Tag Archives: Joe Tay

NDP’s Jenny Kwan Demands Ottawa Release Secret Police Deal With Beijing, Calling Continued Secrecy a Threat to Diaspora Safety

Posted on by

NDP’s Jenny Kwan Demands Ottawa Release Secret Police Deal With Beijing, Calling Continued Secrecy a Threat to Diaspora SafetySam CooperMay 13 READ IN APP

OTTAWA — A senior New Democratic Party parliamentarian has formally demanded that the Carney government release the full text of its secret law enforcement agreement with China’s Ministry of Public Security, echoing a set of facts The Bureau has been reporting for months, while warning that Ottawa’s continued refusal to disclose the deal is fueling legitimate fear among diaspora communities who have experienced or fear transnational repression by the Chinese state.Jenny Kwan, MP for Vancouver East and one of Parliament’s most prominent voices on Hong Kong and Chinese diaspora issues, wrote to Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree and Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand on May 12, calling the government’s silence on the agreement “particularly troubling” given what she described as the “problematic history of China’s foreign interference in Canada.”“I’m calling on Mark Carney govt to stop hiding RCMP–MPS MOU signed in Beijing,” Kwan posted to X.

“Reports that RCMP needs Beijing’s “permission” to show this MOU to Canadians are a threat to our sovereignty.”The letter, addressed to both ministers, focuses on the memorandum of understanding on cooperation in combating crimes signed between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ministry of Public Security during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s January 2026 visit to Beijing.Kwan noted a troubling asymmetry.The government has publicly released other agreements signed during the Beijing visit — including the Canada-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Roadmap and a memorandum of understanding on culture — but has declined to proactively disclose the police cooperation agreement, despite what she called its “significant implications for public safety, civil liberties, diaspora communities, and national sovereignty.”

“Without seeing the formal written arrangement,” Kwan wrote, “widespread uncertainty and legitimate concern” has been created among Canadians, “particularly within Hong Kong, Uyghur, Tibetan, and broader Chinese diaspora communities who have experienced or fear transnational repression by the Chinese state.”Kwan’s letter is the latest in a widening chorus of alarm that now spans diaspora organizations, independent researchers, American national security officials, and Parliament itself — and it lands directly on ground The Bureau has been reporting for months.The Bureau was first to report the national security implications of the memorandum of understanding, drawing on classified documents and expert analysis to establish that the Ministry of Public Security is not a neutral law enforcement counterpart. It is the same apparatus that Canada’s own National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians documented running covert operations on Canadian soil — including unauthorized trips to Canada, payments to Chinese-language journalists to locate and track dissidents, and the arrest of relatives in China to coerce compliance from targets on Canadian soil.

The Bureau reported in February on an extraordinary open letter from ten Hong Kong diaspora organizations spanning four countries, expressing “deep fear and anxiety” over the agreement and warning that even the perception of closer engagement between Canadian agencies and Chinese security authorities chills free expression, civic participation, and journalism among vulnerable communities. That letter, like Kwan’s, went unanswered in any substantive public way by the Carney government.Former senior RCMP officer Garry Clement, writing in these pages, warned that cooperation with the Ministry of Public Security “is never just technical, never apolitical, and never insulated from the priorities of the Chinese Communist Party” — and described in operational detail how liaison relationships erode caution over time, how criminal labels are applied to political targets, and how information shared in good faith migrates to coercive ends.Those warnings have now been echoed at the highest levels of American national security.

At the Canada Strong and Free conference in Ottawa last week, former CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the Chinese Communist Party’s inside-the-gates operations in Canada and the United States as the primary threat facing Western democracies — more immediate, he argued, than the prospect of a military invasion of Taiwan. Another American expert, Michael Lucci of State Armor, at the same conference, specifically cited the Ministry of Public Security’s role in running covert repatriation and repression networks, the same apparatus Carney’s government has now formalized a cooperation agreement with.

The Bureau has documented transnational repression operations on Canadian soil in granular detail — the coordinated campaign against pro-democracy candidate Joe Tay, including a Hong Kong police bounty, mock wanted posters, and a Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force warning issued one week before the federal election.Kwan’s letter does not mince its assessment of where responsibility lies. The government has chosen transparency on trade and culture agreements signed in the same Beijing visit while withholding the one agreement that carries the gravest implications for the safety of Canadian citizens, she argues.
Category: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , ,

MORE RED CHINESE ELECTION INTERFERENCE: Joe Tay’s Campaign Becomes a Flashpoint for Suspected Voter Intimidation in Canada

Posted on by


MORE RED CHINESE ELECTION INTERFERENCE: Joe Tay’s Campaign Becomes a Flashpoint for Suspected Voter Intimidation in Canada
Canadian police initiated review of campaign complaint.Sam CooperApr 29 



TORONTO, Canada — In one of the most closely scrutinized races of Canada’s 2025 federal election, Joseph Tay—the Conservative candidate identified by federal authorities as the target of aggressive Chinese election interference operations—was defeated Monday night in Don Valley North by Liberal Maggie Chi, following a campaign marred by threats, suspected intimidation, and digital suppression efforts.The Bureau has learned that Canadian police last week reviewed complaints alleging that members of Tay’s campaign team were shadowed in an intimidating manner while canvassing in the final days of the race.

The status of the incident review remains unclear.With over 20,000 votes—a 43 percent share compared to 53 percent for Liberal Maggie Chi—Tay nearly doubled the Conservative Party’s 2021 vote total of 12,098 in this riding.Last Monday, federal intelligence officials disclosed that Tay was the subject of a highly coordinated transnational repression operation tied to the People’s Republic of China. The campaign aimed to discredit his candidacy and suppress Chinese Canadian voters’ access to his messaging through cyber and information operations.That same day, federal police advised Tay to suspend door-to-door canvassing, according to two sources with direct knowledge, citing safety concerns.

Several days later, Tay’s campaign reported to police that a man had been trailing a door-knocking team in a threatening manner in a Don Valley North neighbourhood.Following The Bureau’s
reporting, the New York Times wrote on Sunday: “Fearing for his safety, Mr. Tay… has waged perhaps the quietest campaign of any candidate competing in the election. The attacks on Mr. Tay have sought to influence the outcome of the race in Don Valley North, a district with a large Chinese diaspora in Toronto, in what is the most vote-rich region in Canada.”In a twist, in neighbouring Markham–Unionville, Peter Yuen—the Liberal candidate who replaced former MP Paul Chiang, who had made controversial remarks about Tay being turned over to Chinese officials—was defeated by Conservative candidate Michael Ma.

According to Elections Canada’s results, Ma secured the riding by about 2,000 votes.Tay and his campaign team had conducted extensive groundwork in Markham–Unionville earlier this year, where he publicly announced his intention to seek the Conservative nomination in January. However, the party ultimately assigned him on March 24 to Don Valley North—a riding that, according to the 2024 report of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), was the site of serious foreign interference by the People’s Republic of China during the 2019 election.At 2 a.m., Tay posted a message to X thanking supporters: “By God’s grace, though we did not win tonight, we have already won something far greater—the courage to stand, to speak, and to dream together.”

Signaling he may run again, Tay added: “Our journey does not end here. I remain committed to upholding Canadian values—freedom, respect, and community—and will continue to serve and help build a wholesome, principled community in every way I can.”Last Monday, SITE—Canada’s election-threat monitoring task force—confirmed that Tay was the target of a coordinated online disinformation campaign, warning in briefing materials that “this was not about a single post” but a “deliberate, persistent campaign” designed to distort visibility and suppress legitimate discourse among Chinese-speaking voters.

The tactics bore striking resemblance to interference allegations uncovered by The Bureau during the 2021 federal election, when Conservative MP Bob Saroya was unseated in Markham–Unionville amid allegations that operatives linked to the Chinese government had shadowed Saroya, surveilled his campaign, and sought to intimidate voters. Senior Conservative officials said CSIS provided briefings at the time warning of what they described as “coordinated and alarming” surveillance efforts.In Tay’s case, official sources confirmed that Chinese-language platforms circulated disinformation framing him as a fugitive, invoking his Hong Kong National Security Law bounty—set at $180,000 CAD—to portray his candidacy as a threat to Canada

.Earlier this month, The Bureau reported that former Liberal MP Paul Chiang—who defeated Conservative incumbent Bob Saroya in 2021—withdrew as a candidate after the RCMP opened a review into remarks he made suggesting that Joe Tay’s election could spark “great controversy” for Canada because of Hong Kong’s national security charges, and that Tay could be handed over to the Chinese consulate to collect a bounty. Chiang later apologized, describing the comments as a poorly judged joke. However, prominent diaspora organizations and human rights groups condemned the remarks as a disturbing example of rhetoric echoing transnational repression.

According to SITE assessments reviewed by The Bureau, coordinated suppression efforts were particularly acute in Don Valley North, where Tay’s online visibility was sharply curtailed across Chinese-language social media ecosystems.The status of the RCMP’s review into Chiang’s remarks—and a separate complaint to Toronto police alleging that Tay’s campaign staff may have been intimidated while canvassing—remains unclear.With Mark Carney’s Liberals securing a narrow minority and Canada’s political landscape growing increasingly polarized—against the backdrop of an intensifying cold war between Washington and Beijing—some pundits predict voters could be heading back to the polls sooner than expected. Whether election threat reviewers will now dig deeper into China’s suspected interference in this and other ridings remains an open question
Category: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , ,