For Cherie Wong, the threats of rape and murder she receives on social media are only a semi-constant reminder that many supporters of the Chinese Communist Party see her as an enemy.
They’re not what scares her the most.
Back in January, Wong — executive director and co-founder of Alliance Canada Hong Kong, a group pressing the Canadian government to defend the former British colony’s democracy — flew to Vancouver for events associated with the alliance’s launch. Someone had been keeping tabs on her, she said.
“My hotel room was booked by someone else as a security measure. And two days after the launch … I received a threatening phone call to my hotel room demanding that I leave immediately, that these people are coming to collect me,” she said.
“That was something that really shocked me.”
Pro-China counter-protesters, wearing red, shout down a man in a black shirt during an anti-extradition rally for Hong Kong in Vancouver on Saturday August 17, 2019. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)
Wong said she still doesn’t know how her whereabouts were disclosed. She said she reported the call to the police but was told there was little they could do.
Wong’s experience is one of a number of disturbing incidents reported to a new parliamentary committee tasked with looking into Canada’s fraught relationship with China. The committee’s proceedings were interrupted by the Trudeau government’s decision to prorogue Parliament until later this month.
Doxxed in the diaspora
Wong said activists in her group had a foretaste of the impotence of Canadian police in the face of such harassment on August 17, 2019, when members of the Hong Kong diaspora rallied in 30 cities around the world to back Hong Kong’s anti-extradition protests. They were met by counter-protesters waving Chinese flags.
Wong said she was one of a number of protest participants who were subsequently “doxxed” by online antagonists. “They took photos of me and started digging up my personal information, my email address, where I was living, my phone number,” she said. “And [they] shared that kind of information maliciously through WeChat channels.”
Hong Kong activists point to the similarities between the counter-protests that occurred in August 2019 — in almost every city that saw pro-Hong Kong demonstrations — as evidence that they are being centrally organized.
They point to the behaviour of the counter-protesters, who often arrive and leave in large groups and carry brand-new Chinese flags with the ironing creases still visible. But they know that it’s hard to prove top-down coordination.
“What we saw is a pattern, whether it is in Canada, in the U.S., in Germany in Japan in Taiwan,” said Wong. “The counter-protesters show up with Chinese flags singing the Chinese national anthem. Their slogans are similar: ‘Hong Kong is a part of China’, ‘Say no to violence, say no to riots.’
“We have seen evidence of these counter-protesters being paid. We saw large scale coordination on WeChat and Weibo and I think there’s more to be seen than just angry individuals.”
A Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protester holds up a sign in front of pro-China counter-protesters during opposing rallies in Vancouver, on August 17, 2019. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian press)
While CBC News has not seen conclusive evidence that Hong Kong counter-protesters are being paid, it has spoken to Canadians who received cash payments to appear at another pro-Beijing demonstration in support of detained Huawei executive Meng Wangzhou.
Wong said that while she doesn’t object to counter-protesters exercising their right to free expression, she’s alarmed by the fact that some of them have been spotted photographing pro-Hong Kong demonstrators.
“These individuals who show up to protest are also saying that they are part of the Chinese Communist Party, that they are sending this information back to the consulate, to the embassy,” she said. “And coming from an authoritarian regime like the Chinese Communist Party, [which] has been known to conduct surveillance operations, suppression tactics, we can’t just dismiss this as just counter-protesters.”
A history of harassment
Phil Gurski heads Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting in Ottawa. Before joining the private sector he spent three decades as a security intelligence analyst, much of it at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
He said Chinese-Canadian dissidents have been harassed in Canada by organs of the Chinese state “since Adam and Eve” — but the Chinese embassy would take care to avoid the appearance of direct involvement in the most provocative activities.
“Obviously the people in the embassy have to be a little more careful because they are here in Canada,” he said. “And if it is found out that they are engaged in activities not consistent with a diplomatic posting, they could in fact be declared persona non grata and expelled from the country.”
Gurski said China can employ more subtle forms of pressure than loud aggressive counter-protests — such as threats and warnings issued directly to dissidents in person, by phone, or through social media.
That kind of pressure from diplomatic missions in Canada “is something we’ve been warning about for decades,” he added.
And critics of the regime say that the fact that many Chinese-Canadians still have family members in China gives Beijing durable leverage over them.
The embassy reacts
CBC News asked the Chinese embassy about some of the allegations of harassment that have emerged from the committee’s hearings. The embassy didn’t answer that question directly but appeared to respond to another concern that came up at the Canada-China committee: the extraterritorial nature of China’s new “national security” law, which makes no distinction between pro-democracy political activity in Hong Kong and similar protests in Canada.
The law “only targets a very narrow category of acts that seriously jeopardize national security,” the embassy said in a written statement.
“Hong Kong is under the rule of law, where no one has extra-judicial privilege. In any country, every right or freedom has its legal boundaries. In exercising rights or freedoms, one must abide by the requirements of law. Anyone who crosses the boundaries and limits of the law shall be brought to justice.
“Hong Kong is part of China and Hong Kong affairs are purely China’s internal affairs. We urge the Canadian side to have a clear understanding of the reality and the overwhelming trend, and stop interfering in the affairs and judicial independence of Hong Kong SAR [Special Administrative Region].”
Hong Kong pro-democracy movement supporters hand out T-shirts to NBA Toronto Raptors fans in Toronto Oct. 22, 2019. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)
Hostages to fortune
“‘We know where your parents live,'” said Cheuk Kwan of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China. “This is the phrase that they use all the time.
“You know, it could be just a little kind of phone call that says, ‘Hey, by the way, I see your parents are doing well in … somewhere.’ You right away know that they know where your parents live.
“People would say, ‘OK, I better be quiet, I better shut up or I better not do something.’ And … if you talk to people, the RCMP or CSIS, they will say, well, you can’t prevent people from calling people up and saying, ‘How are your parents doing?’ Right?”
Gurski acknowledges that it’s difficult for Canadian authorities to thwart that kind of back-channel pressure.
“I absolutely agree [that] if these are people who are engaged in activity here in Canada which the government of the People’s Republic of China would see as threatening or besmirching the reputation of the PRC, they would certainly reach out to them and threaten them exactly that way,” he said.
“The problem is if I call up and say, ‘Hey, how’s Mom and Dad?’, you and I may know exactly what I’m talking about, but how do you prove that is actually a very subtle yet very direct threat against one’s family, with the intended impact that you’ll stop what you’re doing? And if you don’t … then you may have something happen to your relatives back home?
“It may be as obvious as the nose on your face [but that’s] just not the same as proving it in a court of law.”
‘In an authoritarian country, this kind of subtle threat is very deep in the sense that people have an awareness that you’re supposed to act certain way when you receive a message like that,” said Kwan.
“And I’ve seen a lot of people getting that – even people in the Chinese-language media or editors of TV or newspapers, who might get a phone call from the Chinese consulate or their proxies … saying, ‘Hey, we don’t like what you just published. Please be careful next time.'”
Kwan said Chinese authorities can deploy even more subtle forms of coercion, such as leaning on Beijing-friendly businesses to withhold advertising spending from certain outlets seen as hostile to Beijing.
Far from home, but not from fear
In the past, said Kwan, implied threats to family members were more alarming for immigrants from mainland China than for Hong Kong ex-pats — who had reason to believe their families were safer. That’s beginning to change, he added.
Davin Wong (no relation to Cherie) said he’s felt that change personally. The former acting head of the Student Union of the University of Hong Kong fled the island city last year following a targeted attack. He has no family members in mainland China.
“Canada, of course, is a society with greater freedom and at least I feel more secure here than in Hong Kong,” he said. “But at the same time, what I have witnessed is that other activists who are fighting for Hong Kong in Canada … were facing harassment or maybe intimidation as well. So I would say I do not feel entirely safe here …
“I do have family members back in Hong Kong and that is one of the concerns that has always been in the back of my mind, because what we can see is that the freedom and also autonomy of Hong Kong has been deteriorating so fast in the past two years that Hong Kong is no longer a distinctive city apart from any other cities in China.
“I think it is fair to say that having family members back in Hong Kong … feels as the same risk of having family members in China.”
Wong said he applauds the Trudeau government’s decision to end Canada’s extradition treaty with Hong Kong in response to China’s new national security law. But he said the federal government’s efforts to help Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp would be better served by recognizing that welcoming Hong Kong’s dissidents to Canada while leaving their family members behind allows Beijing to maintain a hold over them.
“Activists like myself feel the same risk and the same pressure as if we hadn’t left Hong Kong at all.”
WINNIPEG – Some 250 coloured tacks pepper a large-scale world map among bookshelves at Whodunit Mystery Bookstore.
Estonia, Finland, Japan and even Fenwick, Ont., have pins representing places outside Winnipeg where someone has ordered a page-turner from the independent bookstore that specializes in mystery and crime fiction novels.
For 30 years, the store has been offering fans of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot or Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes a place to get lost in whodunits both old and new.
Jack and Wendy Bumsted bought the shop in the Crescentwood neighbourhood in 2007 from another pair of mystery lovers.
The married couple had been longtime customers of the store. Wendy Bumsted grew up reading Perry Mason novels while her husband was a historian with vast knowledge of the crime fiction genre.
At the time, Jack Bumsted was retiring from teaching at the University of Manitoba when he was looking for his next venture.
“The bookstore came up and we bought it, I think, within a week,” Wendy Bumsted said in an interview.
“It never didn’t seem like a good idea.”
In the years since the Bumsteds took ownership, the family has witnessed the decline in mail-order books, the introduction of online retailers, a relocation to a new space next to the original, a pandemic and the death of beloved co-owner Jack Bumsted in 2020.
But with all the changes that come with owning a small business, customers continue to trust their next mystery fix will come from one of the shelves at Whodunit.
Many still request to be called about books from specific authors, or want to be notified if a new book follows their favourite format. Some arrive at the shop like clockwork each week hoping to get suggestions from Wendy Bumsted or her son on the next big hit.
“She has really excellent instincts on what we should be getting and what we should be promoting,” Micheal Bumsted said of his mother.
Wendy Bumsted suggested the store stock “Thursday Murder Club,” the debut novel from British television host Richard Osman, before it became a bestseller. They ordered more copies than other bookstores in Canada knowing it had the potential to be a hit, said Michael Bumsted.
The store houses more than 18,000 new and used novels. That’s not including the boxes of books that sit in Wendy Bumsted’s tiny office, or the packages that take up space on some of the only available seating there, waiting to be added to the inventory.
Just as the genre has evolved, so has the Bumsteds’ willingness to welcome other subjects on their shelves — despite some pushback from loyal customers and initially the Bumsted patriarch.
For years, Jack Bumsted refused to sell anything outside the crime fiction genre, including his own published books. Instead, he would send potential buyers to another store, but would offer to sign the books if they came back with them.
Wendy Bumsted said that eventually changed in his later years.
Now, about 15 per cent of the store’s stock is of other genres, such as romance or children’s books.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced them to look at expanding their selection, as some customers turned to buying books through the store’s website, which is set up to allow purchasers to get anything from the publishers the Bumsteds have contracts with.
In 2019, the store sold fewer than 100 books online. That number jumped to more than 3,000 in 2020, as retailers had to deal with pandemic lockdowns.
After years of running a successful mail-order business, the store was able to quickly adapt when it had to temporarily shut its doors, said Michael Bumsted.
“We were not a store…that had to figure out how to get books to people when they weren’t here.”
He added being a community bookstore with a niche has helped the family stay in business when other retailers have struggled. Part of that has included building lasting relationships.
“Some people have put it in their wills that their books will come to us,” said Wendy Bumsted.
Some of those collections have included tips on traveling through Asia in the early 2000s or the history of Australian cricket.
Micheal Bumsted said they’ve had to learn to be patient with selling some of these more obscure titles, but eventually the time comes for them to find a new home.
“One of the great things about physical books is that they can be there for you when you are ready for them.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Sept. 15, 2024.
MONTREAL – Canada’s labour minister is praising both Air Canada and the union representing about 5,200 of its pilots for averting a work stoppage that would have disrupted travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Steven MacKinnon’s comments came in a statement shared to social media shortly after Canada’s largest air carrier announced it had reached a tentative labour deal with the Air Line Pilots Association.
MacKinnon thanked both sides and federal mediators, saying the airline and its pilots approached negotiations with “seriousness and a resolve to get a deal.”
The tentative agreement averts a strike or lockout that could have begun as early as Wednesday for Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, with flight cancellations expected before then.
The airline now says flights will continue as normal while union members vote on the tentative four-year contract.
Air Canada had called on the federal government to intervene in the dispute, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that would only happen if it became clear no negotiated agreement was possible.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.
When it comes to plant-based alternatives, Canadians have never had so many options — and nowhere is that choice more abundantly clear than in the milk section of the dairy aisle.
To meet growing demand, companies are investing in new products and technology to keep up with consumer tastes and differentiate themselves from all the other players on the shelf.
“The product mix has just expanded so fast,” said Liza Amlani, co-founder of the Retail Strategy Group.
She said younger generations in particular are driving growth in the plant-based market as they are consuming less dairy and meat.
Commercial sales of dairy milk have been weakening for years, according to research firm Mintel, likely in part because of the rise of plant-based alternatives — even though many Canadians still drink dairy.
The No. 1 reason people opt for plant-based milk is because they see it as healthier than dairy, said Joel Gregoire, Mintel’s associate director for food and drink.
“Plant-based milk, the one thing about it — it’s not new. It’s been around for quite some time. It’s pretty established,” said Gregoire.
Because of that, it serves as an “entry point” for many consumers interested in plant-based alternatives to animal products, he said.
Plant-based milk consumption is expected to continue growing in the coming years, according to Mintel research, with more options available than ever and more consumers opting for a diet that includes both dairy and non-dairy milk.
A 2023 report by Ernst & Young for Protein Industries Canada projected that the plant-based dairy market will reach US$51.3 billion in 2035, at a compound annual growth rate of 9.5 per cent.
Because of this growth opportunity, even well-established dairy or plant-based companies are stepping up their game.
It’s been more than three decades since Saint-Hyacinthe, Que.-based Natura first launched a line of soy beverages. Over the years, the company has rolled out new products to meet rising demand, and earlier this year launched a line of oat beverages that it says are the only ones with a stamp of approval from Celiac Canada.
Competition is tough, said owner and founder Nick Feldman — especially from large American brands, which have the money to ensure their products hit shelves across the country.
Natura has kept growing, though, with a focus on using organic ingredients and localized production from raw materials.
“We’re maybe not appealing to the mass market, but we’re appealing to the natural consumer, to the organic consumer,” Feldman said.
Amlani said brands are increasingly advertising the simplicity of their ingredient lists. She’s also noticing more companies offering different kinds of products, such as coffee creamers.
Companies are also looking to stand out through eye-catching packaging and marketing, added Amlani, and by competing on price.
Besides all the companies competing for shelf space, there are many different kinds of plant-based milk consumers can choose from, such as almond, soy, oat, rice, hazelnut, macadamia, pea, coconut and hemp.
However, one alternative in particular has enjoyed a recent, rapid ascendance in popularity.
“I would say oat is the big up-and-coming product,” said Feldman.
Mintel’s report found the share of Canadians who say they buy oat milk has quadrupled between 2019 and 2023 (though almond is still the most popular).
“There seems to be a very nice marriage of coffee and oat milk,” said Feldman. “The flavour combination is excellent, better than any other non-dairy alternative.”
The beverage’s surge in popularity in cafés is a big part of why it’s ascending so quickly, said Gregoire — its texture and ability to froth makes it a good alternative for lattes and cappuccinos.
It’s also a good example of companies making a strong “use case” for yet another new entrant in a competitive market, he said.
Amid the long-standing brands and new entrants, there’s another — perhaps unexpected — group of players that has been increasingly investing in plant-based milk alternatives: dairy companies.
For example, Danone has owned the Silk and So Delicious brands since an acquisition in 2014, and long-standing U.S. dairy company HP Hood LLC launched Planet Oat in 2018.
Lactalis Canada also recently converted its facility in Sudbury, Ont., to manufacture its new plant-based Enjoy! brand, with beverages made from oats, almonds and hazelnuts.
“As an organization, we obviously follow consumer trends, and have seen the amount of interest in plant-based products, particularly fluid beverages,” said Mark Taylor, president and CEO of Lactalis Canada, whose parent company Lactalis is the largest dairy products company in the world.
The facility was a milk processing plant for six decades, until Lactalis Canada began renovating it in 2022. It now manufactures not only the new brand, but also the company’s existing Sensational Soy brand, and is the company’s first dedicated plant-based facility.
“We’re predominantly a dairy company, and we’ll always predominantly be a dairy company, but we see these products as complementary,” said Taylor.
It makes sense that major dairy companies want to get in on plant-based milk, said Gregoire. The dairy business is large — a “cash cow,” if you will — but not really growing, while plant-based products are seeing a boom.
“If I’m looking for avenues of growth, I don’t want to be left behind,” he said.
Gregoire said there’s a potential for consumers to get confused with so many options, which is why it’s so important for brands to find a way to differentiate themselves, whether it’s with taste, health, or how well the drink froths for a latte.
Competition in a more crowded market is challenging, but Taylor believes it results in better products for consumers.
“It keeps you sharp, and it forces you to be really good at what you’re doing. It drives innovation,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.
