Critics of Beijing Were Excluded From Vancouver Election Events by ‘Proxy Agents’, Intelligence Document Says

Jenny Kwan, the NDP MP for Vancouver East, appears as a witness at the Foreign Interference Commission in Ottawa on April 3, 2024. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

“Proxy agents” leveraged by Chinese officials worked to exclude election candidates who were critical of Beijing from Vancouver community events during the 2019 federal election, according to intelligence presented at the public inquiry into foreign interference.

“Intelligence reports indicate that these officials coordinated the exclusion of particular political candidates, perceived as ‘anti-China,’ from attending local community events related to the election,” said an intelligence document primarily created by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) showcased during the Foreign Interference Commission on April 3.

Candidates were excluded from events through the efforts of People’s Republic of China (PRC) “proxy agents, hiding the direct involvement of these PRC officials,” said the intelligence document.

The intelligence document was presented during the testimony of Vancouver East NDP MP Jenny Kwan.

The Hong Kong-born MP said some Chinese community organizations in her riding showed a “shift in attitude” toward her as she became more outspoken about China’s rights violations starting around 2019 as protests and police clampdown intensified in Hong Kong. Invitations to her office were sent less frequently and certain community leaders met with her less often, she said.

Ms. Kwan also spoke about being excluded from a Vancouver Lunar New Year event in late January 2022. The MP said her office did not receive an invitation from either of the two organizations hosting the event, despite elected officials from outside of the city being invited.

Ms. Kwan said her non-invitation despite being a Chinese-Canadian from the riding was “glaringly obvious” and a result of her criticism of Beijing’s human rights record.

Vancouver’s mayor at the time, Kennedy Stewart, also was not invited, she said.

“So that became quite obvious—at least from my perspective—that there’s a distinction on who have they chosen to be invited to this event.”

Mr. Stewart, who has criticized China’s interference attempts in Canada, has told media that national intelligence officials briefed him about foreign interference ahead of the Vancouver 2022 municipal elections in which he lost his mayorship. A Jan. 10, 2022, CSIS report said Vancouver’s Chinese consulate was trying to get pro-Beijing politicians elected to city council in that election, the Globe and Mail reported in March 2023.

Letter to CSIS

Ms. Kwan testified that she agreed with a February 2022 assessment by the Chinese Canadian Concern Group on CCP’s Human Rights Violations, which stated her exclusion from the 2022 Lunar New Year celebration event was due to her voting in favour of a government motion naming China’s persecution of the Uyghurs as a genocide and for her support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

A letter by Ms. Kwan written to the CSIS about the event was presented at the inquiry. The partly redacted letter doesn’t include a visible date of issue.

Citing media reports, the letter said that the event was organized by the Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver (CBA) and the Canada Guangdong Community Federation.

“According to the news story of Epoch Times on February 25, when asked about why the Mayor Mayor (sic) and the MP representing Chinatown were not invited, the vice president of CBA said he does not know and he even denied the event was organized by his association,” the letter said. The Epoch Times news report referenced in the letter is a Feb. 25, 2022, news article published in the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times.

“I hope CSIS could look into this to determine whether or not, or to what extent, foreign influence or agent/s of a foreign government is/are affecting how community events are organized and reports its findings to various authorities including the federal government,” the letter said.

Ms. Kwan told the inquiry that she wrote the letter because in her briefings with CSIS, she had been told to keep the agency informed about anything that may be “suspicious” or that she is wondering about.

“I thought it was important for CSIS to know that this has occurred,” she said.

As reported previously by The Epoch Times, the Chinese Canadian Concern Group also raised concerns in July 2023 when at an event marking the opening of the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver, Ms. Kwan was neither introduced by the emcee nor invited onto the stage along with other MPs to unveil a commemorative plaque. She also wasn’t provided with a designated seat, while other elected officials had assigned seating.

This issue was also discussed at the inquiry.

“The Chinese Canadian Museum is in my riding,” Ms. Kwan said.  “It was just a very curious thing.”

Targets of Beijing

The intelligence document said PRC officials favoured certain political candidates and parties during the 2019 federal election and leveraged their proxies to support them.

“Intelligence reporting indicates PRC political preferences were party agnostic and opportunistic; they vacillated based on the electoral platforms and the ongoing PRC-related positions of the different political parties during the political campaign,” the summary document said.

Ms. Kwan is one of several MPs informed by CSIS that they were targets of Beijing. In early 2023, Ms. Kwan was told that her advocacy for groups persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party had made her an “evergreen” target of the Chinese government.

On Jan. 8, 2024, the commissioner for the public inquiry into foreign interference granted Ms. Kwan full standing, which provides the right to cross-examine witnesses. Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue said there were parallels between Ms. Kwan’s experience and that of Conservative MP Michael Chong, who had also received standing at the inquiry on Dec. 14, 2023.

“Both are current parliamentarians who are reported to be the subjects of foreign interference activities. Both indicate that this information was revealed to them, albeit belatedly, by CSIS,” Ms. Hogue said in her decision.

On April 3, the public inquiry also heard from former Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole and former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu, both of whom were targeted by the CCP for their opposition to the regime.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to testify at the inquiry in the coming days.

Following a future round of hearings examining government mechanisms to counter foreign interference, the public inquiry will file an initial report on its findings by May 3.