Indo-Canadian MP denies benefiting from China’s interference in 2021 polls

Toronto: An Indo-Canadian MP from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ruling Liberal Party, has asserted that he did not benefit from alleged Chinese interference in the 2021 elections in the country.

The outlet CBC News reported on Tuesday that Parm Bains, MP from the Steveston-Richmond East constituency in the province of British Columbia, had said he won the election “fair and square”.

That comment came as his opponent in that election, Conservative Kenny Chiu appeared before a hearing of the House of Commons Ethics Committee that is examining the matter. Chiu, who was the incumbent but lost to Bains by less than 3,500 votes, told the Committee he suspected that a Chinese disinformation campaign worked against him. “I would say it played a role in my defeat,” he said.

Ironically, Bains is a member of the Committee.

The report also cited an article in the local outlet Richmond News that noted that Bains was at a ceremony marking the “swearing-in of a board affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party”, an event where China’s consul-general was also present.

Bains had already responded to that piece. In a letter to the outlet, he wrote, “The event in question was advertised as a way to recognise the charitable efforts of numerous organisations towards flood relief, Richmond Hospital and numerous contributions to our local community. That is all I attended for.”

Trudeau and his party continue to face scrutiny over the alleged interference by Beijing in the 2019 and 2021 elections. The PM’s chief of staff Katie Telford is expected to appear before the House of Commons Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Friday, in this regard.

The issue has had several repercussions: On Tuesday, the president and CEO and the Board of Directors of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation submitted their resignations, citing “the political climate surrounding a donation received by the Foundation in 2016”.

The news outlet, the Globe and Mail, had reported that Canada’s spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), recorded a conversation between an unnamed Chinese diplomat and the billionaire Zhang Bin, with the official instructing the latter to donate a substantial amount to the Foundation as the Liberals were favourably placed in the 2015 polls.

Trudeau became Prime Minister in 2015 when his party came to power with a majority. The foundation announced on Wednesday that it was returning the amount received so far, 140,000 Canadian dollars ($103,974). In a statement, its president and CEO Pascale Fournier, who resigned on Tuesday, said, “We cannot keep any donation that may have been sponsored by a foreign government and would not knowingly do so.”

“In light of these recent allegations, the foundation has refunded to the donor all amounts received with respect to the donation pledge,” she added. The foundation was established to continue the legacy of the late Canadian Prime Minister, the current incumbent’s father.

An Independent Special Rapporteur appointed by the government last month is expected to complete his review into the election interference allegations by October 31. Former Canadian governor-general David Johnston was appointed to take on that responsibility, and has been “tasked with assessing the extent and impact of foreign interference in Canada’s electoral processes, including by examining information related to the 2019 and 2021 federal elections to determine what the government did to defend Canada against electoral interference”.

A series of exposes have increased pressure on the Trudeau government. On February 17, the Globe and Mail noted, “China employed a sophisticated strategy to disrupt Canada’s democracy in the 2021 federal election campaign as Chinese diplomats and their proxies backed the re-election of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals – but only to another minority government – and worked to defeat Conservative politicians considered to be unfriendly to Beijing.” That report was based on CSIS documents.

After that, the outlet Global News cited a December 20, 2021 report from CSIS that said the “Liberal Party of Canada is becoming the only party that the People’s Republic of China can support”.