espionage
Canadian police launch investigation into alleged Chinese meddling 3 years after 2021 election
From LifeSiteNews
The head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said information was received that ‘prompted us to open an investigation’ into possible election interference by Chinese agents.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada’s top police force, confirmed it has opened a criminal investigation into alleged meddling in the country’s 2021 federal election by agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Speaking last Thursday at the public inquiry looking into the alleged election meddling, RCMP commissioner Michael Duheme testified that while he will not disclose the full details about the investigation it is currently underway.
“We received information that prompted us to open an investigation,” he said.
The investigation will include an undisclosed number of people who were active in the 2021 campaign.
Sujit Choudhry, who serves as counsel for New Democrat MP Jenny Kwan, asked Duheme how many people will be investigated. Federal lawyers objected, however, with Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, who is heading the inquiry, saying, “There is no need to answer the question.”
Commission counsel Lynda Morgan then asked Duheme, “Were you made aware of an alleged foreign interference network in the Greater Toronto Area?”
“I don’t recall having anything in writing,” he said in reply.
Morgan asked if Duheme was “made aware of allegations of reported vote buying in Richmond, B.C.?”
“No, because I believe that could have been a municipal matter which didn’t tie into our national security framework,” he said in reply.
Duheme was also asked by Morgan if he was “made aware of any information in relation to MP Han Dong and alleged foreign interference in Don Valley North?”
“Not to my recollection,” Duheme replied.
Morgan continued pressing Duheme, asking him if he was “aware of any information about alleged People’s Republic of China foreign interference in the 2021 election?”
Duheme said that he was “not 100 percent sure if it was during the election.” However, in 2021, the RCMP in testimony at the House of Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations revealed that they did get hundreds of tips which alleged that CCP agents were engaging in clandestine activities.
Former RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki testified that they receive an average of 120 tips a day.
The Foreign Interference Commission is being headed by Hogue, who had earlier said she and her lawyers will remain “impartial” and will not be influenced by politics. The commission is tasked with examining and assessing “the interference by China, Russia and other foreign states or non-state actors, including any potential impacts, to confirm the integrity of, and any impacts on, the 43rd and 44th general elections (2019 and 2021 elections) at the national and electoral district levels.”
In January, Hogue said that she would “uncover the truth whatever it may be.”
Thus far, the testimony at the Commission has revealed that former Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP Kenny Chiu said he felt “betrayed” by the federal government after only now learning he was the target of agents of the CCP.
Also, the public has learned via the inquiry from Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault that he was secretly warned by security agents of irregularities in the 2019 election as well.
Duheme, as reported by LifeSiteNews in another testimony relating to the SNC-Lavalin scandal involving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, recently said that “no one is above the law” when it comes to investigating serious matters involving the nation’s integrity and security.
Many Canadians, especially pro-freedom Chinese Canadians, are concerned 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.
The potential CCP meddling in Canada’s elections by agents of the CCP has many Canadians worried as well.
Indeed, it appears the tentacles of the CCP in Canada run deep. In December, LifeSiteNews reported on how it was confirmed to MPs that “yes,” the 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 public inquiry into alleged meddling in Canada’s two most recent federal elections by agents of CCP began last week with testimony from Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault, who confirmed he was secretly warned by security agents of irregularities in the 2019 election.
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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