2025 Federal Election
China Election Interference – Parties Received Security Briefing Days Ago as SITE Monitors Threats to Conservative Candidate Joe Tay

Sam Cooper
SITE says it is concerned about the Hong Kong bounty on Joe Tay and is monitoring the situation, but confirms intervention in the Chiang case is not within its powers
Canada’s election threat monitoring body has confirmed that national party leaders received a classified security briefing late last week, as public concerns mount over threats tied to transnational repression and a widening controversy involving Liberal MP Paul Chiang’s remarks about Conservative candidate Joe Tay.
The revelation came Monday during a public update by the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force. Allen Sutherland, a senior Privy Council Office official and SITE leader, confirmed the briefing referenced today by Prime Minister Mark Carney covered high-level threat assessments and involved security-cleared representatives from each political party. While SITE would not confirm whether Chiang’s remarks were specifically addressed, the timing suggests they may have been a factor.
“I can speak to a portion of it,” Sutherland said in response to a question from The Canadian Press. “Last week, political parties received a briefing — a security briefing — on threats at the classified level. These are the cleared party representatives of each of the parties. So that briefing took place late last week.”
A CBC reporter also pressed SITE officials on whether they were concerned by Chiang’s comment suggesting Tay could be delivered to the Chinese Consulate to collect a bounty. “I would say SITE is concerned about the bounty placed by Hong Kong on Mr. Tay,” said Laurie Ann Kempton of SITE. “We are aware of the comments.”
Asked what candidates should do if they face similar threats, Kempton said: “They should contact police of local jurisdiction immediately. They are also able to contact SITE and the RCMP if they have other concerns, and we will look at it from there.”
Joe Tay has stated publicly that he fears for his safety and has contacted the RCMP. Asked if police have reached out to Tay proactively, SITE official Greg O’Hayon said: “I’d have to get back to you specifically on whether the RCMP has reached out to Mr. Tay.” He added: “If candidates feel under threat, either immediate or not, I would encourage them to reach out to their local police as well as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service so that we can have a combined response to real and perceived threats.”
SITE officials confirmed that the bounty placed on Tay — a Canadian citizen and pro-democracy activist wanted by Hong Kong authorities under Beijing’s National Security Law — is being tracked as a live case of transnational repression. Officials described the recirculation of bounty-related content online as a coercive tactic employed by Beijing to chill political participation in diaspora communities.
“Spreading the information about the bounty is precisely how malign foreign states seek to silence, harass and coerce,” one SITE official said.
Tay’s situation has quickly become a flashpoint in the 2025 federal election campaign. The Chiang controversy erupted after reports surfaced late last week, based on Ming Pao reporting, indicating that during a January meeting with Chinese-language journalists, Chiang said of Tay: “If you can take him to the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto, you can get the million-dollar reward.”
Chiang also told the exclusive gathering of Chinese journalists that Tay’s election to Parliament, while under a Beijing-issued arrest warrant, would cause a “great controversy.”
Chiang has since said his comment was made in jest and issued a social media apology. But Tay rejected the gesture in a press release Monday, calling it “unsolicited” and demanding that Liberal leader Mark Carney remove Chiang as a candidate.
“Threats like these are the tradecraft of the Chinese Communist Party,” Tay said. “They are intended to send a chilling signal to the entire community in order to force compliance to Beijing’s political goals. This situation has left me fearing for my safety.”
SITE also issued a broader warning on Monday: Canada is seeing a rise in both physical and digital transnational repression, including online harassment, smear campaigns, AI-generated deepfakes, and attempts to dox critics of authoritarian regimes.
“In 2023, we informed the public about a targeted online information operation… aimed at silencing critics of the Chinese Communist Party,” said the SITE representative from Global Affairs Canada. “Now, we’ve seen new operations using deepfake content, including sexually explicit images, to further that goal.”
Come back to The Bureau for updates on this rapidly evolving story.
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2025 Federal Election
‘I’m Cautiously Optimistic’: Doug Ford Strongly Recommends Canada ‘Not To Retaliate’ Against Trump’s Tariffs

From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Jason Cohen
Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to avoid retaliation against the tariffs President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday.
Trump announced in the White House Rose Garden that he would impose “a minimum baseline tariff of 10%” on all goods entering the United States, with Canada not being included on the list of countries with higher rates. When asked about what Canada’s response would be on “Bloomberg: Balance of Power,” Ford said he was “cautiously optimistic” about Canada’s omission from the higher-tier tariffs and emphasized the importance of a cooperative relationship with the U.S.
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“Well, let’s see where these tariffs go. I’m cautiously optimistic that I never saw Canada or Mexico on that list. And it just goes to show you two great countries working together, collaborating together and building relationships,” Ford said. “So again, I’m cautiously optimistic. I think if that’s the case, it’s the right thing for both the U.S and Canada.”
Host Kailey Leinz noted that there are currently tariffs on Canada in place as well as an exemption for goods that are in compliance with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
“Does that mean, sir, at least in your mind, that it wouldn’t be appropriate for Canada to retaliate for this at this time?” Leinz asked.
“That is correct. If that’s the case, then I would highly recommend to the prime minister not to retaliate. And let’s carry on a strong relationship,” Ford answered. “Let’s build the American-Canadian fortress around both countries and be the wealthiest, most prosperous, safest two countries in the world.”
Trump declared a national emergency to levy a slew of reciprocal tariffs on what he has deemed “Liberation Day.”
“My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day, April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again,” Trump said.
The president also announced that he would proceed with implementing a 25% tariff on “all foreign-made automobiles” that will take effect at midnight.
Ford in March had imposed a 25% surcharge on electricity to New York, Michigan and Minnesota, but promptly rescinded the policy and apologized to Americans on WABC’s “Cats & Cosby” radio show the following day. The tariffs were a retaliatory measure against Trump’s flurry of tariffs against Canada since starting his second term.
2025 Federal Election
Liberal MP resigns after promoting Chinese government bounty on Conservative rival

From LifeSiteNews
“I find it incredible that Mark Carney would allow someone to run for his party that called for a Canadian citizen to be handed over to a foreign government on a bounty,” he said at a recent rally. “What does that say about whether Mark Carney would protect Canadians?”
Liberal MP candidate Paul Chiang has dropped out of the running after being exposed for suggesting Canadians turn in a Conservative Party candidate to the Chinese consulate to collect a bounty placed on the man by the communist regime.
In an March 31 statement, Chiang, the Liberal candidate for the Markham-Unionville riding, announced his departure from the race after a video of him suggesting a bounty could be claimed for Conservative candidate Joe Tay by handing him over to Chinese authorities circulated on social media. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have announced they are “probing” the comments.
“I am proud of what we have achieved together and I remain deeply grateful for the trust placed in me,” he said. “This is a uniquely important election with so much at stake for Canadians. As the Prime Minister and Team Canada work to stand up to President Trump and protect our economy, I do not want any distractions in this critical moment.”
“That’s why I’m standing aside as our 2025 candidate in our community of Markham-Unionville,” he announced.
Chiang’s resignation follows backlash from Conservatives and Canadians alike when a January video from a news conference with Chinese-language media in Toronto resurfaced.
In the video, Chiang jokingly suggested that Tay, his then-Conservative rival for the Markham–Unionville riding, could be turned over to the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto in return for $1-million Hong Kong dollar bounty, about $183,000 CAD.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre was quick to call out Chiang’s suggestion and blasted Prime Minister Mark Carney for keeping him on the ballot.
“I find it incredible that Mark Carney would allow someone to run for his party that called for a Canadian citizen to be handed over to a foreign government on a bounty,” he said at a recent rally. “What does that say about whether Mark Carney would protect Canadians?”
Chiang has since apologized for his suggestion on both social media and personally to Tay.
“Today, I spoke with Joseph Tay, the Conservative candidate for Don Valley North, to personally apologize for the comments that I made this past January,” he wrote in a March 30 X post.
“It was a terrible lapse of judgement. I recognize the severity of the statement and I am deeply disappointed in myself,” he continued.
Carney has said remarkably little regarding the situation. First, he refused to fire the Liberal candidate, referring to Chiang’s statement as a “terrible lapse of judgment.”
“He’s made his apology. He’s made it to the public, he’s made it to the individual concerned, he’s made it directly to me, and he’s going to continue with his candidacy,” Carney said. “He has my confidence.”
Then, following the announcement of Chaing’s resignation, Carney told reporters that it was time to “move on” and that he would “leave it at that.”
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