RCMP official won't say whether Chinese 'police stations' are still operating in Canada

An RCMP official appearing before the foreign interference inquiry today refused to say whether any Chinese government "police stations" are still operating in Canada.

Asked by lawyers and later by journalists whether any of the so-called police stations are still active here, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mark Flynn cited an ongoing investigation.

"That again falls into part of our ongoing investigation and I'm not speaking about it at this time," Flynn told reporters.

In 2023, the RCMP said it was investigating facilities set up by the Chinese government on Canadian soil. The centres have been accused of harassing and intimidating members of the Chinese community in Canada.

In June 2023, the RCMP said it had "shut down illegal police activity in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia" connected to Chinese police stations.

In an intelligence summary tabled at the inquiry, government officials said they are continuing to keep an eye on the centres. The Chinese government has said the centres were set up to provide services to Chinese tourists and the Chinese diaspora in Canada.

"The Government of Canada continues to monitor for any indications of additional activity of these stations in Canada," says the intelligence summary.

In the afternoon, the inquiry heard from Robin Wettlaufer, director of the Centre for International Digital Policy at Global Affairs, which houses the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) group which monitors for online foreign interference. Wettlaufer told the inquiry that the RRM group has been monitoring Chinese "police stations" in Canada but had to pause to monitor byelection contests.

Wettlaufer said it was actually byelection monitoring that led to the discovery that Conservative MP Michael Chong was the target of a foreign interference campaign.

While the RCMP said it advised Chong of the campaign, it told the inquiry it closed the investigation in December 2023 because it didn't meet the threshold for intimidation charges under the Criminal Code. 

The matter of Chinese police stations was just one of several alleged instances of foreign government activity on Canadian soil the RCMP refused to comment on Thursday, citing ongoing investigations.

RCMP officials also pointed to investigations when asked about the June 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, reports of extortion rings run out of India and the recent U.S. decision to charge two Russians in a $10 million scheme to illegally fund Tenet Media and influence it to push Russian propaganda.

"We are currently engaged with domestic and international partners on this matter," said RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brigitte Gauvin, adding that a number of Canadian laws could apply to the Tenet Media case.

RCMP officials described their efforts to reach out to diaspora communities and to build ties with individual groups, such as the families of the passengers on flight PS752 who died when it was shot down by Iran. The officials said families of the victims who have spoken out about the incident have been targets of repression by the Iranian government.

RCMP officials also pledged to look into reports from diaspora groups who told the inquiry that they didn't feel their reports of foreign interference were being taken seriously by police.

While the officials said the RCMP would like more resources to combat foreign interference, they acknowledged they also have had to dedicate more resources to countering ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE) and protecting politicians.

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 Friday with testimony from several officials from Global Affairs. The inquiry has added an additional witness to its list: Zita Astravas.

Astravas was briefed on CSIS's request for a warrant involving Ontario Liberal politician Michael Chan when she worked as an aide to then-public safety minister Bill Blair.  While ministers usually sign off on warrant applications within days, the application for the warrant involving Chan sat for weeks in Blair's ministerial office.

A date for Astravas to testify has not yet been set.

The inquiry's second phase of hearings wraps up on Oct. 16, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to testify.