Opposition MPs call on feds to do more, as minister expels one Chinese diplomat

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Opposition parties teamed on Monday up to pass a motion calling on the federal government to expel any Chinese diplomats implicated in "affronts to Canadian democracy" and take other actions to counter foreign interference in Canada.

The Liberals voted against this call, at the same time as Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly moved to expel one official allegedly involved in efforts to intimidate Conservative MP Michael Chong, a sequence of events he called “inexplicable.”

Just as MPs began to rise to say “yea” or “nay” to the Conservative motion, Joly issued a statement announcing that Canada had decided to declare Chinese official Zhao Wei "persona non grata," insisting the government would "not tolerate any form of foreign interference in our internal affairs."

The non-binding “opposition day” motion was debated last week, at the height of revelations surrounding alleged attempts by the Chinese government to intimidate Chong and his family in Hong Kong.

The motion, citing "intimidation tactics" allegedly being deployed by the People's Republic of China against Canadians of Chinese descent, and the families of members of Parliament, stated that the government should "stop delaying and immediately” move to expel “all of the People's Republic of China diplomats responsible for and involved in these affronts to Canadian democracy."

The vote result was 170 to 150, with just the Liberals voting against the proposal.

Throughout Monday's question period leading up to the vote, the federal government's position was that it was carefully contemplating the consequences they said would come with expelling this, or any Chinese official.

"This government is now saying that they cannot kick out this operative even though he threatened the family of a Canadian MP, because they're afraid of the consequences that Beijing will impose. Will the prime minister finally put this country first … and kick this operative out, yes or no?" asked Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre during question period just ahead of the vote.

In response, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino made no indication that Joly was about to make a move, instead questioning: "Why the leader of the Conservative party continues to politicize an issue that is a Canadian issue."

Last week, Chong told CTV News that intelligence officials had just confirmed to him that his family had been targeted by a Chinese diplomat in 2021 over his stance on Beijing's treatment of Uyghur Muslims.

He also said information about this was raised by CSIS with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's national security and intelligence adviser at the time, and that several other MPs have also been targeted by China.

Trudeau told reporters on Friday it was "absolutely unacceptable" that Chong faced these threats, but asserted, amid some confusion over who was previously briefed on the situation, that he only became aware of them after they were first reported by The Globe and Mail.

The prime minister said he's since instructed CSIS to change its processes around informing MPs about any threats to them, regardless of the seriousness or credibility of it.

On Monday, the House Speaker also ruled the situation is a breach of Chong's privileges as an MP.

China has denied any involvement in foreign interference in Canadian politics. Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning described the allegations that a Chinese diplomat targeted a Canadian MP as a groundless smear.

MOTION CALLED FOR ADDITIONAL ACTION

The Conservative motion also included calls for the government to take a trio of additional steps:

On these points: the Liberals have repeatedly said they're leaving the question of a public inquiry to federal special rapporteur David Johnston to determine in a few weeks’ time.

Mendicino has previously vowed broadly to move forward on creating a foreign influence registry, though he has yet to offer a timeline to complete this work.

And, the minister has also said the RCMP has taken action to shut down the so-called police stations, but that assertion has since been questioned.

Both the Conservatives and NDP were quick to say Monday following the vote and Joly's expulsion announcement that it's unfortunate that it took concerted political pressure for the federal Liberals to act, and said more needs to be done.

"It's inexplicable why the government didn't support the motion," Chong said. "All these things need to be done immediately. These are things we've been, and experts have been, long calling for."

NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson called the expulsion of one diplomat "the bare minimum and not enough."

"Two years after CSIS raised concerns about Mr. Chong being a target of foreign interference, it looks like the Liberals are only acting because they got caught for not responding," McPherson said. "This government needs to do more to ensure all MPs are safe from foreign interference."

Concern over Chong's targeting is just the latest in what has been months of opposition MPs questioning the federal government over what it knew, when it knew it, and what it has done to combat attempts by China to meddle in Canadian affairs, including during last two federal elections.

The government has repeatedly asserted that it is eyes-wide open to the threat of foreign interference, and is moving to take further steps to shore up intuitional resilience to international influence efforts.

"We remain firm in our resolve that defending our democracy is of the utmost importance," Joly said Monday.

With files from CTV News' Spencer Van Dyk