is how permissive Canada seems to have been over the last 15-20 years.  I never understood why it took years for Canada to finally ban Huawei.  I don't understand why we allow Chinese quasi-police stations in Canada to monitor and influence their expats and students here.  Has anyone ever been to Pacific Mall in the GTA?  It's a 50% black market, and law enforcement just turns a blind eye.  

I don't get this lazy (or cowardly) complacency from the Liberal governments.  

We have shitty laws which no one seems to be bothered enough to change. Convicting someone of a white-collar crime, be it fraud or something like selling smuggled or counterfeit goods takes massive amounts of evidence for almost no sentence but a slap on the wrist. In fact, it's so bad police forces rarely even bother to investigate fraud anymore. Even a conviction just gets a small fine or suspended sentence except in the most extreme cases.

Even when their open fraud is exposed by consumer groups or those hidden camera shows mechanics and contractors aren't charged by police. You really have to put a lot of effort into it to get any kind of sentence. 

As for Chinese interference in our elections, it honestly doesn't feel as if the Trudeau government cares, as long as it's to his benefit. Much like Trump didn't care about Russian interference for the same reason. Other countries, like Australia and the US have put in place laws against election interference. Canada has been 'studying' it for years now. Chinese influencers are everywhere, which CSIS has been telling us for years. They own almost all Chinese language media and tow the PRC line. And they donate money to the party they're told to and get reimbursed by China. 

This is, in turn, an example of how slack we've been with our immigration. We bring in tens of thousands of people from China every year but we don't interview them. We don't subject them to intensive background checks to ascertain what connections they might have with the Communist Party or military. We don't even try to find out why they want to immigrate here. Is it because they want to breathe free air? Because if so why do so many return 'home' again many times, often for very long periods of time? What is their commitment to Canada? Why does the Chinese consulate say it's so 'easy' to influence them to the PRC's preferred narrative?

Edited February 17, 2023 by I am Groot

[eyeball]

1 hour ago, West said:

Far left Chinese communists work to have far left extremists in the LPOC elected. Called this a few years ago... another conspiracy theory comes true

Yawn....

It was at least 30 years ago I started saying that Canada has no justifiable business wheeling and dealing with any dictators whatsoever - because doing so would only make us more like them.

Conservatives and Liberals alike called me a commie.

[WestCanMan]

I think it's a given that all of our geopolitical foes wanted Trudeau elected again, as well as Biden in the States. They're like Xi's dream team. 

The only surprise here is that the Globe reported on it instead of asking the gov't of China for some money to keep it hidden. 

[I am Groot]

38 minutes ago, WestCanMan said:

I think it's a given that all of our geopolitical foes wanted Trudeau elected again, as well as Biden in the States. They're like Xi's dream team. 

Biden has been tougher on US foes than Trump. He's challenged China repeatedly, reaffirmed the US commitment to Taiwan, sent weapons to Taiwan, and billions in armaments to Ukraine to fight off Russia. He's also challenged North Korea, and reinstated US/South Korean military exercises Trump ordered stopped.

[WestCanMan]

8 minutes ago, I am Groot said:

Biden has been tougher on US foes than Trump. He's challenged China repeatedly, reaffirmed the US commitment to Taiwan, sent weapons to Taiwan, and billions in armaments to Ukraine to fight off Russia. He's also challenged North Korea, and reinstated US/South Korean military exercises Trump ordered stopped.

Biden is a complete dolt. He's the reason there's war in Ukraine in the first place. His Afghan withdrawal was the biggest US military disgrace since the Bay of Pigs. 

If China invested ten trillion in the last US election it was money well spent. 

[I am Groot]

21 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

Biden is a complete dolt. He's the reason there's war in Ukraine in the first place. His Afghan withdrawal was the biggest US military disgrace since the Bay of Pigs. 

If China invested ten trillion in the last US election it was money well spent. 

This makes no sense. Trump was so friendly with Putin and so irritated at Ukraine I doubt he'd have done a single thing when Russia invaded. In fact, his response last year was to praise Putin for his genius. He certainly would not have been sending weapons to Ukraine or organizing NATO condemnation or sanctions.

I don't discount that Putin might have seen America and Biden as weak given their silly culture war turbulence, race riots and abuse being hurled back and forth between the two parties. But he was wrong. And America was just as weak and divided under Trump, whose administration was unlikely to have responded coherently or to have been able to create any unity among allies.

Edited February 18, 2023 by I am Groot

[I am Groot]

So, if anyone has any doubts about just how important Justin Trudeau considers election interference - on his behalf - by China, you need only see his response to the Globe and Mail story.

In response to The Globe story, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters at a Friday news conference that he expects CSIS to find out who is leaking the secret reports, and stuck to his long-held view that Chinese interference operations did not affect the overall results of the 2019 and 2021 elections.

Yeah, that's right. He couldn't care less about what China is doing. His only concern is, as always, himself and his reputation. What a piece of work this guy is.

Meanwhile, China is warning its 'Canadian friends" to stay away from MPs temporarily as they know CSIS is looking into Chinese influence in politics.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-chinese-diplomats-warned-canadian-friends-to-scale-back-influence/

Edited February 18, 2023 by I am Groot

[WestCanMan]

13 hours ago, I am Groot said:

This makes no sense. Trump was so friendly with Putin and so irritated at Ukraine I doubt he'd have done a single thing when Russia invaded. In fact, his response last year was to praise Putin for his genius. He certainly would not have been sending weapons to Ukraine or organizing NATO condemnation or sanctions.

I don't discount that Putin might have seen America and Biden as weak given their silly culture war turbulence, race riots and abuse being hurled back and forth between the two parties. But he was wrong. But America was just as weak and divided under Trump, whose administration was unlikely to have responded coherently or to have been able to create any unity among allies.

Russia took Crimea when Obama was president. They did nothing for four years, and the second that Biden was inaugurated Russia started accumulating troops on Ukraine's border. January 2021. 

[sharkman]

I’m almost stunned that the response from the left of center in this forum is so supportive of this story, that is evidence of election meddling in Canada.  Even though it damages the Liberal government…

[Guest]

1 hour ago, sharkman said:

I’m almost stunned that the response from the left of center in this forum is so supportive of this story, that is evidence of election meddling in Canada.  Even though it damages the Liberal government…

Is it on another thread?  Because I can't find anyone on this one that is supportive. 

Personally, I'm appalled, and I haven't even read the article.

[eyeball]

1 hour ago, sharkman said:

I’m almost stunned that the response from the left of center in this forum is so supportive of this story, that is evidence of election meddling in Canada.  Even though it damages the Liberal government…

Ahem...excuse me?

Did you miss or ignore where I said we should have stopped doing ANY business with dictators decades ago?

[suds]

2 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

Russia took Crimea when Obama was president. They did nothing for four years, and the second that Biden was inaugurated Russia started accumulating troops on Ukraine's border. January 2021. 

Good points, but let's not forget Georgia (also under Obama's watch). The meddling by the governments of Russia and China isn't as much about who wins but rather in eroding the integrity of our elections, and our rights to free speech. Look at the US which has  politically polarized itself over what it perceived to be Russian interference with the purpose in getting Trump elected. In effect, it completely handcuffed the Trump administration with the subsequent investigations, impeachments, amid the constant harping of him being an illegitimate president.  And not only that, how much have our rights to free speech been eroded by this campaign to stamp out 'misinformation'? What about the politicization of institutions such as the FBI? Can anyone doubt that our enemies of freedom are winning and we're all beginning to look more and more like them every day?

Edited February 18, 2023 by suds

[WestCanMan]

58 minutes ago, suds said:

Good points, but let's not forget Georgia (also under Obama's watch). The meddling by the governments of Russia and China isn't as much about who wins but rather in eroding the integrity of our elections, and our rights to free speech. Look at the US which has  politically polarized itself over what it perceived to be Russian interference with the purpose in getting Trump elected. In effect, it completely handcuffed the Trump administration with the subsequent investigations, impeachments, amid the constant harping of him being an illegitimate president.  And not only that, how much have our rights to free speech been eroded by this campaign to stamp out 'misinformation'? What about the politicization of institutions such as the FBI? Can anyone doubt that our enemies of freedom are winning and we're all beginning to look more and more like them every day?

Our own MSM is beyond repair. 

https://cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/media-centre/trusted-news-charter-fight-disinformation

Quote

CBC/Radio-Canada joins global charter to fight disinformation 

• Sep 9, 2019, Ottawa

CBC/Radio-Canada believes that trusted sources of news and information for Canadians are vital to democracy. To support that goal on a global scale, CBC/Radio-Canada has joined the Trusted News Charter, a BBC-led initiative to strengthen measures to protect audiences from disinformation. The Charter is the result of the June 2019 Trusted News Summit and includes a commitment to collaborate on source authentication, civic information, media education, and other responses to disinformation.

Quote

Read the BBC announcement here. Other partners just announced include Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, AFP, Reuters, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and the European Broadcasting Union.

The BBC link takes you to this:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2019/disinformation

Quote

Major news and tech organisations will work together to protect their audiences and users from disinformation, particularly around moments of jeopardy, including elections.

They were initially started to "protect Americans from election disinformation".

Then they pimped the FBI lie about the laptop on Oct 8 2020, just a month before the election. 

The FBI also 'unravelled' the plot (their own plot) to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer that month. 

Then the TNI foisted Fauci's constant stream of covid lies on us, including gems like:

-covid probably isn't spreading from human to human yet

-We know covid came from bats, through an intermediary species like a pangolin, to become infectious to humans. (he failed to disclose the fact that he had provided funding for GOF research which made that particular coronavirus extremely transmissible among humans)

-the vaccines will be safe and effective

-the vaccines are safe and effective. If you're vaccinated you don't have to worry about getting infected, and you can't spread it

-right now we're experiencing a pandemic of the unvaccinated

 

The very global news consortium that was built to "protect us from disinformation" is actually the leading source of harmful disinformation on the planet. We'd have a better chance of seeing the truth on Xinhua.

In fact, when Trudeau was pontificating to the Chinese gov't about how "the PMO couldn't possibly interfere in the extradition hearings for Meng Whanzou because, in Canada, the government doesn't interfere in the judicial processes", it was Xinhua who had to say "SNC Lavalin just called, they need another law created, and the new AG needs his arm twisted a bit because he's not following our orders." Somehow, our own media completely missed the irony of Trudeau's statement. Hmm.

It should have been a coming to Jesus moment for the western media, when they were lambasted by a communist party's news agency, but they just trundled on like nothing ever happened. 

[I am Groot]

3 hours ago, bcsapper said:

Is it on another thread?  Because I can't find anyone on this one that is supportive. 

Personally, I'm appalled, and I haven't even read the article.

Lazy bastard!

[I am Groot]

4 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

Russia took Crimea when Obama was president. They did nothing for four years, and the second that Biden was inaugurated Russia started accumulating troops on Ukraine's border. January 2021. 

Obama is not Biden. And from what I've read Putin intended to invade Russia all along but was waiting for Trump's second term so he could pull the US out of NATO. 

The idea Putin would be in any way, shape or form worried about a guy who said he trusts Putin more than he trusts US intelligence agencies and the US military is laughable.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, I am Groot said:

Lazy bastard!

I was watching the football!

 

[I am Groot]

Just now, bcsapper said:

I was watching the football!

 

Real football or that soccer stuff you guys play?

[Guest]

Just now, I am Groot said:

Real football or that soccer stuff you guys play?

Not Pass the Egg.  Real, round football.

[I am Groot]

1 minute ago, bcsapper said:

Not Pass the Egg.  Real, round football.

Girly football.

[Guest]

Just now, I am Groot said:

Girly football.

No pads.  You guys can't even play Rugby properly.