Former CSIS official calls for new security agency to counter PRC interference
Global News
Former CSIS officers Michel Juneau Katsuya and Dan Stanton appeared before the Parliamentary standing committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics on Friday.
Two former intelligence officials called for a complete transformation of Canada’s security apparatus to counter expanding foreign interference operations that they say have been essentially ignored by Ottawa since the 1990s.
On Friday the House of Commons standing committee on access to information, privacy and ethics heard recommendations for a new national and independent office with powers to investigate and prosecute acts of foreign interference, and also rapid adoption of counter-interference laws that have already been implemented by Canadian allies such as Australia.
Former CSIS officers Michel Juneau Katsuya and Dan Stanton were among witnesses including former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu and former Sing Tao Daily editor Victor Ho, telling MPs that they believe the Chinese Communist Party has deeply undermined democratic institutions in Canada.
Juneau Katsuya testified that he learned during a 1990s joint investigation by CSIS and RCMP, that People’s Republic of China consular officials were allegedly clandestinely funding both the Liberal and Conservative parties of Canada.
Juneau Katsuya suggested that these operations have expanded in scope and sophistication in recent years, but during the 1990s, CSIS collected strong intelligence of China’s clandestine funding of Canadian politicians, because the Chinese diplomats targeting some ridings and nominations were “very sloppy.”
“CSIS has known about People’s Republic’s foreign interference in Canada for at least the last 30 years, and every government in this period has been compromised and infiltrated by agents of influence,” testified Juneau Katusya, adding he believes “every government” allowed key decisions to be manipulated by agents of influence or partisan concerns.
Stanton said he agreed.
“This is an existential threat,” Stanton testified. He said for 30 years, the People’s Republic of China has been operating with “confidence bordering on arrogance” and targeting the “soft underbelly” of Canadian institutions by seeking influence with politicians and bureaucrats.