OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) – Former Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP Kenny Chiu told the public inquiry looking into alleged meddling in Canada’s two most recent federal elections by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agents that he feels “betrayed” by the federal government after only now learning he was the target of agents of the CCP.
“I have been betrayed,” said Chiu, who served as MP for Steveston-Richmond East, British Columbia, from 2019 to 2020, during testimony at the Commission on Foreign Interference earlier this week.
“That is how I see it.”
According to Chiu, he was never shown copies of any security warnings that he was a target of CCP agents. He subsequently lost his re-election in 2021 to the Liberal candidate Pam Bains by 3,477 votes.
In the past, Chiu had suspected that there were indeed CCP operatives working to undermine his campaign.
The Foreign Interference Commission, as it is known is being headed by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, who had earlier said that she and her lawyers will remain “impartial” and will not be influenced by politics and began on January 29.
In January, Hogue said that she would “uncover the truth whatever it may be.”
Numerous internal memos have been released by the Commission that show that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) as well as others deemed that Chiu was indeed targeted by foreign agents of the CCP.
Commission Counsel Matthew Ferguson asked Chiu if he was “aware of any of these reports at the time?”
“No,” a visibly disturbed Chiu replied.
Before the 2021 federal election, Chiu had introduced a private members bill, Bill C-282 An Act to Establish the Foreign Influence Registry. This bill proposed that there be a mandatory disclosure of lobbyists who acted on behalf of any foreign government, individual, or even corporation. This is similar to what is already in place in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
The evidence shows that Chinese-language media, who were inspired by CCP media, made false posts about Chiu’s bill, claiming that it would see Chinese Canadians placed in jail for “pro-China speech.”
Ferguson asked Chiu if there was anything he would have done or could have “done differently?”
“I may not have run for office,” Chiu replied, adding “As an immigrant, it is already very challenging to build a life here in Canada.”
When it comes to the CCP, many Canadians, especially pro-freedom Chinese Canadians, are concerned considering Trudeau’s past praise for China’s “basic dictatorship” and his labeling of the authoritarian nation as his favorite country other than his own.
The potential meddling in Canada’s elections by agents of the CCP has many Canadians worried as well.
‘My worry came true,’ says targeted MP
Chiu is a Hong Kong native who came to Canada in 1982 and served as a school trustee at the Richmond, British Columbia School District in 2011.
He noted that “when I became a school board trustee, I intentionally severed my ties with relatives in China with the understanding I would put them in danger.”
“In 2021, it seems like my worry came true,” he testified, adding, “I thought I would be protected by my country. I was deeply troubled, disappointed, that I was exposed, and the government doesn’t seem to care, and now through the Commission I have learned they have known all about it.”
Chiu said that it was like “I was drowning, and they were watching.”
“The best they could do, by the way, is let me know that I am drowning. I don’t need their notification. I need their help. That is the overall disappointment mixed in with the emotion of anger that I have,” he noted.
Of note is that last October, the House of Commons ethics committee unanimously adopted Chiu’s proposal for the creation of a public registry of foreign agents.
The public inquiry into alleged meddling in Canada’s two most recent federal elections by agents of CCP began last week with testimony from Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault, who confirmed he was secretly warned by security agents of irregularities in the 2019 election.
The Foreign Interference Commission, as it is known, “will examine and assess the interference by China, Russia and other foreign states or non-state actors, including any potential impacts, in order to confirm the integrity of, and any impacts on, the 43rd and 44th general elections (2019 and 2021 elections) at the national and electoral district levels.”
The first set of hearings, or “Stage 1,” will take place from now until April 10 and will include a host of witnesses, which will include Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and many others who have not been named.
Also set to testify is former Liberal MP Han Dong and former Ontario cabinet minister Michael Chan, both of whom have been victims of alleged CCP interference.
The “Stage 2” part of the public inquiry will take place this fall and will in particular look at the Trudeau government’s ability to both detect and fight foreign interference targeting Canada’s electoral processes.
The hearings are being held at the Library and Archives Canada building in Ottawa.
The federal government under Trudeau has been slow in responding to allegations of CCP election meddling after announcing on September 7, 2023, that it would be launching a public inquiry led by Hogue.
The public inquiry comes after Trudeau launched a failed investigation into CCP allegations last year after much delay. That inquiry was not done in the public and was headed by “family friend” and former Governor General David Johnston, whom Trudeau appointed as “independent special rapporteur.”
Johnston quit as “special rapporteur” after a public outcry following his conclusion that there should not be a public inquiry into the matter. Conservative MPs demanded Johnston be replaced over his ties to both China and the Trudeau family.
To date, the evidence that parliamentary committees have uncovered shows that Canadian authorities were aware that agents of the CCP were targeting MPs from opposition parties but decided against taking any action.