On 17 February, The Globe and Mail released their investigation of Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) documents which revealed China’s strategy to influence the 2021 election. Since assuming office in 2012, President Xi Jinping has taken a more aggressive foreign policy approach, yet the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) still claims it adheres to the international custom of non-interference in other countries’ governments. Despite this being the official party line, CSIS reports paint a different picture of the CCP’s foreign policy objectives.
According to CSIS intelligence gathering operations, the documents viewed by The Globe and Mail—which covered the period before and after the September 2021 election—illustrate that the Chinese government had two primary objectives: ensure that a minority Liberal government return to power, and the defeat of certain Conservative candidates.
The documents say that the CCP leadership in Beijing was “pressuring its consulates to create strategies to leverage politically active Chinese community members and associations within Canadian society.” Intelligence reports show that the CCP employed various disinformation campaigns through WeChat and other mediums to influence Chinese Canadians in Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Using mediums such as this to influence vulnerable Chinese immigrants to Canada allowed the CCP to disseminate information which favoured the Liberal Party and spread misinformation about certain Conservative politicians. Another tactic of the CCP disclosed in the CSIS documents was the use of cash donations to Liberal political campaigns, and the hiring of international Chinese students to “assign them to volunteer in electoral campaigns on a full-time basis.” Furthermore, Ms. Tong—the former Vancouver consul-general for China—made it clear that during the 2021 election she wanted the Liberal Party to win, and encouraged members of Chinese Canadian organizations to rally votes for the Liberals and defeat Conservative candidates. The Globe and Mail reports “Nine Liberal and two Conservative candidates were favoured by Beijing, according to the national-security source. The source said the two Conservative candidates were viewed as friends of China.”
Justin Trudeau’s press secretary, Ann-Clara Vaillancourt, said last week that “while foreign interference attempts absolutely existed, the 2019 and 2021 elections unfolded with integrity.” Some have demanded more transparency on the issue of Chinese interference. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh echoed these calls “The way to stop alleged secret Chinese interference is to refuse to keep their secrets for them. A fully independent and non-partisan public inquiry is the way to shine a light into the shadows.” A public inquiry has yet to be declared, as some security officials claim that the classified nature of the intelligence operations rule it out. The calls for a probe soon may supersede these justifications for privacy as more Canadians and politicians demand information on the extent of election influence and if it did impact the results.