Chinese Canadian group links two Senators to actions against Canada's interests

Submission to Foreign Interference Commission cites intelligence on "reciprocal relationships" fostered by Beijing proxies

A Chinese Canadian human rights group taking part in Canada’s Foreign Interference Commission (FIC) has linked two Canadian senators to NSICOP’s explosive June 2024 intelligence review.

The submission to Ottawa’s FIC from Chinese Canadian Concern Group points at Senator Yuen Pau Woo, also an intervener with the Commission, and Senator Victor Oh.

Before laying out specific allegations regarding Woo and Oh, the group cites a passage from NSICOP’s report, which alleges hostile states are colluding with witting and semi-witting Canadian politicians, by establishing “reciprocal relationships” with unidentified MPs and Senators “with a view to having the Canadian act in favour of the foreign actor and against Canada's interests.”

The Chinese Canadian Concern Group cites Sen. Woo’s February 2024 intervener submission to Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue, which is posted on Woo’s Senate webpage.

“The Concern Group has serious concerns about Sen. Woo’s close ties with the Chinese government and United Front associates in Canada,” it says, arguing Woo’s submission “attempted to discredit” evidence from Canada’s government that identified Chinese election interference.

“He has consistently taken similar positions on any attempt by the government or the media to investigate foreign interference in Canada by China,” the group’s FIC submission says.

“Sen. Woo will continue to undermine efforts to understand and address foreign interference in Canada through his involvement in this Inquiry,” it adds. The group’s FIC submission was released to Canadian media today.

They argue also that Senator Victor Oh, appointed by Conservative leader Stephen Harper in 2013, “appears to be similarly dedicated to defending the interests of the PRC in order to enable the party to exert influence in numerous spheres of Canadian politics and society.”

Both Woo and Oh have “close ties with the Chinese government and pro-CCP community leaders in Canada,” the Chinese Canadian intervener group alleges, adding they have campaigned against a Foreign Agent Registry “using a tactic often employed by the CCP to deflect from critical issues related to PRC by invoking racism.”

The submission says Sen. Woo also helped “draft a parliamentary petition” against the Foreign Agent Registry for an activist that works for a Chinese-language media platform called Rise Media. This Vancouver-based media entity’s support for Liberal MP Parm Bains against Conservative Kenny Chiu in 2021 was reported on by The Bureau last week.

Bains denied any external influence in his campaign against Chiu.

Sen. Woo has repeatedly denied any agency for Beijing in his Senate career.

According to Chinese Canadian Concern Group’s June 18th submission to FIC, Woo and Oh joined numerous pro-CCP groups on Parliament Hill last summer to rally against a Foreign Agent Registry, and “Sen. Oh arranged for 50 buses to bring up to 3,000 protesters to Parliament Hill in support of this cause.”

It adds that “Sen. Woo’s defence of the PRC” extends back to his first speech in Senate, in 2016.

Immediately after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Woo, the British Columbia Senator defended “PRC’s hostile behaviour in South China Sea, and spoke against a Senate motion to urge China to de-escalate tensions and restore peace and stability in the South China Sea,” the submission says.

It summarizes that Woo “has often played a leading role in propagating the CCP’s narrative,” and “has consistently chosen to stand with PRC and its proxies when Canada and the PRC are in conflict, from the arrest of Meng Wanzhou and the arbitrary detention of the two Michaels to the Uyghur genocide, as well as his advocacy against a public inquiry on foreign influence.”

2022 Conservative Leadership Race

The Chinese Canadian Concern Group also lays out a timeline of Senator Oh’s career leading up to his involvement in the Conservative Party’s leadership race in 2022, which is a campaign that could have been infiltrated by Beijing, according to NSICOP’s 2024 review of Chinese election interference since 2019.

NSICOP’s 92-page report said there were "two specific instances where [People's Republic of China] officials allegedly interfered in the leadership races of the Conservative Party of Canada."