Hong Kong Watch welcomes the announcement of a public consultation into the adoption of a foreign agents register in Canada

Hong Kong Watch today welcomes the announcement by the Canadian Government of a public consultation into the adoption of a foreign agents register following developing allegations of interference by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the 2019 parliamentary elections and the targeting of the Hong Kong community in Canada.

The consultation announced by Minister of Public Safety, Marco Mendicino MP, will run between 10 March 2023 and 9 May 2023 and the Government is encouraging submissions from civil society groups and communities impacted by interference campaigns from foreign authoritarian actors. Ministers will also be conducting roundtable discussions with stakeholders.

Minister Mendicino’s announcement follows increased debate in the Canadian Parliament over the need for a foreign agents’ registry like the USA and Australia currently have in place.

On 22 November 2021, Hong Kong Watch Patron, Senator Leo Houskaos introduced bill S-237 to establish a foreign agents registry and amend the criminal code.

This bill follows reports of rising threats from the PRC against the Hong Kong community and the establishment of overseas PRC police stations in Canada, including the recent disclosure of two additional PRC police stations in Quebec.

Commenting on the announcement of the public consultation, Sam Goodman, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Hong Kong Watch, said:

“For some time now China watchers from Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg to Joanna Chiu have reported that Canada lies at the heart of a sophisticated foreign influence operation from the PRC’s United Front Work Department. This strategy seeks to interfere in elections overseas, co-opt political elites to support the PRC’s central narrative and aims, and target the Hong Kong community and other communities critical of the PRC overseas.

We welcome the announcement by the Government this week that it will finally launch its public consultation on the adoption of a foreign agents register. This is an important step towards bringing Canada in line with Australia and the USA which have similar schemes.

In the meantime, we believe there is no reason why the Senate cannot move forward with consideration of bill S-237 in time for when the consultation ends.

Of course, a foreign agents register alone will not deter interference from foreign authoritarian state actors like the PRC. This is why Ministers must undertake a cross-governmental response looking at everything from the role of foreign investment, the targeting of the Hong Kong community in Canada, to the way social media is being manipulated by authoritarian actors.”