Canada-China Relations committee  I think among Hong Kong Canadians, we are very cautious. Very few of us will use WeChat or TikTok, etc., because we all know that the CCP is behind them. We don't want to be tracked down where we are, particularly after the imposition of the national security law.

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes, because of the language barrier, the majority of mainland Chinese Canadians get the information from WeChat or maybe their free community newspaper, or even some of the social media platforms such as YorkBBS or QQ, etc. It's exactly this pattern that gives the opportunity to CCP to manipulate, and to spread disinformation campaigns very effectively.

Canada-China Relations committee  Maybe I can start first. I have been observing and collecting data on foreign interference in elections at three levels of government over the last three decades. I have also served as a political commentator on this particular topic. I have witnessed a growing level of interference from CCP over the last 30 years.

Canada-China Relations committee  I would say the United Front organizations started to be established under the help and the guidance of the Chinese embassy beginning in the 1990s. Then, I think up to the year 2000, when they had developed a good enough number of United Front organizations—and also with the growing, critical mass of mainland Chinese Canadians in Canada—they started to become more and more aggressive in infiltrating the elections of the three levels of government.

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes, intimidation and harassment operated by the CCP have been occurring for decades. I came to Canada in 1989, right after the Tiananmen massacre. Ever since then, I have continued to get myself involved here in the pro-democracy movement. I always participate in rallies and marches.

Canada-China Relations committee  Among the various diaspora communities you mentioned, the mainland Chinese community members are, by far, the most vulnerable members of our community. They have been subject to very serious threats, intimidation and harassment from the CCP. It's mainly because the national security and also public safety departments of China will hold their family members back home as hostages, forcing them—

Canada-China Relations committee  Absolutely. I agree.

Canada-China Relations committee  I agree. I think for lots of community members, the existence of police stations on Canadian soil is really appalling to them. As I mentioned—

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes, it's very intimidating, because they don't feel safe anymore with this kind of CCP police station operative on Canadian soil. That's why the government needs to take immediate action to stop the operations of these police stations, just like other European countries have already done.

Canada-China Relations committee  I think our government has not done enough to stop this kind of foreign government operation on Canadian soil. The RCMP needs to step up their actions to hold accountable these foreign agents, foreign police, and also people from the United Front organizations that have broken the law to jeopardize other Canadians' fundamental rights.

Canada-China Relations committee  It is of the utmost importance for us to attach the Criminal Code to the future foreign influence registry. Without it, it's almost like a tiger without any teeth. We cannot oblige individuals and entities working for a foreign government to register themselves with us. Let us take the Australian model as an example.

Canada-China Relations committee  Number one, the RCMP needs to do more community outreach initiatives to build trust between the enforcement department and the community, and to conduct public education, so they know how to protect themselves—how to make use of all the existing help provided by our enforcement department to protect themselves from foreign interference threats and intimidation.

Canada-China Relations committee  My answer to your question is—

Canada-China Relations committee  I think that for a very long time Canadians didn't really know where to seek help whenever they were confronted with these kinds of foreign government threats, harassment and intimidation. I still remember some time early last year when we tried to find a number we could get in touch with, a hotline or maybe other ways of sharing the story with the RCMP and police.

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes, I've been working mostly with Hong Konger Canadians within our community—