Beijing Meddles in Canada's National Security
In this edition of Resuming Debate, I explore how Beijing is meddling in Canada's National Security, the upcoming NDP-Liberal budget, and moderating a panel on immigration at the CSFN conference.
Winnipeg Lab Report Hearing
The Liberal government has been so careless with Canada’s national security that it is not hard to see why two scientists with deep connections to the People’s Republic of China military as well as arms of the communist party infiltrated Canada’s top laboratory. This week the Canada-China special parliamentary committee began its investigation of what went wrong at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg using the 600 plus page report outlining repeat failures in background vetting, security breaches and what is evidently a total disregard by the Liberal government to protect our highest value national laboratory.
This was confirmed when the Liberal health minister suggested in committee that government workers should disclose if they are working for or with a hostile regime. Logically it should be the Government of Canada taking responsibility for properly screening its employees beforehand. Watch the video below to listen exactly to what he said.
As readers may recall from a past newsletter of Resuming Debate, two scientists, Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, worked at the level-4 National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, which handles deadly diseases such as Ebola. Recently released documents revealed the two were associated with multiple "talent programs" administered and funded by various government entities in the People’s Republic of China. Qiu was found to be intentionally sharing scientific information and materials with the Government of China — in open violation of our national security interests, according to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
Qiu and Cheng were eventually removed from the laboratory in July 2019, and their security clearances were later revoked. Their dismissals were not made public until January 2021. According to reports, the two are currently working in China. In fact they have been confirmed as working using pseudonyms and one of them is working at the Wuhan Virology Laboratory. The Liberals tried to cover up their scandal for over three years before finally releasing a report last February detailing their incompetence over Qiu and Cheng’s dismissals.
It is a disgrace to our country that it took so long to uncover why scientists connected to the hostile PRC-regime were able to work in a top-level laboratory and steal sensitive information before being fired. As of yet, no one in the Liberal government has taken responsibility or has been fired for the security breaches as well as the subsequent cover-up. The Liberal health ministers comments make it understandable as to why hostile regimes do not take Canada’s national security seriously and are continuously trying to subvert our country.
PRC Overseas Police Stations in Canada
According to a report from the non-governmental organization (NGO) Safeguard Defender, the PRC has established over 100 coercive overseas police service stations around the world.
When these shocking revelations were made public in the fall of 2022, Conservatives successfully introduced a motion at the Canada-China special parliamentary committee to initiate hearings and investigate this threat. Remember, the Liberals should have been on top of this long before it became a public problem.
We heard disturbing testimony from multiple witnesses about how the PRC government operates these stations and their intimidation tactics targeting Canadians of Chinese ancestry.
The PRC foreign ministry denies the existence of these police stations, claiming these stations are merely “police contact points” manned by the diaspora community to help assist with administrative tasks such as the renewal of expired driver's licenses. However, the committee learnt from the witnesses that the stations monitor Chinese diaspora communities and coerce individuals to return to the People's Republic of China to face criminal trials under pressure that their families and businesses will otherwise be targeted for repression. This is a form of transnational repression of the kind that communist governments the world over are known for.
After our committee tabled the report on our findings, we received a response letter from the Liberal public safety minister stating that “the Government of Canada takes the issue of transnational repression seriously and is using all available tools at its disposal to address the threat” and “act of harassment, intimidation, or violence by foreign states against individuals in Canada, including Chinese-Canadians and other communities, is unacceptable.”
Despite his seemingly tough language, no individuals have been arrested or have had their diplomatic credentials removed regarding the “overseas police service stations” in Canada. Last June, the RCMP said it had "shut down illegal police activity in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia" connected to these PRC police stations but has not stated whether they have made any arrests. In December 2023, two Chinese Canadian community centers in the Montreal area were identified as alleged CCP “police stations.”
The continued inaction and slow walking of a response to the continued presence in Canada of these overseas police stations remains a national security risk the Liberal government refuses to address. These overseas police stations are also a violation of several parts of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic representations. A common sense conservative government will take national security seriously and shut these stations down once and for all.
Fixing the Budget: Dollar for Dollar Rule
This past week, I spoke in Parliament demanding that the NDP-Liberal government introduce a dollar-for dollar rule in the 2024 Federal Budget, which is set to be tabled next week. The rule is simple: for every new dollar of government spending, the government must find a dollar of saving in current spending.
This rule is also known as Pay-As-You-Go and is a proven way to control government spending. And this NDP-Liberal government has a record of wasteful spending that has led to high inflation rates, higher mortgage rates and every new dollar of tax revenue spent immediately instead of saved for rainy days. It has made life unaffordable for Canadians.
Rents and mortgages have doubled, food banks are seeing record visits, and families are being hit with skyrocketing interest rates. This year alone, Canada will spend $46.5 billion to service our national debt, which is more than what we spend on healthcare annually.
Before he became Prime Minister, Trudeau promised that his government would run small deficits for four years before returning to balanced budgets. Eight years later, he has doubled the national debt from $619.3 billion during his first year as Prime Minister to at least $1.2 trillion last year. This prime minister is just not worth the cost.
Canadians are tired of seeing their hard-earned money go to this federal government and getting very little in return. In fact, a recent Angus-Reid poll found that 59 percent believe the government is spending too much.
Along with legislating the dollar-for-dollar rule, Common Sense Conservatives are also demanding that the NDP-Liberals axe the carbon tax on farmers and food by immediately passing Bill C-234 in its original form.
This wasteful overspending and inflation must stop, and it will when Conservatives earn the right to govern in the next carbon tax election.
Meeting with former Australian PM Tony Abbott
I had the privilege of meeting with the Hon. Tony Abbott, former Prime Minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015, during his time in Ottawa for the Canada Strong and Free Conference, the country’s largest conservative conference. Abbott won a decisive majority government on cost of living issues and axed Australia’s carbon tax as prime minister. We talked at some length about the carbon tax policies in Australia before he axed that tax, the cost of living crisis in countries that adopt carbon taxes, and finally the prospects for a new conservative vision to address climate change based on common sense as well as technology adoption.
Moderating Immigration Panel at the CSFN Conference
At the Canada Strong and Free conference (CSFN) this week in Ottawa, I was offered the opportunity to moderate an immigration panel including Eric Duhaime of the Conservative Party of Quebec, Rahim Mohamed with the National Post, and Aaron Wudrick of the MacDonald Laurier Institute. The CSFN is the largest gathering of conservatives anywhere in the country. It is a space to meet the people involved in all the organizations that make up the movement and not just the political parties. Its an exciting time in Canada as conservatives from coast to coast pursue policies like axing the carbon tax, building more homes, fixing our national and provincial budgets and finally stopping crime in our communities.
