EDITORIAL: Beware PM’s benign view of China, India

The foreign interference commissioner identified China as ‘the most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions’

It defies belief that China and India — despite their denials — have ended foreign interference in Canada, simply because the federal government is now led by Prime Minister Mark Carney instead of Justin Trudeau.

The fact that the Carney government is downplaying those concerns suggests it’s willing to pursue trade deals at the expense of the safety of Canadians.

Foreign interference commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue identified China as “the most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions” in her final report last year and that it “views Canada as a high-priority target.”

But now, in addition to a trade deal with China resulting from Carney’s recent trip to meet with President Xi Jinping, we also have an agreement with China, ostensibly to combat crime, as part of a “new strategic partnership.”

This despite the fact as early as 2019, Trudeau was warned by the all-party National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians that he appointed, that China, through its National Intelligence Law,  compels all Chinese companies and citizens — “regardless of whether or not they are also citizens of other countries” — to co-operate with China’s intelligence and security agencies at home and abroad.

It said China’s targeting of 1.8 million Canadians of Chinese origin in Canada, was the primary method by which it sought  to influence decision-making at all levels of government — federal, provincial, municipal and Indigenous — through “flattery, bribery … manipulation” and “threats” aimed at dissidents.

The foreign interference inquiry described India as “the second-most active country engaging in electoral foreign interference in Canada.”

Trudeau expelled six senior Indian diplomats in 2024 after Canada accused the Indian government of involvement in the extra-judicial killing of Canadian separatist Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in B.C..

The RCMP alleged agents of the Indian government were involved in “serious criminal activity” in Canada including more than a dozen “credible and imminent” death threats. 

But prior to Carney’s recent trip to India to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a senior Canadian government official told the media India no longer engages in such activities and the head of the RCMP said last week it no longer has evidence the Indian government is involved.

While China and India deny all wrongdoing, these new positions of the Carney government defy common sense.

Source: https://torontosun.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-beware-pms-benign-view-of-china-india