China tried to drive voters away from Conservative candidate, inquiry hears

The Chinese government tried to influence Chinese Canadian voters in the last election but its actions didn't violate elections law, the office charged with policing Canada's elections has concluded.

In a report dated Aug. 19 and made public Tuesday by the inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian politics, investigators for the Commissioner of Canada Elections concluded that the Chinese government tried to get Chinese Canadian voters to vote against the Conservative Party (CPC) and then-Conservative MP Kenny Chiu in the 2021 election.

Chiu was elected in the B.C. riding of Steveston-Richmond East in 2019 but lost to the Liberal candidate in 2021.

"These efforts were motivated by elements of the CPC's election platform and by actions and statements made by member of Parliament Kenny Chiu that were leveraged to bolster claims that both the platform and Chiu were anti-China and were encouraging anti-Chinese discrimination and racism," the report says.

"These messages were amplified through repetition in social media, chat groups, posts and in Chinese language online, print and radio media throughout the [Greater Vancouver Area]."

The messages had an impact on voters, the report says.

"According to Chinese Canadian interview subjects, this invoked a widespread fear amongst electors, described as a fear of retributive measures from Chinese authorities should a CPC government be elected," the report says.

"This included the possibility that travel to and from China could be interfered with by Chinese authorities, as well as measures being taken against family members or business interests in China."

None of those interviewed were willing to name particular voters affected by the anti-CPC messages, the report says.

The investigators concluded the interference attempts didn't break the law.

"These messages were reviewed and were found to not be in contravention of the Act," they wrote, adding the Supreme Court has stressed the importance of free speech in elections.

"Investigators recommend that this review be concluded as not having sufficient evidence to reach the threshold (reason to suspect) required to initiate a formal investigation."

The report was among the documents tabled Tuesday as the commissioner of elections took the stand before the inquiry, now in its second phase of hearings.

The inquiry, headed by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, was set up in response to media reports which accused China of interfering in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

In her initial report, made public in May, Hogue concluded that while it was possible that foreign interference occurred in a small number of ridings, it did not affect the overall election results.

In its second phase, the inquiry will focus on how equipped the government is to combat foreign interference in elections and how that that capacity has evolved over time.

During testimony Tuesday, Commissioner of Canada Elections Caroline Simard and Carmen Boucher, executive director of enforcement, outlined the steps their offices have taken to address foreign interference in Canadian elections and the plans they're putting in place for the next election.

Boucher said the commissioner's office is working with agencies like the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the RCMP to identify misinformation and the use of artificial intelligence and "deepfakes."

Boucher said they are also watching elections elsewhere, such as the recent campaign in Slovakia, during which voters reported receiving deepfake voice calls.

"When people think about deepfakes and artificial intelligence, they tend to think of videos," Boucher told the inquiry. "But it can actually be something that is voice generated."

Earlier, MPs Garnett Genuis and John McKay testified to the inquiry about being targeted by a cyber pixel attack, likely as a result of their involvement in a group that has taken positions the Chinese government doesn't like.

While McKay's parliamentary mobile phone was targeted, in Genuis's case it was his personal e-mail on his personal phone. They said they now fear that the attack could have been used to target people who have confided in them, sich as diaspora members critical of certain governments.

The MPs said they should have been notified of the attack when the FBI first shared the information with the Canadian government and MPs should be provided with more cybersecurity help.