The Chinese government represents an “existential threat” to Canada, a Liberal MP says amid a new Global News report into Beijing’s suspected foreign interference efforts.
Scarborough—Guildwood MP John McKay made the comments to journalists in Ottawa on Wednesday following the publication of the Global News story indicating two high-level national security reports before and after the 2019 election suggest senior government officials were warned that Chinese government officials were funnelling money to Canadian political candidates. “The government of China is an existential threat to Canada on a multiplicity of levels,” McKay said. “We need as a nation to come to grips with the desire of the government of China to turn us all into vassal states.” Read more: Two high-level memos allege Beijing covertly funded Canadian election candidates The two intelligence reports, from 2019 and 2022, that Global News reported Wednesday raise new questions about what senior federal officials knew about the alleged funding by a foreign interference network and how seriously Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government took the warnings.
One is a “Special Report” prepared by the Privy Council Office for the Trudeau government and was date-stamped January 2022.
The memo was also finalized, suggesting it was intended to be read by Trudeau and his senior aides. Reviewed by Global News, it asserted that Chinese officials in Toronto had disbursed money into a covert network tasked to interfere in Canada’s 2019 election.