Beijing critics are voicing concern about the foreign interference commissioner’s recent decision to let MP Han Dong and former Ontario cabinet minister Michael Chan access classified information and question witnesses. Some Chinese diaspora also worry about their safety due to the two politicians’ participation.
Gloria Fung, president of Canada-Hong Kong Link, voiced these concerns, referencing media reports that cited Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) allegations against the two.
“With the presence of Michael Chan and Han Dong who have been alleged by CSIS to have close ties with the Chinese Consulate, some witnesses may feel the public inquiry no longer provides a safe space for them to speak up and share their experience and analysis of foreign interference,” Ms. Fung said in an interview with The Epoch Times.
Both politicians are facing allegations of involvement in Beijing’s interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
Former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu echoed concerns about the powers granted to the two politicians.
“If the CSIS allegations are true, imagine, for example, the scenario: Mr. Han Dong and Mr. Michael Chan could have been closely linked to a foreign regime that’s set to infiltrate and interfere with Canada. Their access to classified information—the source, the methods of how intelligence is collected, for example—could actually jeopardize our country’s intelligence collection going further in the future,” Mr. Chiu told The Epoch Times.
In response to The Epoch Times’ inquiry about concerns related to his participation in the public inquiry, Mr. Woo stated, “Those who have expressed concern about my participation should spell out publicly what specifically they object to.”
China Critics Excluded
Ms. Fung said she was “equally astonished” to discover that some individuals who have criticized the Chinese regime were denied standing. This includes scholars Marcus Kolga and Charles Burton, who are senior fellows at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and active in raising awareness about the rights abuses of the Chinese communist regime.
In her Dec. 4 decision dismissing standing applications from Mr. Burton and Mr. Kolga, Justice Hogue noted the establishment of a research council that may call upon certain experts to aid the policy development phase of the inquiry. She mentioned that involving two categories of experts—one seeking standing and one recruited by the research council—could “blur the line between participant and independent expert,” making it “unhelpful.”
Mr. Chiu similarly expressed concerns about the initial absence of MP Michael Chong in the public inquiry.
He attributed Justice Hogue’s decision to extend the application time for Mr. Chong to the status granted to Mr. Dong and Mr. Chan, suggesting that the commissioner appears more focused on protecting those accused of controversial conduct rather than addressing broader issues like foreign interference.
“If that’s been the case, that Judge Hogue thinks that her responsibility is to protect and not to harm those who [are facing allegations], I suppose that’s why she realized that it is not kosher to not have Michael Chong in, and that perhaps is why he had been asked to apply, invited to apply, after the deadline has passed. I guess he would have been the token witness.”
‘Skin-Deep’
Mr. Chiu, who has also been reported as a target of Beijing’s disinformation and interference campaigns, said that he missed the deadline to apply for standing in the inquiry. He raised concerns about the brief time allowed by the commissioner for the public to submit an application.
“By the time I realized that there is an application that you have to submit and the application time limit is only [12 days], it was already too late,” Mr. Chiu said, saying that this arrangement added to his doubts about the likely significance of the inquiry.
“It’s going to be skin-deep, it’s going to be ocean-wide,” he said of the inquiry, noting that the commissioner will be examining potential foreign interference from other malign actors in addition to China.
He further raised concerns about the vetting structure of the inquiry, which has limited standing for the Conservative Party and the NDP, both opposition parties with members allegedly facing Beijing interference, including Mr. Chong and MP Jenny Kwan.
“All these reports [about] how the commission is structured, the inquiry, had undermined my confidence in it and confirming my decisions that perhaps it’s not worthwhile for even the ink and paper,” Mr. Chiu said.
