Report Details Chinese Interference in Trudeau Regime’s Canada

A declassified report by the Canadian National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) revealed earlier this year extensive foreign interference in Canada’s elections and legislative affairs.

According to a new report from independent journalist Sam Cooper of The Bureau, the NSICOP report, taken together with non-public intelligence documents obtained exclusively by Cooper, show that Chinese nationals, backed by the Chinese Communist Party, have engaged and are engaging in sophisticated efforts to infiltrate and manipulate all levels of Canada’s economy and government.

The Special Report was prepared by NSICOP — the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee — for the Canadian Prime Minister and later revised for public consumption.

The NSICOP report underscores the profound impact of Chinese influence activities in Canada, including illegal attempts to interfere in elections, bribe Canadian officials, as well as underhanded tactics aimed at taking advantage of Canada’s indigenous communities for resource extraction.

The details emerging from Canada concerning China’s malign activities in the country have significant implications for international allies, most notably the United States, and especially Maine, which shares a 611-mile land border with Canada and has its own well-documented problem with Chinese organized crime.

China’s activities in Canada, which Cooper’s reporting indicates stretch as far back as the late 1980s, received significant media attention in 2020. Media reports that year, allegedly based on leaked intelligence, brought the question of foreign interference squarely into the public discourse. It was later revealed that a non-public Canadian intelligence report detailed China’s broad attempts to bribe, coerce, and manipulate Canadian politicians while attempting to conceal any involvement from the Chinese Communist Party.

In response to public outcry and criticisms of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s regime, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs initiated a study of foreign interference on November 1, 2022, calling on ministers and senior officials to explain how the government has responded to these activities.

On March 6, 2023, Prime Minister Trudeau announced a number of requests for independent reviews.

The NSICOP report released earlier this year spans activities from September 2018 to March 2024, covering various actors, including the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Communications Security Establishment (CSE), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

The review is grounded in approximately 4,000 documents, including classified briefings and intelligence assessments. According to the Special Report, the Committee “examined approximately 4000 documents totaling over 33,000 pages.”

Per the report, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which is controlled by the authoritarian Chinese Communist Party (CCP), emerged as the most significant foreign interference threat, utilizing sophisticated, persistent, and multi-dimensional strategies.

The report appears to confirm what many western China Hawks have long claimed: that the PRC has aggressively adopted the strategies and tactics first articulated in Wang Xiangsui and Qiao Liang‘s infamous military strategy book, Unrestricted Warfare, as part of its long-simmering tensions with western governments.

According to Canadian intelligence, the PRC’s unrestricted warfare has been primarily directed through the United Front Work Department (UFWD), which has sought to influence Canadian politics and society in favor of Chinese strategic interests.

The report details the PRC’s efforts to cultivate relationships with influential Canadians, leveraging community organizations, and using proxies to exert covert influence. The PRC’s foreign interference efforts are described as “sophisticated, persistent, and multi-dimensional, targeting all orders of Canadian government and various facets of society.”

According to the report, the PRC has engaged in manipulating traditional and social media to disseminate propaganda and disinformation.

For instance, the PRC was involved in direct engagement with Canadian media executives and journalists, as well as the creation of false social media accounts to spread misleading narratives.

According to the Special Report, “Foreign states relied on a range of tactics to covertly influence opinions and positions,” including “manipulating traditional media to disseminate propaganda.”

The report also details how the PRC targeted cultural and ethnic minorities in Canada to leverage their voting power, including both average citizens and members of parliament. The UFWD played a central role in these efforts, co-opting community leaders and organizations to support Beijing’s policies and narratives.

“Foreign states sought to exploit cultural and linguistic ties with ethnocultural communities and groups in Canada,” the report states.

In Ottawa, the PRC focused on Chinese-Canadian legislators, leveraging their ethnic background to exert pressure and offer rewards for compliance with Chinese interests.

The report reveals that “foreign actors have targeted federal parliamentarians to collect information to support potential future efforts to coerce them.”

One of the most notable case studies involved Conservative Party MP Michael Chong.

After sponsoring a vote in the House of Commons to declare the PRC’s treatment of Uyghurs as genocide, Chong was targeted by PRC operatives who, according to the report, collected detailed information on him and his family.

This incident exemplifies the PRC’s strategy of using intimidation as a political influence tactic.

The report explains, “The PRC’s objective was to make an example of Mr. Chong in order to deter other parliamentarians from taking ‘anti-China’ positions.”

“[F]oreign actors continue to consider Canada a permissive environment, viewing interference activities as a low-risk, high reward way to pursue strategic interests,” the report concludes.