espionage
Canada prepares to launch public inquiry into China’s alleged election meddling
From LifeSiteNews
“The great difficulty we have in Canada is the general public has trouble understanding that we’re threatened”
A public inquiry into alleged meddling in Canada’s two most recent federal elections by agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is set to start on January 29.
The investigation into allegations of CCP interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections will be led by Marie-Josée Hogue, a Conservative appointee to the Québec Court of Appeal.
The federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been slow in responding to allegations of CCP election meddling after announcing on September 7, 2023, that it would be launching a public inquiry led by Hogue.
The public inquiry comes after Trudeau launched a failed investigation into CCP allegations last year after much delay headed by “family friend” and former Governor General David Johnston, whom Trudeau appointed as “independent special rapporteur.”
Johnston quit as “special rapporteur,” after a public outcry last year after he concluded that there should not be a public inquiry into the matter. Conservative MPs demanded Johnston be replaced over his ties to both China and the Trudeau family.
The public inquiry also comes after Trudeau for months was opposed to the idea of launching a full public inquiry into CCP election meddling despite calls from the opposition to do so – and after his failed “special rapporteur,” attempt to launch his own internal investigation.
The inquiry comes at the same time Trudeau’s own Privy Council office has been quietly polling Chinese Canadians in British Columbia on how relations between the two countries could be improved, as per documents dated June 14, 2023, which were obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
The polling was also done at a time when the Trudeau Liberal cabinet, instead of launching a public inquiry, had two reports commissioned by former CEO of the Trudeau Foundation, Morris Rosenberg, to investigate the matter.
To the surprise of no one, Rosenberg’s February 28 Report on the Assessment of the 2021 Critical Election Incident Public Protocol exonerated the Trudeau cabinet from any wrongdoing regarding potential election meddling.
Election meddling scandal implicates some of Trudeau’s top ministers
The potential meddling in Canada’s elections by agents of the CCP has many Canadians worried, especially considering Trudeau’s past praise for China’s “basic dictatorship” and his labeling of the authoritarian nation as his favorite country other than his own.
On Monday, LifeSiteNews reported that one of Trudeau’s top ministers, Mary Ng, was called out as having allegedly received support from the CCP in the 2019 Canadian federal election.
Reports from September 2023 have noted how despite a continuous stream of evidence suggesting that CCP agents have interfered in Canada’s last two federal elections, the nation’s elections commissioner omitted any mention of China from her annual foreign interference report to Parliament.
According to retired director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Richard Fadden, as per a 2021 testimony to the same committee, subterfuge by Chinese agents in Canada is a fact of life.
“The great difficulty we have in Canada is the general public has trouble understanding that we’re threatened,” he noted.
“They’re after us, if I can use the vernacular, from a whole variety of perspectives,” he noted, adding, “And they’re after us in a negative sort of way.”
Besides election meddling, China and by extension the CCP has been accused of operating clandestine “police stations” in Canada and other nations.
Last month, LifeSiteNews reported that Conservative MPs confirmed the Chinese CCP operated police “stations” in multiple locations in Canada, which allegedly serve to target its citizens abroad, but no one has been held accountable yet for allowing this to happen.
The police stations are currently being investigated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), including “formal diplomatic protests to the Chinese Ambassador.”
In September 2022, LifeSiteNews reported that these stations have been linked to the CCP’s official law enforcement agency, the Fuzhou Public Security Bureau (PSB).
The UK Labour government’s secret order to Apple for an iCloud encryption backdoor ignites US-UK tensions as lawmakers demand action.
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The Labour government’s reported decision to issue a secret order to Apple to build an encryption backdoor into iCloud is turning into a major political issue between the UK and the US, just as the move is criticized by more than 100 civil society groups, companies, and security experts at home.
The fact that this serious undermining of security and privacy affects users globally, including Americans, has prompted a strong reaction from two US legislators – Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat, and Congressman Andy Biggs, a Republican.
In a letter to National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, the pair slammed the order as “effectively a foreign cyber attack waged through political means.”
Wyden and Biggs – who sit on the Senate Intelligence Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, respectively – want Gabbard to act decisively to prevent any damage to US citizens and government from what they call the UK’s “dangerous, shortsighted efforts.”
The letter urges Gabbard to issue what the US legislators themselves refer to as an ultimatum to the UK: “Back down from this dangerous attack on US cybersecurity, or face serious consequences.”
Unless this happens immediately, Wyden and Biggs want Gabbard to “reevaluate US-UK cybersecurity arrangements and programs as well as US intelligence sharing with the UK.”
They add that the relationship between the two countries must be built on trust – but, if London is moving to “secretly undermine one of the foundations of US cybersecurity, that trust has been profoundly breached.”
The letter points out that the order appears to prohibit Apple from acknowledging it has even received it, under threat of criminal penalties – meaning that the UK is forcing a US company to keep the public and Congress in the dark about this serious issue.
In the UK, well-known privacy campaigner Big Brother Watch agreed with what the group’s Advocacy Manager Matthew Feeney said were “damning comments” made by Wyden and Biggs.
Feeney said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s “draconian order” to Apple was in effect a cyber attack on that company, and that the letter penned by the US legislators is “wholly justified” – and comes amid “a shameful chapter in the history of UK-US relations.”
“Cooper’s draconian order is not only a disaster for civil liberties, it is also a globally humiliating move that threatens one of the UK’s most important relationships,” he warned, calling on the home secretary to rescind it.
The same is being asked of Cooper by over 100 civil society organizations, companies, and cybersecurity experts – an initiative led by the Global Encryption Coalition (GEC).
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SPEECH CONTROL
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UK Refuses to Weaken Online Censorship Laws Despite US Pressure |
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The UK government has firmly stated that its online censorship laws will not be softened to appease US President Donald Trump or to facilitate trade negotiations with the United States. Technology Minister Peter Kyle repeated Britain’s stance on maintaining strict digital speech regulations, shutting down any speculation of a shift in policy toward American AI firms.
During the Paris AI summit, Kyle dismissed claims that Downing Street was considering relaxing sections of the Online Safety Act in discussions with the US. Refuting a report from The Daily Telegraph, he asserted: “Safety is not up for negotiation. There are no plans to weaken any of our online safety legislation.”
The Online Safety Act, one of the strictest online speech crackdowns in a democratic nation, which is set to come into force this year.
Industry moguls such as Elon Musk have voiced hopes that a Trump-led administration might resist global regulatory pressures on US-based tech companies.
Despite these concerns, Kyle expressed confidence that Trump would not obstruct Labour’s forthcoming AI legislation, which mandates that leading AI firms undergo “safety” evaluations before rolling out new software. He confirmed that voluntary safety pledges would now be replaced with enforceable mandates, ensuring strict compliance.
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