‘Gravely Wrong’: Tory MP Condemns Hong Kong Police Targeting Relatives of Canadian Activist and Candidate Joe Tay

Police officers stand guard in Causeway Bay area, on the 35th anniversary of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown, in Hong Kong, on June 4, 2024. The Associated Press/Chan Long Hei

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis is voicing concern over reports that the Hong Kong police detained the relatives of Conservative candidate and pro-democracy advocate Joe Tay for questioning last week, saying the incident is consistent with tactics used by the Chinese regime to silence dissent abroad.

The comments made by Genuis during a recent interview with The Epoch Times come on the heels of reports from Hong Kong media on May 8 that Tay’s cousin and the cousin’s spouse were taken from their home in the Fo Tan region to a police station for questioning by the National Security Department.

“It is gravely wrong. It is an act of brazen interference,” Genuis said, referring to the Hong Kong police’s questioning of Tay’s relatives.

“It’s also consistent with a pattern that we’ve seen from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is to try to interfere in our democracy, in our affairs, through whatever means they can.”

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis for the riding of Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan on May 9, 2025. The Epoch Times

Tay, who ran as a Conservative candidate in the recent federal election, is an outspoken pro-democracy activist wanted by Hong Kong authorities, who have issued international bounties for him and several other activists. Tay was the target of a Beijing-linked transnational repression operation during the election campaign, according to Canadian intelligence officials.

Tay faces a HK$1 million (approximately CA$180,000) bounty issued by Hong Kong authorities, who accuse him of “incitement to secession” and “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security.”

His case gained national attention during the election campaign when comments from then-incumbent Liberal candidate Paul Chiang surfaced, suggesting that Tay be handed over to the Toronto Chinese consulate to collect the bounty placed on him. Chiang then issued an apology and later dropped out of the race after coming under pressure for his comments.

Targets of Beijing

The Chinese regime has previously targeted the relatives of its critics in Canada.

A prominent case is that of Tory MP Michael Chong, a long-time critic of China’s human rights abuses, who was targeted along with his family after he sponsored a 2021 motion recognizing Beijing’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang as genocide, according to Canadian intelligence officials. The motion passed with unanimous support in the House of Commons.

That same year, the Conservative Party and its then-leader, Erin O’Toole, were targeted by a Beijing-linked disinformation campaign during the election period, which spread false content through Chinese-language media outlets. The targeting was likely due to the party’s critical stances toward  Beijing, according to O’Toole.  

Genuis said the Conservative party has many times been the target of foreign interference due to its advocacy for freedom and human rights internationally.

“This is consistent with their pattern; nobody should be surprised that the CCP acts this way. This is who they are and this is who they’ve always been,” he said. “So our response to them needs to be informed by a realism that recognizes that.”  

Genuis noted he himself has been the target of foreign interference. He was among 18 parliamentarians critical of Beijing who were targeted by a group of Chinese state-sponsored hackers called APT31 in 2021, although he said he only learned of the targeting last year.

The issue of MPs not being warned by the federal government about attempts by the Chinese regime to interfere, along with intelligence leaks in the media, eventually led Ottawa to launch a public inquiry into foreign interference.  

That inquiry ultimately identified the Chinese regime as the foremost foreign interference threat to Canada, according to its final report released in January, which noted Beijing sees Canada as a “high-priority target.”

“At the time of writing this report, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions,” said the Jan. 28 final report by Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue of the Foreign Interference Commission.

The report also noted that Beijing’s interference in Canada targets all levels of government regardless of party affiliation. “It supports those it believes helpful to its interests at the time, and those it believes are likely to have power, no matter their political party,” reads the document.

Tay’s Case ‘Resonated’

Genuis says Tay’s case highlighted the growing threat of transnational repression in Canada and helped bring the issue to wider public attention.

“[Tay’s case] was a problem that resonated with so many people from distant communities, from the Persian community, the Chinese community, Tibetan community, many communities, because they know that this happens to many people, and most of the stories don’t make headlines, but this one did, and it brought attention to the problem,” Genuis said.  

He added that many may still be unaware of the issue of transnational repression and the threats some dissidents can face from foreign actors for speaking out abroad.

Joe Tay, a singer and actor who moved from Hong Kong to Canada, is seen in a file photo. He was running for the Conservative Party in the Ontario riding of Don Valley North Courtesy of Joe Tay

“This may be new information for a lot of Canadians to just really understand that [some] people, even when they speak up here in Canada, on Canadian soil—where they should have the protections of a presence in Canada and of Canadian citizenship—are still often threatened,” he said. “They have their families threatened, and so it takes great courage to speak up.”

Genuis argues the need to address transnational repression was reflected in the outcome of the federal election, with particular communities supporting the Tories due to their stance on the issue.

“The Conservative party still did quite well in some of the parts of the Greater Toronto Area where there’s large concentrations of communities that are targeted by foreign interference,” he said. “I think that’s good news.”

Ahead of the April 28 election, the federal parties laid out their stances on foreign interference and transnational repression in response to a joint letter from The Canadian Coalition for a Foreign Influence Transparency Registry and the Human Rights Coalition.

The Conservative Party said it would “take foreign interference and transnational repression seriously.” It pledged to ensure the RCMP can fulfill its mandate, including combating transnational repression and foreign interference, and said it would “heed the advice” of Canada’s national security experts.

The Liberal Party said leader Mark Carney would build on former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s efforts to combat foreign interference. It called foreign interference “one of the most serious threats facing Canadians and Canadian institutions,” and promised to expand security efforts, including hiring 1,000 more RCMP officers.  

Ottawa adopted Bill C-70, dubbed “an Act respecting countering foreign interference” last year. A key part of the legislation is creating a foreign influence registry and requiring anyone working with a foreign entity to report to the foreign influence transparency commissioner when those activities relate to Canada’s political processes.

Genuis said that while Canadians are becoming more aware of these threats, there is more work to do on the national security front. He likened foreign interference to the game “Whac-A-Mole,” because “as you try to knock one thing down, there’s going to be a new thing that pops up that you have to have to deal with.”

“So we’re always going to have to adapt as these threats adapt,” Genuis said. “But the basic requirement is that we have leaders and politicians that are prioritizing that response, trying to protect themselves and the public.”

Noé Chartier contributed to this report.