The Liberal party has implemented leadership race policy changes after MPs said they must run a leadership contest free of foreign interference, per Blacklock’s Reporter.
The change in Liberal party voting rules follows evidence a busload of Chinese foreign students helped nominate MP Han Dong in 2019.
“We have to be very realistic to the threats of foreign interference,” Liberal MP Jennifer O’Connell, parliamentary secretary for public safety, told reporters.
“We have to take that seriously and what that means in terms of the measures in place.”
Liberal party rules had allowed anyone over 14 who “ordinarily lives in Canada” regardless of citizenship or immigration status to become a voting member free of charge. Federal agencies counted 1,040,985 foreign students and 766,520 migrant workers in Canada in 2023, the most recent available data.
The party has tightened rules effective immediately to require that applicants for free memberships be at least 14 and “a Canadian citizen, have status under the Indian Act or be a permanent resident of Canada.”
MPs said organizers of the current leadership contest must ensure a clean race.
“We want to ensure there is integrity and transparency,” said MP Charles Sousa, parliamentary secretary for public works.
“Listen, there’s foreign interference concerns.”
The party set a January 27 cut-off for new membership applications. Candidates campaigning to succeed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau face a deadline of January 23 to file all papers and a $350,000 cash entry fee.
Balloting is Sunday, March 9. Sousa said integrity of the process was important even if Liberals were selecting a leader “who will become the prime minister maybe for a day or a month.”
The rule changes follow evidence uncovered by the Commission on Foreign Interference that Chinese foreign students voted at a 2019 nomination meeting for MP Han Dong. Students attending a private high school outside the riding, New Oriental International College Academy of Markham, ON, were bused in by Dong’s campaign.
Dong at the time was under surveillance of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. He was later disqualified from appointment to the Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations “because of concerns that officials had raised,” according to a report disclosed last October 15.
Dong quit the Liberal caucus in 2023 following Global News reports he was in frequent contact with the Chinese Consulate in Toronto.
Liberal MP Yasir Naqv, parliamentary secretary for health, said Canadians must be assured of a fair leadership contest. He did not mention the Dong case.
“We need to make sure it is a credible process, a process that is fair and transparent,” Naqvi told reporters.
“We want Canadians to have full confidence in the process that we follow in electing the next leader and the prime minister of the country. That’s a very important element.”
There must be “no doubts around the vote,” said Naqvi.
“I have to be mindful about concerns around foreign interference. It is something we are more aware of today than ever before.”