Bob Mackin
The Liberal candidate who apologized for suggesting a Conservative candidate be turned over to the Chinese consulate in Toronto promoted closer trade with China.
At a lectern topped by Chinese and Canadian flags, Paul Chiang (Markham-Unionville) spoke at a March 26 news conference to announce the inaugural May 30-June 1 Toronto Trade Show. He called it a “pivotal moment for global businesses, especially with Donald Trump threats of tariffs against Canada.
“Help us build better connections, drive investment and open doors for Canadian and Chinese businesses alike,” Chiang said in a short video clip posted on YouTube by Easy Canada.
Other speakers included Liu Linlin, a commercial envoy with the Chinese consulate in Toronto, and Lu Yuan, the CEO of the Canadian office of the state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Trade Show sponsors include Canadian and Chinese entities directly or indirectly aligned with the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department.
On March 20, China hit Canadian seafood and pork exports with 25% tariffs in retaliation for Canada’s 100% tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles last October. A day earlier, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that four Canadians had been executed in China earlier in 2025 for drug crimes.
In January, Chiang made the controversial comments directed at Don Valley North Conservative candidate Joe Tay after the Hong Kong Police issued an arrest warrant for Tay, accusing him of inciting secession. The Hong Kong-Canadian actor runs the HongKongerStation YouTube channel critical of the Beijing-controlled, Hong Kong government.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and Conservative and NDP candidates who were targeted by China’s government called for Liberal leader Mark Carney to fire Chiang.
“Mark Carney says [Chiang] should stay on as a candidate. What does that say about whether Mark Carney would protect Canadians?” said Poilievre. “Mark Carney is deeply conflicted, just in November he went to Beijing and secured a quarter billion dollar loan for his company (Brookfield Asset Management) from a state-owned Chinese bank.”
Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton Hills) posted on X: “The Liberals under Trudeau turned a blind eye to foreign interference. The Liberals under Carney are doing the same thing.”
Jenny Kwan (NDP, Vancouver East) said the Liberals have failed to follow through on hiring a foreign interference registry commissioner. She said Carney’s reluctance to replace Chiang is an insult to all Canadians.
“People who speak up against Communist China’s repressive regime are fearful for their lives and that of their families,” Kwan said at a Port Moody news conference. “That is what transnational repression looks like and we need to stand together to fight against it, and not peddle it as the way it is being done from the Liberal candidate.”
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