Ottawa/CMEDIA: Launch of a study by a committee into the alleged intimidation campaign by a now-expelled Chinese diplomat against Conservative MP Michael Chong and his family, has been reportedly unanimously agreed by Canada’s House of Commons after a question period on Wednesday.
When House Speaker Anthony Rota found that Chong’s parliamentary privileges were breached as a result of the alleged targeting, intelligence officials reportedly confirmed to Chong last week that he and his family had been targeted by Chinese consular official Wei Zhao in retaliation for a motion he moved in the House in February 2021 condemning Beijing’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims.
Finding that the matter amounted to an attempt to interfere in parliamentary proceedings, Chong put forward the motion asking that the case of “prima facie contempt concerning the intimidation campaign” be referred to the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) for further investigation.
Numerous MPs expressed their own concerns to the House about the threat Chinese-based foreign interference is posing to Canada and what more the federal government should be doing about it.
“I am very comforted by the fact that Parliament…defending members of the House when the executive branch of government has failed…will look at the totality of evidence that got us to this place,” Chong said responding to the Speaker’s ruling.
The committee tasked with this work has been studying for nearly six months the issue of foreign election interference in the 2021 and 2019 federal election campaigns.
In their meeting, MPs on PROC will try to get to the bottom of similar intimidation attempts.
The committee has also heard from a growing list of witnesses, from senior federal intelligence officials to national campaign leads from the Liberal and Conservative parties.
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