Chinese Canadians claim CCP agents worked for Elections Canada, former MP testifies to inquiry
Many Chinese Canadians believe that agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) work at Elections Canada offices and polling stations, a former Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP of the country told the ongoing foreign interference inquiry.
Former MP Leona Alleslev, who represented the Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill riding north of Toronto until 2021, said in a March 27 sworn affidavit for the Foreign Interference Commission that while campaigning door to door in 2021, Chinese Canadian constituents told her they were afraid of being identified by Chinese agents if they went to polling stations.
The matter was first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, an Ottawa-based Internet publication covering Canadian government administration, last week.
“Around half the Chinese-Canada [sic] constituents she canvassed would tell Ms. Alleslev they were afraid to vote for her because they feared repercussions against themselves or their family members both in Canada and China,” the affidavit filed by Leona Alleslev said.
“Some claimed they took the threat seriously because there were agents of the Chinese Communist Party (‘CCP’) working in the local Elections Canada office and in the polling stations, or monitoring outside of the significantly reduced number of polling stations [due to COVID-19] to watch who voted,” the affidavit added.
The former MP said the other half who answered the door told her they believed the Conservative Party of Canada wanted to discredit the Chinese Communist Party and ethnic Chinese people, and “take away China’s sovereignty and economic power.”
Leona Alleslev said she noticed that many of them appeared to be expressing similar points, and said one of them had a printed email with “talking points” about the Conservative Party of Canada.
“[Alleslev] was also told by some Chinese-Canadian constituents about messaging they had received that said she was anti-Chinese or that she could revoke people’s immigration status, prevent them from getting citizenship, deny student visas or their family members’ visitor visas, take away their benefits, or have them deported,” the affidavit read.
Foreign interference inquiry Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue, in an interim report released on May 3, found that during the 2021 election, the Conservative Party of Canada and its then-Leader Erin O‘Toole “were the subject of inaccurate reports that circulated widely on Chinese-language media outlets that are known to have, or may have, ties to the People’s Republic of China (’PRC‘) or Chinese Communist Party (’CCP’).”
O’Toole, in his 2021 election platform, had included a comprehensive plan to counter China’s aggressions and human rights violations domestically and abroad.
Justice Hogue noted in her report that O’Toole had said in his own testimony that his party had tabled a motion to recognize Uyghur’s persecution in China as genocide, and a Tory MP, Kenny Chiu—whom the commission also found to have been interfered with by Beijing’s disinformation during the 2021 election—had introduced a private member’s bill to bring in a foreign agent registry, reports The Epoch Times.
“On September 9 [2021], the Global Times, a Chinese state-media source, published an article entitled, ‘Canadian Tories’ ‘hostile China blueprint’ caters to toxic atmosphere against Beijing amid sour ties,’” according to Hogue’s report.
“Between September 10 and September 16 [2021], at least eight popular WeChat news accounts in Canada shared the Global Times story that the CPC would ‘break ties’ with the PRC,” the report added.
The Hogue’s report also mentioned other similar examples of China’s disinformation attacks against the Conservatives.
The report also cited assessments from the intelligence and security agencies of Canada to conclude that China is the most serious threat to Canada when it comes to foreign interference.
According to Alleslev’s affidavit, the former CPC MP believes she spoke to 200 to 300 constituents who fall into the two categories during the 2021 election campaign.
It adds that the Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill riding has a substantial ethnic Chinese minority population, as per reports.
Leona Alleslev, who got 42.1 percent of the votes in the 2021 election, lost to the Liberal contender Leah Taylor Roy, who got 45.2 percent.
Liberal MP Leah Taylor Roy, however, on Tuesday (August 27) said he had no comment on Alleslev’s affidavit, which alleged that CCP agents were hired as Elections Canada poll workers in her riding in the 2021 campaign, reports Blacklock’s Reporter.
Taylor Roy was honoured as a “new local star” at a Chinese Canadian banquet nine days before the election was called: “The name that was given to her is Li Ya Tai Le which has a combined meaning of ‘everything goes smoothly and well,’” as reported by the Ottawa-based internet publication.
Leona Alleslev was first elected to Parliament in 2015 as a Liberal, but crossed the floor to join the Conservatives in 2018, and she won the 2019 election as a Conservative with 44.4 percent of the votes against her main contender, the Liberals’ Taylor Roy, who received 42.4 percent of the votes.
As per the affidavit, Alleslev did not report her concerns to Elections Canada or the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections “because of her experience with Elections Canada’s lack of clear process, unresponsiveness and inaction on other matters.”
A spokesperson with Elections Canada told The Epoch Times that since there’s no list of foreign agents, the agency can not make any determination on the issue with certainty, but said the agency has certain safeguards in place.
“Elections Canada takes all allegations on foreign interference extremely seriously,” the Elections Canada spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.
“Since there is no official registry of foreign agents to compare to, it would be impossible for us to make any kind of determination with certainty,” the spokesperson added. “However, we should note that there are safeguards present at every stage of the electoral process.”
The Elections Canada spokesperson further said these safeguards include electors voting privately behind a screen, votes being counted in front of candidates’ representatives or other designated observers, and an independent audit being conducted to ensure poll workers perform their duties properly, reports The Epoch Times
“We can also note that all poll workers sign a solemn declaration that they will be non-partisan while working at an election and protect the secrecy of the vote. Their main job is to make it possible for electors to vote in an orderly fashion,” according to the agency.
Elections Canada encourages anyone with concerns to contact the agency, “especially during electoral events so that we can take appropriate actions,” the spokesperson added.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the country’s public broadcaster for both radio and television, reported in June 2024, quoting a report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) — a key Canadian intelligence oversight body, that there were “two specific instances” where Chinese officials allegedly interfered in the leadership races of the Conservative Party of Canada. Most of the details regarding the allegations in the report had been redacted, while the NSICOP did not provide any further information about the nature of China’s alleged interference, or about which Canada’s Conservative leadership races allegedly were targeted and when, as reported by CBC.