CRTC to take a closer look at Chinese language media outlets, foreign interference inquiry hears

Canada's broadcast watchdog will take a closer look at Chinese language media outlets in Canada in response to information made public during the inquiry on foreign interference, a top official with the regulator told the inquiry Tuesday.

Scott Shortliffe, executive director of broadcasting for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), told the inquiry Tuesday that testimony before the inquiry about China's influence on Chinese-language media outlets in Canada offered new information to the CRTC.

"It's of great interest to the CRTC because of our regulation saying that you have to be controlled, in fact, by Canadians," Shortliffe said under cross-examination by Mani Kakkar, lawyer for NDP MP Jenny Kwan.

He said statements before the inquiry Tuesday raised "questions" about whether the People's Republic of China's exerts undue influence over Canadian media outlets.

Shortliffe said the commission will pursue the question further and gather more information.

"I think there may be issues around foreign interference the commission has not pursued ... because we were not aware of them, either for national security [reasons] or because we didn't have people bringing forward complaints to us," he said.

Shortliffe said the CRTC wouldn't have been privy to intelligence reports because it is not a national security agency. He said the CRTC recently started meeting with officials from Public Safety to discuss information sharing.

Shortliffe said testimony before the inquiry could also prompt the CRTC to discuss how to handle information from people who fear retribution if they speak out.

Shortliffe's testimony came after the inquiry heard from journalists about attempts by China and India to influence members of diaspora populations in Canada by pressuring ethnic media outlets to parrot government positions and suppress "red line" subjects they don't want discussed.

Two Chinese Canadian journalists and one Indo-Canadian journalist told the inquiry India and China use a mix of rewards and threats to affect what is covered and how it is reported. They said consulates and embassies have threatened to pull their advertising spending over media coverage in Canada.

Indo-Canadian journalist Gurpreet Singh said the Indian government has refused to grant visas to those whose reporting it dislikes and has threatened to cancel journalists' Overseas Citizen of India cards, which exempt Canadian citizens from having to seek visas every time they return to India.

Singh said the Indian government is particularly sensitive to reports about support for an independent Sikh state, the debate over Kashmir, India's caste system and who was behind the Air India bombing.

"You get a lot of pushback from the Indian consulate or Indian diplomats if you deal with these issues," he said.

China's "red line" subjects for news coverage are Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, the Chinese democratic movement overseas and the Uyghur minority, said Victor Ho, former editor in chief of Sing Tao Daily Vancouver.

"These are the taboos," Ho told the inquiry. "You cannot release ideas opposite to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party)."

There are other issues the Chinese government seeks ts to amplify to increase internal conflict between Chinese Canadians and the rest of the population, said Ronald Leung, who hosts a weekly television show.

"Drug policy is one of the big topics in the Chinese community because of the history of China, people in general don't like drug abuse. They hate drugs," he said. "So they have a lot of difference with what Canada is doing on this issue. Another one is gender identity, crime and safety, the Indigenous issue, human rights.

"When China tries to amplify those conflicts in Western countries, we can see in the Chinese media in Canada, they will do the same thing, to amplify those problems."

An intelligence memorandum prepared by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in July 2023 described the domination of Chinese-language media in Canada as a "national security threat."

"Communist Party of China (CPC)-friendly narratives inundate Chinese-language media in Canada," wrote the authors. "Censorship (including self-censorship) is pervasive and alternative media voices are few or marginalized in mainstream Chinese-language media. This includes traditional media such as newspapers, and in new media provided by online platforms and applications such as WeChat."

A separate CSIS intelligence assessment written in 2021 said Chinese-language media outlets operating in Canada were "primary targets" for Chinese government-directed foreign influenced activities.

The foreign interference inquiry headed by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue was set up following media reports which accused China of interfering in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

In her initial report, made public in May, Hogue found that while it was possible that foreign interference occurred in a small number of ridings, she concluded it did not affect the overall election results.

The inquiry continues Wednesday with the results of the inquiry's public consultation and a panel of 17 representatives from diaspora communities. Hogue met behind closed doors with representatives of several different diaspora communities in August and September.