Former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu says the Liberal government has been playing political games when it comes to the tabling of legislation meant to combat interference in Canadian democratic processes by hostile foreign actors.
In an exclusive interview with True North, Chiu slammed the Liberal government for tabling the Countering Foreign Interference Act, or Bill C-70, at a time convenient for the government and not sooner.
“I think the Liberals have again proven that they are the best political manipulators in terms of timing, they see everything in their benefit and they time it the best,” said Chiu.
The Countering Foreign Interference Act was tabled by the Liberals on Monday, containing provisions to create a foreign agents registry and expand the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s powers to prosecute those aiding a foreign actor at the expense of Canada, among other things.
The former British Columbian MP criticized the government for tabling the legislation years after the issue of foreign interference in Canada’s democracy had been raised by the Conservative party.
Chiu sees this week’s tabling of the Countering Foreign Interference Act as a political manoeuvre to act on the issue of foreign interference before the Foreign Interference Commission’s Justice Marie-Josée Hogue could table her final report on the matter.
“They drafted all these legislative changes long before she [Justice Hogue] finished compiling the initial report or even I suspect the testifying even began in early April. Because one needs not only to draft it, but also need to go through the House of Commons legal department and come back with changes, and then translation into French and all that, all of these things take time,” said Chiu.
Chiu had served as the member of Parliament for Steveston–Richmond East for one term, before losing in the 2021 election to the Liberal Parm Bains.
However, as confirmed by testimony at the Hogue Commission, Chiu’s campaign was targeted by a foreign disinformation campaign orchestrated by the People’s Republic of China, as he was an open critic of the communist regime and advocated for a foreign agent registry.
Chiu says that while a foreign agent registry on its own cannot stop foreign interference in Canadian elections, he says that such a registry would allow the public to hold the foreign agents to account and could have helped to mitigate foreign interference in his 2021 re-election campaign.
“I believe they [foreign agents] see the registry as a huge threat to them in being able to conduct clandestine and deceptive operations. And this is not my words, this is CSIS’s characterization.”
“It would have probably gave me a better chance had this legislation been law in 2021. Canadians would be able to see the people who are helping to spread all the disinformation, the mechanism of how it works, and their linkage to the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department.”
Chiu said that he is considering running for the Conservatives in Steveston–Richmond East again, to help deal with the “shithole” that the Trudeau government has created.
“I’m seriously considering. I’ve been saying that this whole debacle, it’s not about Kenny Chiu, it’s not about Steveston–Richmond East. But through Steveston–Richmond East we see how big a shithole that we’re in, that Canada is in.”
“I’m not saying no, but I’m not saying yes.”