BC Mayor Targeted by CCP Urges Strong Strategy to Fight Foreign Interference

Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West speaks at the Vancouver International Security Summit on Nov. 26, 2024. Vivian Yu/NTD

Canada has become an “epicentre” of foreign interference, Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West says, recounting his own experience as a target of threats from the Chinese regime.

Addressing attendees of the Vancouver International Security Summit on Nov. 26, West highlighted incidents of Chinese interference, including “outrageous attempts to stifle, to intimidate, and to silence critics,” as well as the operation of secret police stations in Canada and threats made against dissidents’ families back in their home country.

“Far from being immune, Canada has become an epicentre for a bunch of this [foreign interference],” West said, adding that very little has been done in response.

Elected mayor in 2018, West has been a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including its arbitrary detention of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were kept in captivity for 1,019 days in retaliation for the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Canada. He opposed the Chinese consulate’s sponsorship of the 2019 convention of the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), which represents local governments across British Columbia, while China was taking such a hostile stance toward Canada and abusing human rights.

“When our fellow citizens are being held hostage, you don’t go partying it up with the hostage takers,” West said, noting that the Chinese regime had long sponsored the UBCM convention, using it as “an entry point” for the CCP to foster relationships, “growing their soft power and influence” within Canadian municipalities.

UBCM spokesperson Zoë Ducklow told The Epoch Times that the organization has since revised its sponsorship policy and now prohibits foreign governments from sponsoring or financing convention events, including receptions and networking opportunities. In its Final Report of the policy review, the organization conducted a member survey and found 65 percent oppose foreign sponsorship.

In June, the federal government passed Bill C-70, establishing the Foreign Influence Transparency Registry alongside stronger penalties for foreign interference. The law was passed years after similar bills were proposed to create a registry but were not supported.

Interference and Response

West’s outspokenness against Chinese regime influence came at a price.

During his 2022 re-election campaign, West faced interference and disinformation from Beijing, he said. In a prior interview with The Epoch Times, he said the Canadian Security Intelligence Service warned him in September 2022 that he was a target of the regime, which reportedly tried to use the Chinese social media platform WeChat to recruit a candidate to run against him.

“This episode launched me into a deeper understanding of foreign political interference, its growth and sophistication and unrelenting nature. It is the very definition of ‘If you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile,'” he said at the summit.

West criticized inaction in the face of foreign interference in Canada, highlighting three common responses. The first, he said, is naivety or wilful blindness, exemplified by officials dismissing concerns or suggesting that Beijing-sponsored events and paid trips to China are just “learning opportunities.”

The second is downplaying the issue, treating interference as minor or ineffective.

Finally, he noted a more concerning response of discouraging or discrediting those who raise alarms by accusing them of being wrong, divisive, or even racist, warning that such actions could harm their careers or communities.

“For too many in our political establishment, they prefer the easy way out,” West said. “We don’t always get to choose what we confront. We only get to choose how we do so, and sadly for Canada, we don’t have to imagine the consequences of not standing up and being counted, because we’re already experiencing it.”

The CCP has targeted other Canadian elected officials over their criticisms, including former Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole, NDP MP Jenny Kwan, Conservative MP Michael Chong, and former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu, as documented in the Foreign Interference Commission’s interim report.

Hackers associated with the Chinese Ministry of State Security are also known to have launched cyberattacks targeting the emails of over a dozen MPs, as reported by the FBI and disclosed in a U.S. Justice Department indictment earlier this year.

West called for a strong and clear-eyed strategy to address interference. He also urged greater transparency to expose the clandestine activities of foreign agents.

“Foreign interference thrives in the dark shadows, and we need to let the light in. Sunshine is the best disinfectant,” he said.

“If those engaged in forms of interference and manipulation believed for a second that their actions would be laid bare before the public, subject to transparency and scrutiny, well, you watch just how quickly those opportunists will scatter.”

NTD contributed to this report.