The federal government is expelling a diplomat accused of targeting Conservative MP Michael Chong’s family.
The government has been under intense pressure to sanction Zhao Wei, who reportedly played a role in attempts to gather information on Chong’s family in Hong Kong in 2021 following the MP’s condemnation of Beijing’s conduct in the Xinjiang region as genocide.
“We will not tolerate any form of foreign interference in our internal affairs,” Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said in a statement posted on Twitter.
“Diplomats in Canada have been warned that if they engage in this type of behaviour, they will be sent home.”
Canada has decided to declare persona non grata, Mr. Zhao Wei. <a href=”https://t.co/rZXeNTtdV4″>pic.twitter.com/rZXeNTtdV4</a>
A government source told CBC that Zhao has five days to leave Canada.
The Globe and Mail, citing a top secret document from 2021, reported last week that the Chinese government was targeting a Canadian MP. An unnamed security source reportedly told The Globe that Zhao was allegedly working on efforts to target Chong’s family in China.
The government briefed Chong last week — but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet have maintained that the report in question was never shared at the ministerial level in 2021.
Trudeau’s national security adviser Jody Thomas said the information was shared with the Privy Council Office (PCO). Trudeau said last week that he’ll compel CSIS to share intelligence with the government about threats to MPs in light of the Chong case.
Chong said the government should have taken similar action “years ago.”
“The fact is, we’ve become somewhat of a playground for foreign interference threat activities,” he told reporters outside the House of Commons on Monday.
Expelling Chinese diplomat ‘shouldn’t have taken this long’: Conservative MP
Conservative MP Michael Chong says the government should have expelled Zhao Wei as soon as it knew he was involved in Beijing’s reported effort to target his family.
“My hope is that this sends a clear message to authoritarian states that these kinds of activities are completely incompatible with being a diplomat in this country,” he said.
Chong said he hasn’t been in touch with his family in Hong Kong “out of an abundance of caution.”
NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson said it was “appalling” that the government took so long to make a decision on Zhao.
“This is unacceptable,” McPherson told reporters Monday. “Taking care of Canadians’ safety, making sure that every member in this House can do the job that they need to do, is vital.”
During a House committee appearance last week, Joly said the government was weighing the blowback from Beijing that would result from expelling Zhao.
“This decision has been taken after careful consideration of all the factors at play,” Joly said in her statement on Monday.
Speaking to CBC News Network’s Power & Politics, Liberal MP Rob Oliphant said the government took the time to act “appropriately and carefully.”
Canada should expect China to retaliate over diplomat expulsion, says ex-ambassador
Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada’s former ambassador to China, expects some form of response from Beijing, but not anything egregious. ‘I don’t think they will take anyone hostage,’ he added, in a reference to the detentions of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
“We know there will be ramifications, and so it’s the minister’s responsibility to act and to act carefully,” Oliphant told host David Cochrane.
National security expert Wesley Wark said it can take time to build up enough of a case to expel a diplomat. But given that the government appeared to have information on Zhao dating back to 2021, he said, the decision should have been made sooner.
“It’s all unfolded in an unfortunate and, I think, peculiar manner,” Wark told CBC.
Beijing promises retaliation
The Chinese embassy in Canada said in a media statement that it strongly condemns the decision to expel the diplomat and denies interfering in Canada’s affairs. It promised retaliatory action if the government goes any further.
“If the Canadian side acts recklessly, China will firmly fight back resolutely and forcefully,” the statement said.
Wark said he suspects that if Beijing retaliates, it will opt for a “tit-for-tat” response and expel one of Canada’s diplomats.
The Conservatives put forward a motion in the House that called for, among other things, the expulsion of diplomats involved in foreign interference. The motion — which also calls for a public inquiry into foreign interference and the establishment of a foreign agents registry — passed Thursday with the support of NDP, Bloc Québécois and Green MPs.
OTTAWA – The Conservatives have asked Canada’s lobbying commissioner to investigate whether it violates ethics rules for the prime minister to make Mark Carney his own personal adviser.
The Liberals announced at their recent caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C., that Carney, the former Bank of Canada governor, had been appointed chair of a task force on economic growth and adviser to the Liberal leader.
They said Carney will help shape the party’s policies for the next election, and will report to Justin Trudeau and the Liberal platform committee.
Tory ethics critic Michael Barrett says in a letter to the commissioner of lobbying that Carney is not registered to lobby federally, but his corporate positions put him in several potential conflicts of interest.
Carney is the chair of Brookfield Asset Management, which is in talks with the government to launch a $50-billion investment fund with support from Ottawa and Canadian pensions.
When asked about Carney’s potential conflict of interest in the House, the finance minister has repeatedly accused the Conservatives of mudslinging and says the Liberals are fortunate to have the advice of world renowned experts.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2024.
OTTAWA – Government business has been put on indefinite pause in the House of Commons and the Conservatives say it will stay that way until the Liberals hand over documents related to misspent government dollars.
Last week, Speaker Greg Fergus ruled that the government “clearly did not fully comply” with an order from the House to provide documents related to a now-defunct foundation responsible for doling out hundreds of millions of federal dollars for green technology projects.
The House has been seized by an indefinite debate on the issue ever since, and Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer says it will continue until the government hands over the unredacted documents.
The government abolished Sustainable Development Technology Canada after both the auditor general released a scathing report about the organization’s management.
Liberal House Leader Karina Gould says ordering the production of documents to be handed over to the RCMP blurs the lines between Parliament and police.
The Liberals have had to postpone a vote on government tax reform twice while the debate drags on in the House.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2024.
FREDERICTON – The New Brunswick Liberals say that if elected, teachers will no longer need parental consent before they can use the preferred first names and pronouns of transgender students under 16.
Liberal Leader Susan Holt made the announcement today as she released her party’s platform.
The Liberals’ promise is a response to a reform imposed in 2023 by the Progressive Conservative government under Premier Blaine Higgs, who said parents must be informed if their children are questioning their gender identity.
Higgs’s changes were criticized across the country, including by the prime minister, but polling suggests the policy is popular in the province.
Meanwhile, the Tory leader promised today that if re-elected his party would introduce legislation forcing people into drug treatment if authorities deem they “pose a threat to themselves or others.”
Holt says the province doesn’t have resources to force people into treatment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2024.
