OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — Six Canadian MPs are demanding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government publicly meet to discuss reports alleging that the Chinese Communist regime had been funding candidates in the 2019 federal election.
“A recent troubling media report revealed that Canadian intelligence officials informed the Prime Minister and several cabinet ministers in January of this year that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) actively worked to influence the 2019 Federal Election,” wrote the MPs in a letter to the House of Commons Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) chair, Bardish Chagger, last Wednesday.
“Further, former CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) agents have criticized the government’s failure to take serious action to address or prosecute this foreign state interference in our democratic process,” added the group of MPs.
The letter was signed by Conservative Party of Canada MPs Luc Berthold, John Nater, Michael Cooper, and Blaine Calkins, as well as Bloc Québécois MP and committee vice-chair Marie-Hélène Gaudreau and New Democratic Party (NDP) MP Rachel Blaney.
All the MPs who signed the letter are members of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.
The group’s letter is in direct response to a recent Global News article, which LifeSiteNews reported on, which stated that CSIS has identified at least 11 candidates in the 2019 federal election who were thought to be under the direct funding and influence of the CCP.
The MPs wrote that given the news reports about CCP interference, they are “writing to you pursuant to Standing Order 106(4), to request that the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs meet in public to determine how the Committee should respond to this troubling revelation.”
The group said that the meeting should be “held as soon as possible.”
House of Commons procedure states that committee members are allowed to in effect force a committee to meet publicly if at least four MPs from no less than two parties demand it.
Conservative MP Copper on Twitter last week wrote alongside a copy of the letter demanding the meeting, “It’s long past due for a plan to counter Beijing’s foreign interference ops on Canadian soil.”
In January, Justin Trudeau was briefed by CSIS about potential CCP interference in the 2019 election.
It’s long past due for a plan to counter Beijing’s foreign interference ops on Canadian soil.
We’ve requested an emergency meeting of the PROC committee to get answers. pic.twitter.com/Df9AgAORfx
— Michael Cooper, MP (@Cooper4SAE) November 9, 2022
According to the Global News report, Trudeau and some of his ministers had been given information in January of this year regarding this alleged covert funding, with the report adding that sources claimed Beijing’s efforts were done with the specific intention of subverting Canada’s democratic process.
The report also noted by way of information from CSIS that payments were made through middlemen to candidates with close ties to the CCP. This foreign infiltration reportedly went as far as the CCP having agents working in the offices of MPs, which was done to try and influence policy direction.
While the names of the 2019 candidates were not identified, the alleged interference reportedly included members of both the Liberal and Conservative parties.
A recent LifeSiteNews report noted how witnesses told the House affairs committee that agents of the CCP tried to sway votes away from the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) during the 2021 federal election.
In July of this year, LifeSiteNews also reported that an analysis conducted by a federal research unit showed that the CCP may have tried to influence the outcome of the Canadian 2021 federal election as well.
Shortly after the 2021 election – Trudeau won both the 2019 and 2021 elections – Conservative Senator Leo Housakos introduced Senate Bill S-237, formally titled “An Act To Establish The Foreign Influence Registry and to amend the Criminal Code.”
If passed, this law – currently in its second reading – would make it so all federal lobbyists who receive funds from a “foreign government, an individual or entity related to a foreign government” must disclose any payments as well as names of clients. Failure to comply would result in a $200,000 fine along with a two-year jail term.
Chinese influence in Canadian politics is unsurprising for many, especially given Trudeau’s past admiration for China’s “basic dictatorship” and his government’s unwillingness to declare the CCP’s treatment of its Uyghur population a “genocide,” despite credible evidence.
Moreover, top-secret military documents revealed in 2020 show that under Trudeau’s watch, troops from China’s Liberation Army (PLA) had been invited to train in Canada at a military base in Ontario.