CCP ‘Undermining Canada’ to Get to US as Part of Its Hybrid Warfare: Former Intel Officer

Scott McGregor says the CCP’s infiltration of Canada enables it to use the country as a ‘stronghold’ to advance its geopolitical and economic objectives.

Years of infiltration by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Canada has enabled the regime to use the country as a launching point to subvert the United States, says former RCMP intelligence officer Scott McGregor.

Mr. McGregor outlines these concerns in his newly published book, “The Mosaic Effect: How the Chinese Communist Party Started A Hybrid War in America’s Backyard,” co-authored by journalist Ina Mitchell.

Released on Oct. 25, the book delves into the regime’s “hybrid warfare,” a multi-faceted strategy aimed at undermining and defeating its adversaries without resorting to conventional warfare.

In an interview with The Epoch Times on Oct. 24, Mr. McGregor said a primary objective of the CCP’s infiltration is to use Canada as a “stronghold” to advance its geopolitical and economic competition against the United States.

“Canada is a soft target for a number of reasons, and that infiltration started a long, long time ago. But the whole while, undermining the United States is obviously one of the largest goals of the CCP. They’re the biggest rival for looking at controlling the narrative,” he said.

Beijing has been “undermining Canada to get through to the United States,” he explained.

“They also try to go directly through the United States, but Canada has really become this foothold, a stronghold if you will, for the hybrid war piece, whether it be through cyber or any of the other aspects, especially in transnational organized crime.”

A full picture of the CCP’s strategy becomes apparent after assembling the various pieces of information regarding specific covert operations.

Operation Dragon Lord

Mr. McGregor’s book referenced Canadian and U.S. intelligence operations dating back to the 1990s that revealed China’s interference operations, which were executed through a complex network of triad gang members and Chinese business tycoons.

“The [intelligence agencies] were able to identify that Canada is becoming a threat to the United States because of the level of infiltration here—that is very significant,” Mr. McGregor said.

Notably, the book featured an excerpt from a 1999 document linked to Operation Dragon Lord, a highly classified U.S. intelligence operation that relied on multi-agency reporting.

Scott McGregor (2nd L), co-author of the book "Mosaic Effect," at the book launch event in Ottawa on Oct. 25, 2023. Others in the photo are (L-R): Dean Baxendale, president and publisher of Optimum Publishing International; Michel Juneau-Katsuya, former senior intelligence officer at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service; Ivy Li, member of the Canadian Friends of Hong Kong; Leader of Bloc Québécois Yves-François Blanchet; and Garry Clement, former national director for the RCMP's Proceeds of Crime Program. Matthew Yuan/NTD

In the document, U.S. intelligence highlighted a “major and undeniable finding” pointing to the “worrying and potentially destabilizing presence” in Canada of what it described as the “unholy trinity” of CCP intelligence, triad members, and Chinese tycoons.

“At first, Canadian intelligence officials believed that the trinity was using Canada as a fertile, and easily accessible testing ground for its operations. Rut [sic] now, regrettably, it is apparent that Canada has become the gateway for the trinity’s operations throughout North America,” the document said.

“Exploiting Canada’s lax immigration laws, border patrols, and generous social welfare system, triad leaders and their associates have been able to establish a well nourished base of operations in Canada. As such, Canada has now become one of the pre-eminent security concerns of the U.S. government.”

Hybrid Warfare

The concept of hybrid warfare was initially introduced by two Chinese colonels in their 1999 book, “Unrestricted Warfare.” The colonels openly deliberated on tactics that Beijing could employ to overcome “technologically superior opponents,” such as the United States. The tactics they outlined in the book can be categorized into five areas: lawfare, economic warfare, cyber warfare, terrorism, and media warfare.

Mr. McGregor noted that cyber warfare has seen a significant surge in prevalence. He pointed to British Columbia, where he said government agencies are facing up to 1,000 attacks per minute originating from China. He emphasized that Beijing has established a dedicated apparatus that has been militarized solely for the purpose of conducting cyber warfare.

Other facets of China’s hybrid warfare encompass what was described as “soft power” and “sharp power,” according to Mr. Gregor. Soft power primarily involves the economic subversion of Canadian corporate entities and critical infrastructure, while sharp power centres on political influence, spanning from grassroots levels to federal politics.

“There is no target that isn’t worth pursuing,” he said in reference to the CCP’s strategy.

Additionally, Mr. McGregor, who served as an intelligence adviser in the RCMP’s Federal Serious and Organized Crime division and worked under the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, highlighted the role of transnational organized crime within the Chinese hybrid warfare strategy. This includes the trafficking of fentanyl and other narcotics and collaboration with criminal entities such as cartels and Hezbollah.

He said organized crime plays a crucial role in financing CCP covert operations through activities such as money laundering in casinos. Mr. McGregor also noted a significant challenge in countering these criminal organizations: When identified, they are either removed or go underground, becoming more covert, which amplifies the difficulty in tracking their activities.

Infiltrating Police Agencies

Mr. McGregor expressed concerns about the CCP’s infiltration of Canadian police institutions because it allows the regime to undermine the authority of those police agencies.

He reiterated concerns he previously spoke about in an interview with The Epoch Times, revolving around Canada’s naiveté on the matter, exemplified by the partnership between the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) and China’s Public Security Bureau in training Chinese police in the province. This program commenced early last decade and concluded in 2019.

“The question was, why? Because [there is] a 99.9 percent conviction rate in China. What are you learning? Human rights are not a really big thing in China right now, so it didn’t make a lot of sense,” Mr. McGregor said. Through further investigation, he said he had identified CCP infiltration of the Vancouver Police Department and the RCMP.

A balloon is held at a press conference and rally in front of the America ChangLe Association highlighting Beijing's transnational repression, in New York City on Feb. 25, 2023. A now-closed overseas Chinese police station is located inside the association building.Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

He illustrated this with the recent arrest of an individual by U.S. authorities who was allegedly connected to a covert Chinese police station in New York City and was revealed to have received training at the JIBC.

Mr. McGregor also referenced the case of Cameron Jay Ortis, former director general of the RCMP’s National Intelligence Coordination Centre. Mr. Ortis was arrested in September 2019 and is on trial for allegedly leaking secret information to a foreign entity. Mr. McGregor said the case underscores Canada’s relative lack of capacity to counter foreign interference when compared to the United States.

“How can we expect our agencies to do the things that the United States does, when we can’t even control our own people or information?” he said. “In Canada, it’s hard enough just to get people together to talk about it, because nobody wants to admit or nobody wants to be exposed.”

Awareness

Mr. McGregor expressed optimism that Canadians have become more aware of CCP operations on Canadian soil over the past year.

“I think public opinion is really what’s going to drive change,” he said, adding he hopes that his book will further bring attention to the issue.

“We’re already at war. It’s a hybrid war, but that can easily move into a conventional conflict. That is my concern, and it’s something I think Canadians are waking up to.”