Second Diaspora Group Calls for Boycott of Foreign Interference Inquiry Over Security Concerns

The inquiry is criticized as a ‘huge fishing net,’ collecting intelligence that is at risk of leaks due to the inclusion of individuals accused of ties to China

Commissioner Justice Marie-Josee Hogue speaks at the Foreign Interference Commission in Ottawa on Feb. 2, 2024. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

A second diaspora group is urging a boycott of the public inquiry into foreign interference due to national security concerns, particularly regarding the inclusion of individuals accused of ties to alleged Chinese interference in the last two federal elections.

Canadian Friends of Hong Kong (CFHK), in a Feb. 20 statement posted on X, said it “has not and will not participate” in the inquiry and expressed “grave concerns regarding the objectivity and the security integrity” of the inquiry. Specifically, CFHK pointed to Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue’s decision to include former Liberal MP Han Dong, Senator Yuan Pau Woo, and Markham, Ont., deputy mayor Michael Chan, referring to them as “individuals suspected to have strong ties to the Chinese Consulates, and their proxies.”