The managing director of a non-profit that tracks Chinese attempts to influence democracies around the world says Beijing wants to sow discord in western countries.
David Salvo says the Alliance for Securing Democracy has been mapping and cataloguing Russian and Chinese interference since 2000.
Salvo was speaking to the procedure and House affairs committee, which is studying foreign interference in response to allegations that China tried to meddle in the last two federal elections.
He says his group’s work also tracks incidents in Canada, and that the tactics also include targeting think tanks and student associations to shape discourse or promote censorship.
The committee also heard from former Conservative member of Parliament Kenny Chiu, who has previously claimed he was the target of a misinformation campaign on Chinese-language social media during the 2021 election.
Chiu told the committee he did not experience foreign interference in either the 2015 or the 2019 elections but the most recent vote was different.
He says the level of organization he witnessed leads him to believe he was the target of a campaign to influence the vote.
Salvo says his group aims to show that the tools used by Beijing are not partisan or politically motivated, for the most part.
It has developed a tracker of events dating back 23 years.
“We are having a political debate about moments in which an authoritarian government might weigh in, trying to shape a particular election campaign,” he said.
“However, really, the tracker shows hundreds of cases of how these tools are being used well outside the context of electoral democracy, simply to get Canadians and Americans and Europeans at each other’s throats and to denigrate the whole process of living in a democratic society.”
The Alliance for Securing Democracy, which is housed at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, develops strategies to defend against interference in democratic institutions.
He suggested that MPs put aside partisan politics and specific incidents, and focus instead on the tools and tactics being used by authoritarian regimes to interfere in democracies around the world.
“That I think will help, as we have learned in the States, that’s really broken down some of the partisan divides to at least shed light on these tactics and make ordinary voters aware of how they might be targeted at the local level,” he said.
Members of the committee from the Conservative and Liberal parties in particular spent much of their time questioning Chiu.
Liberal MP Jennifer O’Connell suggested it was his voting record in the House of Commons on legislation to ban so-called conversion therapy that ignited a movement within the Steveston-Richmond East riding. Chiu accused her of trying to smear his reputation.
Asked whether he thinks the government ought to call a public inquiry into foreign interference, Chiu said yes.
He also told the committee he believes that he and former Conservative MP Alice Wong were targeted by a Chinese consular official in Vancouver who was previously accused in a media report of trying to ensure the Liberals won the 2021 election. He acknowledged that he does not have evidence to support the claim.
“The Conservative Party of Canada has been portrayed as not friendly to the (Chinese Communist Party) regime in Beijing,” he said.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
