ANALYSIS: Why RCMP Launched a Special Program to Counter CCP in Quebec

RCMP officers hold an event in Montreal's Chinatown to raise awareness about interference by the Chinese regime, on July 10, 2024. (Noé Chartier/The Epoch Times)

Toronto and Vancouver have the largest Chinese and Hong Kong diaspora populations in Canada, yet it was in Quebec that the RCMP launched a special program to encourage the community to report cases of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) harassment.

The program was launched in early July and features social media videos in Chinese, French, and English, with the Quebec RCMP announcing that it is actively engaged in investigating Chinese interference in the province. It also features uniformed officers going into the Chinese community and encouraging people to report cases of harassment by the Beijing regime.

An RCMP spokesperson in Quebec previously told The Epoch Times that the program helps to overcome a “climate of terror that prevails” and to let the community members know that they don’t have to remain silent in the face of threats.

The 2021 census indicated that there were over 820,000 Chinese-Canadians in Ontario, making it the largest concentration in the country. This is followed by B.C., with 550,000, and Alberta, with 164,000. Quebec is in fourth place with 115,000.

While the RCMP has identified two suspected secret Chinese police stations in Quebec, police have identified three such centres in the Greater Toronto Area. And in B.C. two such centres have been identified, one of which was brought to light by The Epoch Times.

Michel Juneau-Katsuya, former chief of the Asia-Pacific unit at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), says the fact that the program has been launched only in Quebec doesn’t necessarily mean the CCP is significantly more active in its harassment tactics in that province compared to other parts of Canada. Rather, he credits the Quebec RCMP for taking leadership and being more proactive.

“The group in Montreal has demonstrated for several years now a much more innovative approach to their work on national security,” Juneau-Katsuya said in an interview.

The intelligence professional and author adds that this also doesn’t necessarily mean Quebec’s political class as a whole is more vigilant regarding the CCP threat than the rest of the country, but rather it is a credit to the RCMP unit there.

“They have, for example, initiated patrols in the streets of Montreal, where the [Chinese] community is located, in Chinatown, when it was reported to them that some people were trying to intimidate the community and shop owners,” he said.

This has also included the unit deploying officers specializing in national security to remote regions of the province to protect critical infrastructure, after it emerged in 2022 that a Hydro Quebec employee was suspected of spying for China, as reported by La Presse.

Scott McGregor, a former Canadian Armed Forces intelligence operator and intelligence adviser to the RCMP, says Quebec-based Junueau-Katsuya himself has also played a key role in raising awareness about the issue in the province, which eventually led to more action. This included consultations and training for the law enforcement.

But he also notes that immigration programs in Quebec have made the province a port of entry from China, and that has in some cases allowed the unvetted entry of CCP operatives over the years.

“A large opening in the immigration of Chinese to Canada has been run through Quebec for 30 years or more,” said McGregor, co-author of the 2023 book “The Mosaic Effect: How the Chinese Communist Party Started a Hybrid War in America’s Backyard.”

Additionally, many of the well-connected companies that have been instrumental in Canada-China trade relations have their base in Quebec.

Jonathan Fon, a China affairs commentator based in the Toronto area, says sometimes it could be the case that one Chinese Consulate could be more aggressive in its targeting of diaspora members than others. This could, he says, also extend to the groups controlled by the CCP’s United Front Work Department, the regime’s primary foreign interference tool.

“Some pro-Beijing activists in Montreal may want to compete with their peers in Toronto and Vancouver,” he told The Epoch Times.

Fon added that some of the groups in Toronto and Vancouver may be keeping a lower profile in the face of added scrutiny on China’s interference, while those in Montreal may be more brazen.

Following months of media reports since late 2022, based on intelligence leaks about China’s interference in Canadian elections and other areas, the federal government launched a public inquiry into the issue under pressure from opposition parties. The inquiry is still ongoing and is expected to issue its final report by the end of this year.

However, Juneau-Katsuya says the evidence, including information presented at the inquiry, shows that the Chinese Consulate in Toronto and those in other Canadian cities remain ever aggressive in their interference efforts, with no sign of slowing down.

Outreach

Juneau-Katsuya says the outreach approach in Quebec is working, as the police are receiving many tips.

Within a week of launching the program, the RCMP received six credible reports of Chinese interference, amounting to a quarter of the total 24 reports the force received on interference since March 2023, in just a fraction of the time.

Diaspora groups have long lamented the difficulty they face in reporting cases of CCP interference.

Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, told The Epoch Times previously that one time in December 2021, after his phone and his legal adviser’s phone were hacked by people he suspects were Chinese agents, his lawyer tried to file a report with the RCMP, CSIS, and other relevant agencies. However, after three hours on the phone, he said he still wasn’t able to file a report, as the agencies passed his call from one to another.

Tohti relayed his account following remarks by then-RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki in January 2022 that the force has a phone number that people with concerns can call.

Mabel Lee, chair of the Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement, which advocates for freedoms in China, wishes the Quebec program will be extended to other parts of Canada as well.

“I think they should advertise the resources that people can go to in case they face any harassment or intimidation or see anything happen, just like in Quebec and Montreal,” Lee said in an interview.

Former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu, who, according to the public inquiry was subject of Chinese interference via misinformation tactics during the 2021 election, says he also wants to see the Quebec program expanded nationally.

“The RCMP is a national police force, and therefore I don’t see why they will only do it in Quebec and not the rest of the country,” he told The Epoch Times.

RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Kim Chamberland says the police force continues to conduct outreach and raise awareness about foreign interference within communities across the country.

“While the RCMP video originated from INSET [Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams]-Eastern Region, it was amplified nationally as this issue is not unique to Quebec,” Chamberland told The Epoch Times.

“It’s important for all individuals and community groups living in Canada, regardless of their nationality, to know that there are support mechanisms in place.”

Chamberland said anyone who feels threatened should report the incident to local police and call 9-1-1 if there is immediate danger. As well, people can contact the RCMP National Security Information Network by phone at 1-800-420-5805, or online at RCMP.ca/Report-It.

Legislation

Juneau-Katsuya, co-author of the 2009 book “Nest of Spies,” who is authoring a new book on the CCP’s interference efforts in Prince Edward Island, also notes that another difference now compared to the past is the passage of the new foreign interference bill that gives law enforcement additional tools to tackle foreign interference.

“For a long, long period of time, and I’m talking decades, the community would go to the police, and the police couldn’t do anything—not because they were not interested in doing something, but because until recently we didn’t have a definition of what foreign interference is about,” he said.

Bill C-70, “An Act respecting countering foreign interference,” was signed into law in June. It establishes a foreign agent registry, creates new criminal offences related to foreign interference, allows CSIS to share information with non-federal entities, and introduces a number of other measures to tackle foreign interference.

Noé Chartier contributed to this report.