Names of Candidates Supported by Beijing an ‘Open Secret,’ Committee Told

The House of Commons is pictured on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 19, 2021. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

The Chinese regime’s interference in Canadian elections revealed in recent media leaks is only the “tip of the iceberg,” and anti-Beijing activists say they have a good idea who Beijing’s favoured candidates are, a Commons committee heard on March 10.

“If we want to say who are the 11 potential nominees that CSIS had kind of mentioned, I can pretty much guess who they are,” said Cheuk Kwan, co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China.

Kwan was referring to media reporting stating that the Chinese regime had funded at least 11 candidates in the 2019 election.

“It’s an open secret that both Mr. Tohti and I have been living with and knowing,” said Kwan as he testified alongside Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project.

The House of Commons ethics committee was holding its first meeting related to its study of “foreign interference and threats to the integrity of democratic institutions, intellectual property, and the Canadian state.”

Kwan explained that by knowing the language and the culture and being on the ground, he understands the modus operandi of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its proxies.

“That’s why, after so many years, it’s no longer a surprise to us that the recent CSIS report has come up with this explosive intelligence,” he said.

Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure asked Kwan to expand on his comments and identify the impacted ridings.

Kwan raised the well-known case of former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu, who he says was targeted by a disinformation campaign in relation to his efforts to establish a foreign agent registry and lost his B.C. seat in the 2021 election.

The other example he gave pertained to the riding of Markham-Unionville in the Toronto area, where he said the results were “highly suspicious.”

Conservative Bob Saroya won 48.9 percent of the vote in 2019, while Liberal Party candidate Alan Ho was the runner-up with 38.4 percent.

In 2021, Liberal Paul Chiang won 48.6 percent of the vote compared to the 41.9 percent garnered by Saroya.

Kwan called the Liberal Party’s candidate “Chinese-aligned.”

The Epoch Times reached out to Chiang’s office for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.

Liberal MP Lisa Hepfner came to Chiang’s defence, saying she’s “not the least bit surprised” he won the riding.

“He was a police officer in the region for 28 years, he speaks eight languages, and he’s been an excellent member of Parliament for the last two years,” she said.

Liberal MP Han Dong is another who’s been identified as being aligned with the Chinese regime, this time in national security leaks in the media.

Global News reported on Feb. 25 that, based on Canadian Security Intelligence Service information, Dong is a “witting affiliate in China’s election interference networks.”

Dong has called the allegations “inaccurate and irresponsible.”

Kwan said CCP interference in the electoral process is a “grave concern,” but noted it’s only the “tip of the iceberg.”

“China’s interference in Canada has been soft, intangible, and gradual. As a result, this buildup over the years, the 90 percent of the iceberg if you were, remains invisible to many Canadians,” he said.

The Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics is looking into the matter along with the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC).

Liberal MPs in PROC have been delaying a vote on a motion supported by all opposition parties that would call the prime minister’s chief of staff to testify on Beijing’s foreign interference.