Canada-China Relations committee  In response to Mr. Trudel's earlier, question, when he asked me what's happening in Saskatchewan, one thing I want to put on record is that the Confucius Institute at the University of Saskatchewan is still there. I think a lot of people know that the Confucius Institute has been referenced by CSIS, the FBI and MI6 as a potential threat for espionage and academic espionage on campuses.

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes. There was actually another case that's widely known about in the community. It was a pro-democracy.... She had a program on that, I think, and at one of the Vancouver radio stations this announcer played a song that was pro-Hong Kong democracy. Subsequently her schedule was reduced to one day a week.

Canada-China Relations committee  There were two tactics that I cited. One was constant phone call bombardment, just calling you and telling you awkward stuff, probably even in the middle of the night. The second one is sending you pictures of your extended family. In his case, he was in China; therefore, his family was in China.

Canada-China Relations committee  If I may use a quote for that, I think somebody once said that the Communist wakes up early in the morning to further their cause, so we must wake up even earlier. Before they even intrude on our sovereignty, on our democracy, we have to find a policy to basically tell them that they can't do that, or even just a show of force that we are not weak on this and that we will take action if they attempt to interfere in our elections or our democratic institutions.

Canada-China Relations committee  Regarding the priest you talked about, I actually went with him to see his MP. I think it was Kerry-Lynne Findlay. She asked the question of the public safety minister, and, if I remember correctly, he said to talk to the RCMP. The RCMP said there was really nothing they could do and directed us back to Ottawa.

Canada-China Relations committee  I don't know of any.

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes, in the Hong Kong community, very few people use those devices.

Canada-China Relations committee  I think one thing they saw in using those applications is that a lot of the people who use those applications only speak Chinese. They could only get news or whatever from those sources. Another benefit they have is that people who do not speak Chinese cannot oversee those.

Canada-China Relations committee  Well, because I've only been in Canada since 2008, I can't speak that far back. From my research, I've been seeing the CSIS reports. Even back to the late 1990s, it's been warning about foreign interference. I'll probably let other witnesses speak on this issue.

Canada-China Relations committee  In terms of the different Chinese diaspora communities, I think they do all have a sense.... If they're against the government, essentially, there is a terror that they're going to be attacked by the regime somehow. That paints, I think, a terror on people's minds, that, “I dare not say this in public.

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes. I do as well. To give an example, in those organizations other dialects were spoken in the past. Now it's just Mandarin.

Canada-China Relations committee  It's not only some of the questionable behaviour but also just the terror that it paints in people's minds.

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes. I think it thrives off of the fear of losing other freedoms. I think the freedom from fear is perhaps the most important. Once you are fearful, then other freedoms are taken away, or—

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes, because they are threatening your family. There is really nothing you can do to save them. They are so far away and you're here. The only thing is to comply with what they want.

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes. For anybody, and I think a lot of you would agree with me, it looks like it is against international law and Canadian law. Before we were even able to coordinate the petition that was presented this morning, the Netherlands and I think Sweden already shut them down. We were still investigating, investigating and investigating.