Briefly: Richmond city hall granted $2,000 to a concert organized by activists with a history of opposing efforts to regulate lobbying by foreign governments. A city councillor said staff are looking into whether the event broke grant rules.
Co-organizer Ivan Pak said RCMP officers attended after protesters arrived at Cambie Community Centre in East Richmond.
Bob Mackin
A Richmond city councillor said staff are looking at whether any grant money was used for political purposes at an East Richmond event on Aug. 24.
Activists Ivan Pak and Ally Wang hosted the Concert in the Park at Cambie Community Centre. The event poster acknowledged the Province of B.C. and City of Richmond’s financial support and included the logos for their organizations, International Elite Club Association of Canada (IECA), Stop Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Advocacy Group (SAAHCAG) and Chinese Canadians Goto Vote Association (CCGVA).
“That is the concern, because if this is a political event then it’s against the policy of the city and thats’s where we’re going to be examining whether we were misled when the grant was applied for,” said Coun. Kash Heed.
Ivan Pak (left) and Ally Wang, surrounded by anti-CCP protesters at the Aug. 24 Concert in the Park in Richmond. (Victor Ho photos)
Richmond city hall spokesperson Clay Adams said IECA received $2,000 for the event from the city’s Parks, Recreation and Community Events Grant program.
“The grant was to assist with volunteer support, supplies, equipment, materials, insurance, and consultant services. That was the only city funding,” Adams said of the multicultural festival featuring Asian-Canadian musicians and artists.
Heed pinpointed CCGVA, which registered as a provincial society — but did not register as a third-party with Elections Canada — shortly after the 2021 federal election was called. Its website lists supporters like Wenzhou Friendship Society and Canadian Community Service Association. Both organizations are aligned with the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office at the People’s Republic of China consulate, which promotes the Chinese Communist Party.
A group of CCGVA supporters appeared during the final weekend of the 2021 federal election with Liberal candidate Parm Bains. Bains upset Steveston-Richmond East Conservative incumbent Kenny Chiu, who had earlier tabled a private member’s bill for a foreign lobbyists registry.
Pak and Wang continued their campaign against such a registry, which became law in 2024 under the Liberal minority government. Pak now says that he is “not objecting to any investigation towards foreign interference. We simply want this act to be done fairly and transparent and also not targeting any specific ethnic group.”
On Family Day, Pak organized a protest in Richmond against a proposal for supervised drug consumption at Richmond Hospital.
SAAHCAG reported $205,833 revenue and $200,474 expenses, according to its 2022 application for a $5,000 provincial multiculturalism grant. In 2023, it received a $24,400 Employment and Social Development Canada for a seniors awareness and prevention of racism and discrimination program.
Victor Ho and Mabel Tung of the Chinese Canadian Concern Group on the Chinese Communist Party’s Human Rights Violations urged politicians to not attend the Concert in the Park. They pointed to the Aug. 6 news conference that featured Sen. Yuen Pau Woo, who has opposed the federal foreign influence registry.
“We do not believe that PRC advocates and their groups should receive public funding, and we urge political parties and their candidates to distance themselves from these activities,” said Ho and Tung in an open letter.
Parm Bains (second from right) and Chinese Canadians Goto Vote Association supporter Wu Jiaming in Steveston during the 2021 election (WeChat)
Ho is the former editor-in-chief of Sing Tao Daily’s Vancouver edition and hosts Media Analytica on YouTube. He attended the Concert in the Park and shot several photographs of protesters carrying flags and signs, with slogans such as: “No to CCP’s inflitration: opposition to Chinese overseas police stations,” “No to Transnational Repression” and “Support bill countering foreign influence.”
Pak said he told the protesters they were welcome to walk around but not block the stage or vendor kiosks. Richmond RCMP eventually showed up to maintain order.
Pak said the concert was intended to promote multiculturalism and recommend voting in the Oct. 19 provincial election.
“We encourage all the Chinese-Canadians who are living here to participate in elections, to pay attention to politics and also exercise your right to vote,” Pak said in a video published on Facebook. “And that this is one of the messages we want to bring to the community, that your vote matters.”
His introductory speech did not refer to voting requirements or registration with Elections BC: Only Canadian citizens 18 or older, who have lived in B.C. for the past six months, can register to vote in the Oct. 19 election.
In an interview, Pak clarified that people who are not yet citizens, therefore unable to vote, still have a responsibility to pay attention to domestic issues.
“I think the ultimate goal for my advocacy is to make sure these people from, especially from mainland China, do participate in our society,” said Pak, a People’s Party of Canada candidate in the 2019 federal election. “This is Canada. This is where you live now.
During the 60 days before the election day, any individual or organization that pays to publish, broadcast or transmit election communications must register with Elections BC as a third party sponsor. Pak said CCGVA is unlikely to register.
“I’m not supporting any individual, this organization is not supporting any individual or any parties,” Pak said. “So we don’t think we should be registered with Elections BC, and we did not violate or will not violate any election law.”
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