Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he is confident that the name of the MPP alleged to be part of China’s election interference network in Canada will be cleared.
“I have confidence that his name will be cleared,” Ford said at a press conference on March 21, referring to Vincent Ke, who represents the riding of Don Valley North.
Ford said he is prepared to have Ke return to the caucus if his name is cleared.
“If his name is totally cleared, there’s no reason why he can’t come back to the caucus,” he said.
Ke, who was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2018 and re-elected in 2022, currently sits as an Independent. Prior to his resignation, he was Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery.
The report said that according to sources, Ke received around $50,000 from the Chinese consulate in Toronto as part of a $250,000 fund allocated for Beijing’s interference network. The funds were allegedly channeled via a series of intermediaries.
The article also cited a Privy Council Office (PCO) report that asserted the CCP network in the Toronto area included at least 11 candidates who ran in the 2019 federal election, at least 13 aides, and an Ontario MPP.
Though the PCO report did not mention Ke by name, Global News said its sources who have knowledge of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s (CSIS) investigation into China’s interference in Canada say that Ke was a recipient of a portion of the funds meant for the network.
The article said another PCO document that was provided to the Prime Minister’s Office four months after the 2019 election in October made similar points.
Student Cadre
The National Post had reported in 2019 that Ke, who had appeared at different events with Chinese consulate officials, was a student cadre at his university in China. The article cited Alex Joske, a Mandarin-speaking analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, saying cadres typically act as informants to monitor students and lecturers for politically questionable behaviour, while adding that Joske was not familiar with Ke’s story specifically.The article noted that when asked about Ke, Ford said he is an important part of his government.
The Epoch Times reached out to Ke for comment but didn’t hear back.
At the March 21 press conference, Ford said Ke agreed with the decision to leave the PC caucus.
“Vincent decided that as well,” he said. “He wants to clear his name. And once he clears his name, then we can get back to normal. I think he did the right thing.”
Ford said he personally wasn’t briefed by CSIS on Ke’s case, but his chief of staff was, who relayed the agency’s message to him.
The premier also criticized CSIS for not doing a good job of giving a “proper briefing.”
“With CSIS, everything’s a big secret, they don’t give you a proper briefing, in my opinion,” he said. “They will say a few comments and ‘we can’t tell you, we can’t tell you, we can’t tell you.’”
Ford defended himself for not taking action, saying he wanted to let the agency do its work.
“They’re in charge of national security, so let them continue on with their investigation,” he said. “We’ll cooperate any way we can.”
