BC House Speaker Rejects Interference Concerns as Report Says Chinese Diplomat Complained of Tibetan Monks’ Legislature Tour

Speaker for the 42nd Parliament of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia Raj Chouhan is seen in the Legislature in Victoria, B.C, on Dec. 7, 2020. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)

The Speaker of the B.C. Legislative Assembly said concerns about his office being influenced by foreign interests are “incorrect,” as the opposition calls for a probe into whether complaints from the Chinese Consulate about Tibetans visiting the legislature had prompted the speaker’s office to deny a visit by another group of Buddhist monks.

On Feb. 15, a group of Tibetans visited the legislature, including Penpa Tsering, president-elect of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Tsering posted photos on social media, saying it was his first “official visit” to the B.C. legislature, which was part of his tour of Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom earlier this year.

The visit, however, drew protestations from the Chinese Consulate, which echoed Beijing’s position of denouncing the Tibetan government-in-exile in comments to Postmedia News, calling Tsering a “Tibetan separatist.”

The office of the Speaker of the B.C. Legislative Assembly later reportedly rejected a BC Liberals’ request to host another event inviting a delegation of Buddhist monks to the legislature. While that decision was later reversed, the initial rejection prompted Liberal House Leader Todd Stone to question whether it was affected by the complaint from the Chinese Consulate.

“We are deeply troubled that past concerns expressed by the Chinese government, and apparent fear of further concerns being raised by foreign governments, seem to be influencing discussions concerning who can and cannot attend events at the legislative assembly,” Stone told House Speaker Raj Chouhan in a March 29 letter, according to Postmedia.

In a response letter to Stone, Chouhan said the initial rejection was a “brief miscommunication” regarding the use of the Hall of Honour at the legislature, where the BC Liberals planned to host the event for the Buddhists. The speaker also added that “no officials, or tourists, were ever denied access to British Columbia’s Parliament Buildings.”

“I have always made it clear that the BC Legislature is a public venue and everyone is welcome. Any suggestion that my office would be influenced by foreign interests is simply incorrect,” said Chouhan in a statement to The Epoch Times.

The BC Liberals are reportedly calling for an investigation into the alleged Chinese influence at the Legislative Assembly Management Committee, which oversees business at the legislature, according to Postmedia.

The BC Liberals and Stone didn’t respond to requests for comment from The Epoch Times.

Concerns

Shortly after Tsering’s visit to the B.C. legislature, Liberal MLA Teresa Wat, who is the multiculturalism critic, invited a separate group of Buddhist monks to the legislature on Feb. 27 to celebrate the introduction of her private member’s bill, the Buddhist Culture Day Act, 2023.

Hours before the event began, an executive assistant in the Speaker’s office wrote to a Liberal staffer, asking if any of the Buddhist monks invited were from Tibet, according to Postmedia.

Stone also said in his March 29 letter that the House speaker told Liberal caucus whip Doug Clovechok on Feb. 27 that “If there’s Tibetan Monks in this group, I’ll be blamed for it,” which Postmedia said was a reference to the Chinese regime.

Chouhan pushed back against Stone’s allegation.

“I specifically told my colleague Doug Clovechok, MLA that regardless of any negative reaction from representatives of the government of China, this event will go forward as planned and we would not be responding to concerns raised in correspondence from the Consul General of China,” Chouhan told The Epoch Times.

Clovechok told The Epoch Times via email that he won’t comment on the issue.

The unidentified Liberal staffer was also cited as saying that the BC Liberals had contacted the parliamentary education office asking to host a follow-up event to establish an official Buddhist culture day.

Cai Dong, manager of the education office, reportedly called the Liberal staffer on March 15, asking if Tibetan monks could be excluded from the follow-up event. The staffer said he was not in a position to decide and asked Dong to contact Stone, according to Postmedia. Following more correspondence, Dong reportedly wrote to the Liberal staffer that his office was “unable to approve the event request in the Hall of Honour,” but that MLA Wat could still host the Buddhist delegation in the Official Opposition caucus space.

Dong declined to confirm the correspondence with the Liberal staffer to The Epoch Times.

Following inquiries from Postmedia, the Speaker’s office reportedly told the BC Liberals on March 29 that a date had been set for Wat’s follow-up event, which is scheduled for May 3.

Stone, however, questioned the explanation from the speaker’s office that the initial rejection was a “misunderstanding by an internal event management group.”

“If the Chinese Consulate, through phone calls and emails or written confirmation, was expressing an opinion that in any way shape or form has resulted in a decision being made to not allow certain people to come into this building, that just needs to be called out,” he told Postmedia. “It’s totally unacceptable.”

Concerns about foreign interference in Canada have been on the rise in recent months following reports about Chinese interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, as well as the 2022 Vancouver municipal election.

Chouhan noted that the sergeant-at-arms, who oversees security at the B.C. legislature, has reviewed both Stone’s letter and the correspondence from the Chinese Consulate and confirmed that “there were no internal or external security related concerns.”