RCMP Investigating Liberal Candidate’s Chinese ‘Bounty’ Comment

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme waits to appear before the House of Commons Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics committee in Ottawa, on Feb. 27, 2024. The Canadian Press/ Adrian Wyld

The federal police force says it is investigating comments made by former Liberal MP Paul Chiang who suggested his then rival, Conservative candidate Joe Tay, should be brought to the Chinese Consulate to collect a bounty on his head.

The democracy advocacy group Hong Kong Watch had written to the RCMP on March 31 asking for an investigation into Chiang’s comments, which had been made weeks earlier during a Chinese cultural media conference.

Hong Kong Watch released a letter on May 1 from RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme that said the RCMP is “currently investigating the matter and will take appropriate action.”

“Foreign actor interference, including instances of transnational repression, continues to be a pervasive threat in Canada,” Duheme said in the letter, dated April 24.

Hong Kong authorities issued a warrant for Tay, who is an outspoken advocate for democracy in the region, and placed a HK$1 million bounty on his head in December 2024. Chiang made the comments shortly afterward in January.

“To everyone here, you can claim the $1 million dollar bounty if you bring him to Toronto’s Chinese Consulate,” Chiang said.

Hong Kong Watch thanked Duheme for looking into this instance of “transnational repression” against Tay and said it is pleased the RCMP is investigating the matter.

In its March 31 letter to the RCMP, Hong Kong Watch had suggested that Chiang’s comments might have crossed into criminality.

“Mr. Chiang’s conduct would appear to fit within the parameters of counselling to commit the indictable offence of kidnapping, per section 464 of the Criminal Code,” the group said.

Hong Kong Watch also suggested a section of the recently passed Foreign Interference and Security of Information Act might have been breached. The law states it is an offence to help a foreign entity to induce by intimidation or threat any person to do anything or cause anything to be done.

“It is without question that Mr. Chiang’s comments are an attempt to intimidate Mr. Tay and his supporters and to silence him during an election,” said the advocacy group.

Chiang did not immediately respond to a request for comment After his bounty comment came to light, he said he apologized to Tay.

“It was a terrible lapse of judgement,” he said in a March 30 statement. “I recognize the severity of the statement and I am deeply disappointed in myself.”

Chiang was the incumbent MP and running in the Markham-Unionville riding. In response to the controversy over the bounty comments, Liberal Leader Mark Carney had said that Chiang had a lapse in judgment, but rejected calls to remove him as a candidate. Chiang announced he was stepping down on March 31.

He was replaced in the riding by former Toronto police deputy chief Peter Yuen, who has previous links to China. Yuen had once attended a military parade in Beijing and gave a military salute to the Chinese flag while in police uniform during a flag-raising ceremony at the Ontario legislature. Yuen lost in the election to the Conservative candidate.

Tay was running in Markham-Unionville when Chiang made the bounty comments in January, but later switched to the Don Valley North riding. He lost his bid to win a seat against the Liberal candidate.

The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force said during the campaign that Tay was being targeted by a Chinese transnational repression operation. The online operation included the “inauthentic and coordinated” boosting of content related to the arrest warrant and bounty against Tay, as well as blocking search results not related to these issues.

This is “not about a single act, but rather about the accumulated impact of many acts designed to discredit a candidate, silence criticism and dissent, and manipulate the information that informs voters,” Laurie-Anne Kempton, assistant secretary to the cabinet for communications with the Privy Council Office, said during a SITE briefing on April 21.

During the campaign, SITE also said Beijing was trying to influence Chinese Canadians with an information operation on Carney.

Carney said during the campaign that the top security threat to Canada is China.