CCP Agents Worked for Elections Canada, Chinese Canadians Claimed, Former MP Testifies to Inquiry

Conservative MP Leona Alleslev rises during Question Period in the House of Commons Dec. 9, 2019, in Ottawa. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Many Chinese Canadians believe Chinese agents work at Elections Canada offices and polling stations, a former Conservative MP told the ongoing foreign interference inquiry.

Leona Alleslev, who represented the Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill riding north of Toronto until 2021, said in a March 27 sworn affidavit for the Foreign Interference Commission that while campaigning door to door in 2021, Chinese Canadian constituents told her they were afraid of being identified by Chinese agents if they went to polling stations.

“Around half the Chinese-Canada [sic] constituents she canvassed would tell Ms. Alleslev they were afraid to vote for her because they feared repercussions against themselves or their family members both in Canada and China,” the affidavit said, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

“Some claimed they took the threat seriously because there were agents of the Chinese Communist Party (‘CCP’) working in the local Elections Canada office and in the polling stations, or monitoring outside of the significantly reduced number of polling stations [due to COVID-19] to watch who voted.”

She said the other half who answered the door told her they believed the Conservative Party wanted to discredit the CCP and ethnic Chinese people, and “take away China’s sovereignty and economic power.”

Alleslev said she noticed that many of them appeared to be expressing similar points, and said one of them had a printed email with “talking points” about the Conservative Party.

“[Alleslev] was also told by some Chinese-Canadian constituents about messaging they had received that said she was anti-Chinese or that she could revoke people’s immigration status, prevent them from getting citizenship, deny student visas or their family members’ visitor visas, take away their benefits, or have them deported,” the affidavit says.

In its interim report released on May 3, foreign interference inquiry Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue found that during the 2021 election, the Conservative Party and its then-Leader Erin O‘Toole “were the subject of inaccurate reports that circulated widely on Chinese-language media outlets that are known to have, or may have, ties to the People’s Republic of China (’PRC‘) or Chinese Communist Party (’CCP').”

In his 2021 election platform, O'Toole had included a comprehensive plan to counter Beijing’s aggressions and human rights violations domestically and abroad.

Justice Hogue noted in her report that O'Toole had said in his own testimony that his party had tabled a motion to recognize Uyghur’s persecution in China as genocide, and a Tory MP, Kenny Chiu—whom the commission also found to have been interfered with by Beijing’s disinformation during the 2021 election—had introduced a private member’s bill to bring in a foreign agent registry.

“On September 9 [2021], the Global Times, a Chinese state-media source, published an article entitled, ‘Canadian Tories’ ‘hostile China blueprint’ caters to toxic atmosphere against Beijing amid sour ties,’” Hogue’s report said.

“Between September 10 and September 16 [2021], at least eight popular WeChat news accounts in Canada shared the Global Times story that the CPC would ‘break ties’ with the PRC,” the report added, mentioning other similar examples of Beijing’s disinformation attacks against the Conservatives.

Hogue’s report cited assessments from Canada’s intelligence and security agencies to conclude that China is the most serious threat to Canada when it comes to foreign interference.

Riding

The affidavit says that Alleslev believes she spoke to 200 to 300 constituents who fall into the two categories during the 2021 election campaign.

It adds that the Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill riding has a substantial ethnic Chinese minority population.

Alleslev, who got 42.1 percent of the votes in the 2021 election, lost to the Liberal contender Leah Taylor Roy, who got 45.2 percent.

Alleslev was first elected to Parliament in 2015 as a Liberal, but crossed the floor to join the Conservatives in 2018. She won the 2019 election as a Conservative with 44.4 percent of the votes against her main contender, the Liberals’ Taylor Roy, who received 42.4 percent of the votes.

The affidavit says Alleslev didn’t report her concerns to Elections Canada or the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections “because of her experience with Elections Canada’s lack of clear process, unresponsiveness and inaction on other matters.”

The Epoch Times contacted Elections Canada for comment.