Conservative MP Michael Chong speaks to reporters on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. MPs are set to vote this afternoon on whether to have the a parliamentary committee examine if MP Michael Chong's parliamentary rights were breached by what Canada's spy agency alleged says was a plot by China to target him. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
OTTAWA – The House of Commons is set to vote this afternoon on whether a committee should probe allegations of an intimidation campaign by the Chinese government against Conservative MP Michael Chong.
Debate on the motion has taken priority in the chamber since it was tabled on Monday, and a vote has been scheduled to take place after today’s question period.
Canada expelled a Chinese diplomat this week over a newly surfaced 2021 report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which alleged that the Toronto consular officer sought to intimidate Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong because of the MP’s criticism of China’s human-rights record.
China responded by expelling a Canadian diplomat from its territory, with the Liberals warning that the move could also inspire economic retaliation – leaving industries bracing for blowback.
Yet Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a China expert at the University of Ottawa, says the government should instead assume that Beijing is operating in a tit-for-tat, and will only escalate things further if Canada goes beyond expelling a diplomat.
She says that China sees itself as an important player, but Canada should still treat it with the same amount of deference as any other country.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2023.
