A human rights group has withdrawn from the public inquiry into foreign interference, two days after the inquiry’s opening day, in protest of Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue’s decision to allow politicians accused of links to the Chinese regime to question witnesses.
On Jan. 31, the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP) announced its decision to back out of the public inquiry aimed at investigating foreign interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
“URAP has conveyed its disappointment regarding Commissioner Hogue’s decision to grant full standing to MP Han Dong (a former Liberal MP) and Markham’s deputy mayor Michael Chan, along with intervener status to Senator Yuen Pau Woo,” the organization said in a
press release posted on the social media platform X.
“These statuses provide access to highly confidential information, potentially jeopardizing our community and others, and allowing them to cross-examine witnesses.”
URAP is part of a coalition with seven other human rights advocacy groups that had jointly applied for a single grant of standing for the public inquiry. The groups represent various communities targeted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). URAP was one of five groups within the coalition that had
urged Justice Hogue to reconsider her
Dec. 4, 2023, decision to grant standing to the three politicians.
According to the justice’s
Dec. 22, 2023, response to their request, they had
asked that the standing of Mr. Chan and Mr. Dong be limited to the issue of their alleged participation in Chinese interference in the two federal elections. The groups also asked that the two politicians not be able to question witnesses, access other witnesses’ testimony or other parties’ documents, or be present in hearings dealing with issues beyond those addressing the allegations against them.
The justice said the groups did not specifically state what they sought with respect to Mr. Woo, noting that she believed they were implying that Mr. Woo’s intervener status should be revoked.
In her Dec. 22 decision, Justice Hogue acknowledged the groups’ claim that certain individuals expressed “concerns about being questioned by Mr. Dong and Mr. Chan,” but she maintained her Dec. 4 decision. This prompted URAP to indicate the groups’
potential withdrawal ahead of the hearings that commenced on Jan. 29.
“URAP refuses to participate in a process meant to address and reconcile foreign interference–that uplifts individuals complicit in and benefiting from foreign interference themselves,” the organization said in its latest statement, reiterating its position.
“The Commission’s protection of questionable national actors and its simultaneous failure to safeguard victims of transnational repression reveal systemic dysfunctionality in its process.”
In addition to withdrawing from the inquiry, URAP’s executive director, Mehmet Tohti, called for the resignation of the three politicians from their positions.
“Additionally, we call on MP Han Dong, Mr. Chan, and Sen. Yuen Pau Woo to resign from their posts and renounce their statuses in the public inquiry,”
Mr. Tohti wrote on the platform X on Jan. 31.
Allegations
Mr. Dong resigned from the Liberal caucus to sit as an Independent MP in March 2023 after a
Global News report, citing anonymous national security sources, accused him of inappropriate ties to the Chinese Consulate in Toronto. Mr. Dong rejected the allegations and in April 2023 launched a
libel suit against Global News.
Mr. Chan is also facing allegations of engaging in improper activities related to the 2019 and 2021 general elections. In February 2023, a
Globe and Mail report, citing national security sources, said Canadian intelligence personnel had warned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and senior aides about Mr. Chan’s alleged association with Chinese diplomat
Zhao Wei. Mr. Zhao was
expelled from Canada in May 2023 over allegations that he was involved in targeting Conservative MP
Michael Chong for criticizing Beijing’s treatment of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China. Mr. Chan has denied any ties to the Chinese official.
Mr. Dong and Mr. Chan didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment from The Epoch Times.
Mr. Woo, who has
sparked concerns among the Chinese diaspora for remarks and actions deemed favourable to Beijing, has also rejected the allegations against him.
“The fact that Human Rights groups can assert publicly that I have links to the CCP without any evidence underscores the risk that foreign interference claims can lead to a witch hunt and exposes the fundamentally illiberal and censorious attitudes of these groups,” he said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times on Jan. 30.
Mr. Woo previously confirmed to The Epoch Times that he had helped
draft a citizen petition against the creation of a foreign agent registry in Canada. The
petition was initiated in April 2023 despite public calls for establishing the registry to enhance transparency related to the activities of individuals in the country working on behalf of foreign entities.
He also led a protest on Parliament Hill in June 2023 that, while advertised as opposing anti-Chinese racism,
encouraged Chinese-Canadian communities to oppose the registry. At a Dec. 1, 2023,
press conference, Mr. Woo lent support to two Montreal-based organizations that were planning to sue the RCMP. The two organizations are currently under police investigation for allegedly operating as secret Chinese police stations.
Citing warnings from Canadian intelligence sources, URAP highlighted the allegations against the accused politicians.
“There are strong, credible allegations against these three individuals for their association with the Chinese Communist Party and its interference into Canadian politics,” the URAP stated in its Jan. 31 statement. “The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has substantiated the claims against MP Dong and Mr. Chan.”
“These allegations pose a significant security risk to Canada, and specifically to diaspora communities affected by transnational repression that are participating in the inquiry.”
