Sept. 10 will mark 100 days since the publishing of the NSICOP report. It has been one hundred days of subversive silence. Pictured: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Photo Credit: Justin Trudeau/X.
It was on Monday, June 3 that Canadians learned that their parliamentarians were colluding in quid pro quo relationships with foreign governments and were involved in potentially treasonous acts.
Since the National Security and Intelligence of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) report was made public, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not commented other than to say his government does not “entirely align with” the report’s conclusions. Government ministers have said little except to repeatedly turn down requests to make public those MPs and Senators who have been identified in the NSICOP report. For their part, the legacy media – those reporters within government-sponsored newsrooms – have not pursued the issue, even in the context of breaking news stories relating to espionage and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). There appears to be a coordinated code of silence in Ottawa on this matter.
The summer has passed and there has been no mention of what likely is the greatest national security and sovereignty story in Canadian history. How is it that this bombshell report and the implications of MPs working with the CCP and other foreign governments is ignored by the prime minister and disappears from public discussion?
It is of utmost national concern, with serious issues relating to undermining Canada’s sovereignty and its democratic institutions. There is the possibility that a handful of our MPs and Senators are traitors. There is the possibility that the interests of Canadians are still being subverted and manipulated. This is a critical matter that demands full transparency from the government and a full accounting to Canadians.
Let’s recap the facts uncovered and documented by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in the NSICOP report. The startling revelation is that some Canadian politicians are actively working with the foreign governments of China and India. The report reads: “Unfortunately, the committee has also seen troubling intelligence that some Parliamentarians are, in the words of the intelligence services, ‘semi-witting or witting’ participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in our politics.”
NSICOP provides examples of parliamentarians “communicating frequently with foreign missions before or during a political campaign to obtain support from community groups or businesses which the diplomatic missions promise to quietly mobilize in a candidate’s favour.”
Other parliamentarians are “accepting knowingly, or through willful blindness, funds or benefits from foreign missions or their proxies which have been layered or otherwise disguised to conceal their source.”
Others are “providing foreign diplomatic officials with privileged information on the work or opinions of fellow Parliamentarians, knowing that such information will be used by those officials to inappropriately pressure Parliamentarians to change their positions.”
Furthermore, the report is critical of the Trudeau government’s delay in investigating foreign interference. From the investigative work of CSIS it is understood the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has known for years of the foreign interference – and the CCP’s direct interference in the last two election campaigns. Trudeau and the PMO know the parliamentarians in question and, yet, have done nothing. The report states, “This slow response to a known threat was a serious failure and one from which Canada may feel the consequences for years to come.”
In response to the shocking revelations of potentially treasonous parliamentarians in Ottawa, Trudeau and the government’s point man on the issue, minister of public safety Dominic LeBlanc, have refused to substantiate the report and name those identified as having “semi-witting or witting” colluded with China, India and perhaps other foreign governments. The government refuses to name names. This silence has resulted in increased suspicion and, as backbench Liberal MP Ken McDonald stated, “A dark cloud hangs over all 338 members.”
Veteran newsman Terry Glavin provides an insightful synopsis of Trudeau’s long-standing sordid affair with the CCP; read his piece in the National Post: “A user’s guide to Trudeau’s illicit affair with China’s Communists.” In another National Post column, Glavin concluded, “A clandestine intervention in Canada’s elections is not exactly ‘interference’ if it’s solicited, invited and welcomed, and it’s not precisely ‘foreign’ if the culprits are willing Canadian operatives and proxies in foreign-directed influence campaigns.”
John Robson, political columnist, referenced Glavin and his work when he observed on X: “I know it sounds crazy to ask if our PM is a Chinese spy. But what else can explain it?”
There have been a series of events that have been under-reported in legacy media that should be considered in the context of the NSICOP report revelations. For example, the Trudeau government and Elections Canada will not comment on the testimony and sworn affidavit of former Conservative MP Leona Alleslev that CCP agents were working for Elections Canada in the 2021 election. The riding of Aurora–Oak Ridges–Richmond Hill has a large Chinese population, and it is a seat that turned Liberal in the 2021 election.
Independent news source Blacklock’s Reporter brought to Canadians’ attention the affidavit, “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. Some claimed they took the threat seriously because there were agents of the 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.”
Further to the issue of intimidation and harassment, this summer the RCMP launched a special program to counter CCP influence in the province of Quebec. RCMP are encouraging Chinese communities in Montreal and business networks throughout the province to report cases of harassment and strongarming by China’s United Front Work Department (an organization of CCP agents working abroad).
In related news, a Canadian, who is a United Nations (UN) official, is being detained in Switzerland on suspicions of espionage for China. This news is reported by German news outlet Der Spiegel, Swiss media outlet Tamedia and American media NK News – and it has had sparse coverage in Canada. Little detail is known due to privacy considerations, however the Canadian is suspected to have provided intelligence to China on his work as a North Korea expert at the UN.
This week, Linda Sun, a former senior aide to two New York state governors, and her husband were charged with acting as illegal agents of the Chinese government. The couple have been advancing Beijing’s agenda on Taiwan and other political interests in exchange for financial benefits worth millions of dollars. In concert with these arrests the Americans have expelled the Chinese consul general in New York. Canadians can be forgiven for missing this news item as it was sparingly mentioned in legacy media and, where it was, it was buried underneath articles about Calgary watermains, and the impact the summer’s heat has had on the wasp population.
Legacy media also underreported the findings of the latest study by Canadian research firm Second Street that found Canada has a “serious problem” with CCP foreign interference. The firm’s study released in late August documented the CCP’s harassment and intimidation of Chinese Canadians on Canadian soil.
Unquestionably the CCP’s undue influence is a serious issue in the country. Again, it demands full transparency from the government – and a reasonable starting point would be for Trudeau to make public the list of parliamentarians identified as colluding with foreign governments. But as it is, next Tuesday, Sept. 10 will mark 100 days since the publishing of the NSICOP report. It has been one hundred days of subversive silence.
Chris George is an advocate, government relations advisor, and writer/copy editor. As president of a public relations firm established in 1994, Chris provides discreet counsel, tactical advice and management skills to CEOs/Presidents, Boards of Directors and senior executive teams in executing public and government relations campaigns and managing issues. Prior to this PR/GR career, Chris spent seven years on Parliament Hill on staffs of Cabinet Ministers and MPs. He has served in senior campaign positions for electoral and advocacy campaigns at every level of government. Today, Chris resides in Almonte, Ontario where he and his wife manage www.cgacommunications.com. Contact Chris at chrisg.george@gmail.com.
