Briefly: Insufficient evidence to lay charges under the Canada Elections Act, according to the Commissioner of Canada Elections after it investigated Chinese government interference in the Steveston-Richmond East 2021 campaign.
Liberal Parm Bains benefited from groups aligned with the Chinese Communist Party to upset incumbent Conservative Kenny Chiu.
Bob Mackin
The Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections found officials from the People’s Republic of China government gave “the impetus and direction” for the successful campaign to defeat Steveston-Richmond East Conservative MP Kenny Chiu and his party in the 2021 election.
But investigators say they did not find enough evidence to charge anyone under the Canada Elections Act for undue foreign influence, intimidation, unregistered third party or use of foreign funds.
Parm Bains (second from right) and Chinese Canadians Goto Vote Association supporter Wu Jiaming in Steveston during the 2021 election (WeChat)
“The overall campaign was carried out and amplified via a multi-pronged and layered approach using Chinese-Canadian association individuals, Chinese-Canadian business interests as well as the pervasive social media and printed, digital and broadcast media messaging,” said the 112-page report, which was filed Sept. 17 at the Hogue Commission on foreign interference.
The campaign was “enhanced by circumstances unique to the Chinese diaspora and the assertive nature of Chinese government interests,” it said.
The report described a network of large Lower Mainland associations that enjoy close relations with officials of the Chinese consulate, the Consul General and United Front Work Department (UFWD), the Chinese Communist Party’s foreign intelligence and propaganda arm. The names were censored from the report, but they are understood to be the Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations, Canadian Community Service Association and Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver.
In some cases, the report said, the association leaders have participated in meetings at the presidential level in China and “are leveraged as messengers for the Consul General.”
Chinese-Canadian interview subjects told investigators of a widespread fear during 2021 that voting in a Conservative government would cause China to curtail travel to and from China and take measures against family members or business interests in China.
“Several Chinese-Canadian interview subjects were of the view that Chinese authorities could exercise such retributive measures, and that this fear was most acute with Chinese-Canadian electors from mainland China. One said ‘everybody understands’ the need to only say nice things about China.”
Parm Bains (foreground) and Wang Dianqi (centre) (WeChat)
The report said Chiu was targeted because he traveled to Hong Kong to observe local elections after being elected in 2019, proposed a foreign influence registry law, his party deemed China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims a genocide and his party’s 2021 election platform that promised to get tough with China.
The Conservatives took that hawkish stance the year after the COVID-19 pandemic emerged from Wuhan. China was, at the time, holding Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor hostage while Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou lived under house arrest in her Shaughnessy mansion and fought a U.S. bid to extradite her on fraud charges. They were swapped shortly after voters returned Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party with a minority mandate.
Investigators noted two associations formed during the 2021 election period, founded by the same individuals. One intended to promote voting among Chinese-Canadians and the other intended to counter perceived Anti-Asian discrimination.
The names were not visible in the report, but are understood to be the Chinese Canadians Goto Vote Association (CCGVA) and Stop Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Advocacy Group, formed by Ivan Pak, Ally Wang and Daoping Bao.
A heavily redacted section describes members of CCGVA holding a “small rally” before election day in Steveston’s Garry Point Park that was attended by Liberal candidate Parm Bains, who upset Chiu by 3,477 votes in the election.
Richmond Conservative Kenny Chiu says a story on WeChat is wrong (CCN Media)
One of the individuals wearing a CCGVA shirt “is reported to be a United Front activist.” Though he is not named in the body of the report, a footnote mentions Wang Dianqi by his last name as someone with influence and “ready access” to the consulate and People’s Liberation Army. It said he has met twice with China’s supreme leader, Xi Jinping.
“The presence of Bains and his signs led to the possibility that [named association] may have been acting as an unregistered third party and involved in partisan activities regulated by the Act and which would have required them to register as a third party,” the report said.
However, investigators concluded they did not have enough evidence to charge CCGVA.
“Our review did not identify information or evidence to suggest that an expenditure of $500 or more was incurred by either the (censored) although we believe the interaction with Parm Bains was coordinated and not coincidental,” the report said.
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