A Vancouver MP says she hasn’t yet been contacted by the RCMP, despite revelations Tuesday that Mounties were working with elections officials over alleged foreign interference targeting her.
“The RCMP has not reached out to me,” Vancouver East MP NDP Jenny Kwan told 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 criminal investigation into allegations China had targeted Conservative MP Michael Chong.
Duheme, who was appearing before a House of Commons committee on foreign interference, also confirmed Mounties and election officials were probing allegations Kwan and former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole were targeted. Duheme would not confirm whether police were looking at criminal charges in those cases.
Kwan said her understanding was that the files relating to her and O’Toole had been directed to Elections Canada.
But she said lawmakers may need to empower the RCMP if the force does not have the tools it needs to crack down on foreign 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 said.
“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 were more than 100 investigations open in Canada into foreign interference.
He said reported Chinese police stations allegedly operating in Canada had also been closed.
“We are comfortable based on the criminal intelligence that we have that the activities in the specific areas have shut down,” he said.
Last month, the federal government confirmed a Globe and Mail report the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had information in 2021 that Beijing was looking at ways to intimidate Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong.
China has denied it targeted the MP after he supported a motion in the House of Commons calling China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority a genocide in 2021.
Late last month, Kwan said she had met with CSIS after the spy agency told her she had been a target of China dating back as far as the 2019 election.
Kwan said the latest revelations were another sign Canada needs an independent public inquiry into allegations of foreign 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 said.
“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 government left the ball over such an inquiry in the hands of the opposition, asking them to find someone to lead the inquiry, set the terms of reference, come up with a timeline and determine how it will deal with sensitive information.
— with files from Global’s Aaron D’Andrea and the Canadian Press