Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly appears as a witness at a standing committee on foreign affairs and international development in Ottawa on Thursday, May 4, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
OTTAWA – The Liberal government is summoning China’s ambassador over allegations by Canada’s spy agency that a Chinese diplomat in Toronto was involved in a plot to intimidate a Conservative MP and his family.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says she asked her deputy minister to tell Chinese Ambassador Cong Peiwu that Canada will not tolerate any form of foreign interference in its affairs.
She also says that the federal government remains open to expelling Chinese diplomats from Canada altogether – a move the Opposition Conservatives are urging the Liberals to take.
Joly confirms the Canadian Security Intelligence Service believes a diplomat working out of China’s Toronto consulate had targeted Conservative MP Michael Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong, due to his criticism of Beijing’s human-rights record.
The Conservatives insist the federal Liberal government failed to act on the threat that came up two years ago, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the security agency made the decision not to notify anyone.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre presented a motion in the House of Commons asking MPs to call on the government to take more aggressive action against threats of foreign interference, including expelling Chinese diplomats.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2023.
