Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for their attendance today.
Kenny Chiu, former Conservative member for Steveston—Richmond East, testified twice at committee. I believe they were both at the ethics committee.
The first time he appeared, on March 31, 2023, he didn't provide any specifics other than to make a very bold statement saying that foreign meddling, particularly from Beijing, China, played a role in his defeat.
The Liberal candidate, MP Parm Bains, who won the election, was spoken to by the press afterward. He was asked whether or not foreign interference played a role in his election. He was very emphatic in saying no, not at all, while simply walking away from the cameras. Again, Mr. Chiu did not provide any specifics in relation to Mr. Bains.
He did, however, do that on April 30, 2024. Mr. Chiu said:
Now, let me introduce my former opponent. In my view, his ascent to power was paved with disinformation. Perhaps it was through a calculated strategy or, at the very least, he was a willing participant in a now proven disinformation campaign. He willingly embraced and propagated accusations targeting Conservatives, including our then leader Erin O’Toole and me, accusing Conservatives of racism and of harbouring anti-Asian sentiments. Exploitative and manipulative, these allegations linked to foreign states reverberated through biased media channels and chat groups.
Further on, Mr. Chiu said, with respect to Mr. Bains:
He publicly pledged to the Chinese audience that he would not support a foreign influence registry. This promise directly contradicted the then minister of public safety's announcement back in 2022 and 2023.
During my intervention, I asked for more specifics. Mr. Chiu said that Mr. Bains had propagated, elevated and amplified this misinformation. He said:
From what I've gathered, it was by attending radio interviews and community events where he publicly announced that he was not going to support what he called this “anti-Asian foreign interference registry”. There was zero clarification as to what exactly Bill C-282, which I had proposed, would have done. There was no mention of any country whatsoever. The fact is that it was to inject transparency into political lobbying activities, but these subtleties and intricacies were not clarified during those opportunities. By doing that, and by not helping me to clarify my character, he perpetuated and continued the assassination attempts.
This was very specific language. Was that relayed to CSIS?