Former Tory MP Kenny Chiu, whose 2021 defeat has been central to the Foreign Interference Commission’s probe into China’s election meddling, says the commission’s final report has been misrepresented in a fresh allegation from a fellow party nomination contender.
These false narratives, alleging Chiu as “racist” and “anti-China,” circulated on the Chinese social media platform WeChat and were also promoted by media with known links to the Beijing regime and its state media during the 2021 federal election, the report said.
Chiu, who is seeking the Conservative Party nomination for the B.C. riding of Richmond East-Steveston, raised concerns about narratives being revived against him by a fellow contender.
After calling for “healing and unity” in the riding, Young goes on to say, “Kenny Chiu has caused a giant rift in our community, creating suspicion amongst different immigrant groups, leading to some being viewed as ’second class citizens.'”
‘Misrepresentation’
In a Feb. 1 statement, Chiu said Young misrepresented Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue’s findings, noting that her report did not dismiss foreign interference concerns about the the British Columbia riding he once represented.“Judge Hogue has repeatedly indicated that the ‘significant, insidious and difficult to detect’ foreign interference presents ‘a reasonable possibility’ that the Steveston-Richmond East is the only riding’s election result that could have been impacted,” Chiu said.
“Wai Young’s misrepresentation is not just wrong and misleading—it’s dangerous. It signals to hostile foreign powers that Canada is unwilling to confront interference,” he added.
The Hogue commission, launched in September 2023, was mandated to investigate foreign interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 general elections, following media reports about Beijing’s efforts to influence Canadian politics.
Chiu disputed Young’s claim that concerns about foreign interference have been resolved, saying she ignored the Conservative Party’s being among those targeted by false narrative disinformation in 2021. He also pointed out that many Chinese-Canadians were targeted and harassed by foreign state actors, something he said Young has not acknowledged.
“Instead of standing up for Canada, Young is doing the work of foreign authoritarian regimes by dismissing concerns of interference and silencing those who raise them.” Chiu said. “Her rhetoric—that discussions of foreign interference are ‘racist’ or ‘divisive’—mirrors the exact language used by foreign regimes to shut down dissent and intimidate critics.”
The Epoch Times contacted Young for comment but did not hear back by publication time.
Election Watchdog Probe
The Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections (OCCE), which had looked into allegations of Beijing’s interference in the 2021 election, announced last September that it had found insufficient evidence to open a formal investigation. However, the federal elections regulator said information it received during the review “leads to suspect that attempts to influence the Chinese Canadian diaspora existed.”According to Hogue, OCCE investigators found indications that Chinese officials “gave impetus and direction to an anti-Conservative Party campaign,” which she said was later carried out and amplified by various associations and individuals using different communication channels.
During the 2021 election, the Conservatives, then led by Erin O’Toole, had an extensive section in its platform on how to counter China’s aggressions and rights abuses. The commission noted in its report that O'Toole and the Conservatives Party were targets of China’s misinformation campaigns because of their stance on Beijing.
The commissioner said the government was aware of such online narratives and has shared the information with the Panel of Five, an advisory group within the government’s Special Intelligence and Threats Task Force. However, she disputed the panel’s view that the media ecosystem had largely corrected itself after Chiu addressed the false narratives and that similar disinformation targeting former Conservative leader O’Toole had lost traction before election day.
Chiu called for further action to counter foreign interference, noting that the Hogue report did not close the book on the issue, but rather confirmed that the threat is real.
“The only people who benefit from shutting down this conversation are the foreign actors attempting to influence Canadian democracy. In the face of mounting storms, we must unite to brave the tempest,” he said.
