The House affairs committee on Monday voted unanimously to compel documents regarding alleged Chinese Communist interference in federal campaigns. The committee earlier heard foreign agents sought to unseat Conservative MPs..“Canadians deserve answers,” said Conservative MP Michael Cooper (St. Albert-Edmonton). “We need to get to the bottom of this interference. It is disturbing that the prime minister was briefed about this.”.Global News in a Nov. 7 report quoted anonymous sources indicating the prime minister last January was told of a “vast campaign of foreign interference” by Chinese agents, including illegal spending and clandestine work targeting 11 candidates in the 2019 campaign. The candidates were not named..“What did the prime minister know and what do ministers know?” asked Cooper. “What were they briefed on? What have they done?”.Cooper sponsored the motion to “order the production of all relevant briefing notes, memoranda and documents” concerning Communist Party interference. Liberal MPs voted in support..“We are all extremely concerned about the interference of foreign governments in our political affairs here in Canada,” said Liberal MP Greg Fergus (Hull-Aylmer, Que.)..DisinfoWatch, an Ottawa advocacy group, in a November 3 submission told the House affairs committee Chinese Communist agents worked against Conservative MPs..“In the weeks before the Sept. 20, 2021 election we were alerted to Chinese state media narratives that directly targeted the Conservative Party and its leader Erin O’Toole,” testified Marcus Kolga, director of DisinfoWatch..“On Sept. 9, 2021 the Chinese Communist Party-owned tabloid Global Times published an article attacking the Conservative Party foreign policy platform,” said Kolga..“The Global Times article threatened Canadians that if they elected a Conservative government Canadians should expect ‘a strong counterstrike and Canada will be the one to suffer.’”.Conservative MP Luc Berthold (Mégantic-L’Érable, Que.) yesterday told the committee that all electors and political organizers should be alarmed..“Elections have been threatened with these allegations,” said Berthold..“We owe it to Canadians to ensure the democratic process is beyond any suspicion and especially beyond any foreign interference by any entity around the world and in particular the Chinese Communist Party,” said Berthold..“Who knew about this?” asked Berthold. “Who was made aware? How was this interference disclosed? Why didn’t we know anything between 2019 and 2021? Why weren’t Canadians told about this, and more importantly why did the prime minister not do anything to protect the 2021 election from the interference that occurred in 2019?”
