B.C. MP says she’s yet to hear from RCMP about probe into foreign meddling | 24CA News
A Vancouver MP says she hasn’t but been contacted by the RCMP, regardless of revelations Tuesday that Mounties have been working with elections officers over alleged overseas interference focusing on her.
“The RCMP has not reached out to me,” Vancouver East MP NDP Jenny Kwan instructed Global News.
“So if they are in fact investigating this matter I would welcome it and I would love to hear from them so I can understand what is involved in terms of that investigation related to myself being targeted.”
Earlier Tuesday, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme confirmed Mounties had opened a prison investigation into allegations China had focused Conservative MP Michael Chong.
Duheme, who was showing earlier than a House of Commons committee on overseas interference, additionally confirmed Mounties and election officers have been probing allegations Kwan and former Conservative chief Erin O’Toole have been focused. Duheme wouldn’t verify whether or not police have been prison fees in these circumstances.
Kwan stated her understanding was that the recordsdata referring to her and O’Toole had been directed to Elections Canada.
But she stated lawmakers might have to empower the RCMP if the power doesn’t have the instruments it must crack down on overseas meddling in Canadian politics.
“We need to identify the roles the RCMP can play and if the laws allow them to do the work that is necessary. And if not, what do we need to do to change the laws accordingly,” she stated.
“We need to send a very clear message that foreign interference is not acceptable, we will not accept it here in Canada and we will do whatever it takes to stop that from happening.”
In Ottawa, Duheme confirmed there have been greater than 100 investigations open in Canada into overseas interference.
He stated reported Chinese police stations allegedly working in Canada had additionally been closed.
“We are comfortable based on the criminal intelligence that we have that the activities in the specific areas have shut down,” he stated.
Last month, the federal authorities confirmed a Globe and Mail report the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had data in 2021 that Beijing was methods to intimidate Chong and his relations in Hong Kong.
China has denied it focused the MP after he supported a movement within the House of Commons calling China’s remedy of its Uyghur minority a genocide in 2021.
Late final month, Kwan stated she had met with CSIS after the spy company instructed her she had been a goal of China courting again so far as the 2019 election.
Kwan stated the newest revelations have been one other signal Canada wants an impartial public inquiry into allegations of overseas interference.
“We need all the official parties to come to an agreement on the commissioner or a panel of commissioners as well as the terms of reference,” she stated.
“Let’s take politics out of this whole thing and let’s get into the work that needs to be done to rebuild the confidence for Canadians.”
On Saturday the Liberal authorities left the ball over such an inquiry within the arms of the opposition, asking them to seek out somebody to steer the inquiry, set the phrases of reference, provide you with a timeline and decide the way it will cope with delicate data.
— with recordsdata from Global’s Aaron D’Andrea and the Canadian Press
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