Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said it suspected Chinese agents used WeChat to meddle in the 2021 election, but it did not act because the platform would not take questions, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “China shows growing sophistication in carrying out online information campaigns to influence audiences in Canada,” said GAC in a memo. GAC acknowledged Chinese agents were “successful in targeting mainland Chinese and diaspora audiences through China-based platforms like WeChat.”In the last election, it said it observed unusual account activity on WeChat constituting disinformation and attempts by certain parties to change votes in ridings. However, it took no action since WeChat is owned by Chinese media corporation Tencent Holdings Limited. With these activities, it said Canadian election monitors were unable to attribute it to a foreign government because of WeChat’s nature. “WeChat maker Tencent does not provide disclosure to the public on when it discovers or suspects an incident of foreign interference,” it said. Disclosure of the memo follows House of Commons Affairs Committee testimony by former public safety deputy minister Rod Stewart, who was among the Canadian election monitors mandated to watch for election interference in 2021. At the moment, Stewart said there are many Canadians being targeted by foreign interference and did not have to know about it. “There are processes and ways of doing so,” said Stewart. “In this instance, I was not tracking what other people were doing.”He said in 2021 he was warned twice by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Chinese agents using WeChat were targeting Conservative MP Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton Hills, ON). Chong was never informed. “It was not interpreted to be our job to determine whether there is a threat to an election in a specific riding,” he said. “We were informed of questionable activity in various ridings.”Stewart said he received numerous memos, including biweekly summaries of international security threats. He added these situations “all tend to be bundled into a binder, you know, maybe with some tabs.”“Every couple of days, you get a binder,” he said. “You flip through the binder and you try to detect trends or issues of interest.”Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen (Kingston and the Islands, ON) asked how thick the binder was. “A couple of inches,” said Stewart.The Canadian government released a poll on January 5 indicating it gained intelligence from Chinese Canadians on the state of relations between the two countries as an election interference public inquiry looms. READ MORE: Public inquiry into potential Chinese interference in Canadian election to launch January 29Cabinet polled Chinese Canadians in British Columbia on how they think relations between the two countries can be improved. The poll was conducted on the heels of demands for a public inquiry into election interference by Chinese operatives. All MPs except the Liberals voted in favour of a public inquiry in March and May.
Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said it suspected Chinese agents used WeChat to meddle in the 2021 election, but it did not act because the platform would not take questions, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “China shows growing sophistication in carrying out online information campaigns to influence audiences in Canada,” said GAC in a memo. GAC acknowledged Chinese agents were “successful in targeting mainland Chinese and diaspora audiences through China-based platforms like WeChat.”In the last election, it said it observed unusual account activity on WeChat constituting disinformation and attempts by certain parties to change votes in ridings. However, it took no action since WeChat is owned by Chinese media corporation Tencent Holdings Limited. With these activities, it said Canadian election monitors were unable to attribute it to a foreign government because of WeChat’s nature. “WeChat maker Tencent does not provide disclosure to the public on when it discovers or suspects an incident of foreign interference,” it said. Disclosure of the memo follows House of Commons Affairs Committee testimony by former public safety deputy minister Rod Stewart, who was among the Canadian election monitors mandated to watch for election interference in 2021. At the moment, Stewart said there are many Canadians being targeted by foreign interference and did not have to know about it. “There are processes and ways of doing so,” said Stewart. “In this instance, I was not tracking what other people were doing.”He said in 2021 he was warned twice by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Chinese agents using WeChat were targeting Conservative MP Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton Hills, ON). Chong was never informed. “It was not interpreted to be our job to determine whether there is a threat to an election in a specific riding,” he said. “We were informed of questionable activity in various ridings.”Stewart said he received numerous memos, including biweekly summaries of international security threats. He added these situations “all tend to be bundled into a binder, you know, maybe with some tabs.”“Every couple of days, you get a binder,” he said. “You flip through the binder and you try to detect trends or issues of interest.”Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen (Kingston and the Islands, ON) asked how thick the binder was. “A couple of inches,” said Stewart.The Canadian government released a poll on January 5 indicating it gained intelligence from Chinese Canadians on the state of relations between the two countries as an election interference public inquiry looms. READ MORE: Public inquiry into potential Chinese interference in Canadian election to launch January 29Cabinet polled Chinese Canadians in British Columbia on how they think relations between the two countries can be improved. The poll was conducted on the heels of demands for a public inquiry into election interference by Chinese operatives. All MPs except the Liberals voted in favour of a public inquiry in March and May.
