Human-rights groups threaten to withdraw from the foreign interference inquiry

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A coalition of human-rights groups representing ethnic communities targeted by China are poised to boycott the public inquiry into foreign interference that begins Monday if Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue allows politicians with alleged ties to Beijing to cross-examine them and gain access to confidential testimony.

Justice Hogue, a judge on the Quebec Court of Appeal who heads the inquiry, granted standing to former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister Michael Chan, now deputy mayor of Markham, Ont., and independent MP Han Dong. Standing means they can cross-examine witnesses and gain access to all evidence collected, including whatever is presented to the inquiry outside of hearings.

Justice Hogue also granted intervenor status to Independent Senator Yuen Pau Woo, which allows him to participate in the hearings examining foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

The Human Rights Coalition, an umbrella body of Canadian groups that have spoken out against China’s foreign interference and human-rights abuses, says the three politicians have long had ties to Chinese diplomats and expressed pro-Beijing views.

“I am very pessimistic about this inquiry,” said Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Uyghur Human Rights Advocacy Project. “This is a dead start for me. We are going to withdraw.”

Mr. Tohti said the three men have “acted like Chinese officials in Canada so I am not ready to make myself available to be cross-examined by them.”

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Gloria Fung, president of Canada-Hong Kong Link, said coalition members have first-hand knowledge of China’s foreign-influence operations in diaspora communities and worry about their security.

“This arrangement poses a serious security threat to all other participants and witnesses. Personal confidential information and contents of submissions, containing names of individuals, would be totally exposed to people with close ties to the China Communist Party and would likely result in ramifications to witnesses and also family members in mainland China and Hong Kong,” Ms. Fung said.

The coalition has asked Justice Hogue to reconsider her decision and limit Mr. Chan and Mr. Dong from having access to their confidential briefs or having the ability to cross-examine them.

Commission spokesperson Michael Tansey declined to comment.

In one of her December decisions on standing for the inquiry, Justice Hogue acknowledged the allegations of the coalition, noting that in its application the group “claims Mr. Chan, Mr. Dong, and Senator Woo have possible links to and support for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”

But in another decision last month, the Commissioner said Mr. Dong and Mr. Chan have substantial interest in the inquiry, including “reputational interest.” She noted: “It was reported in the media that certain Chinese Canadian politicians, including Mr. Chan, had, or may have, engaged in improper activities in connection with the 43rd or 44th general elections.”

For that reason, she said, it is “paramount that they be afforded the full range of participatory rights and protections.”

Mr. Chan has for years been a national-security target of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service because of alleged links to China’s Toronto consulate and association with proxies of Beijing. The Globe and Mail reported in 2015 that Mr. Chan had been the subject of CSIS security briefings in Ontario.

The long-time Liberal Party kingpin has been linked by CSIS to Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei, who was expelled from Canada in May after The Globe revealed he had been behind plans to intimidate Conservative MP Michael Chong and family members in Hong Kong.

Mr. Chan has denied the allegations, telling The Globe that he is a loyal Canadian and accusing CSIS of character assassination.

He did not respond to a request for comment about the inquiry.

Mr. Dong left the Liberal caucus in March, saying he wanted to clear his name after Global News reported that he allegedly told a Chinese diplomat in February, 2021, that releasing imprisoned Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor from detention in China would benefit the Conservatives. Former governor-general David Johnston, named by the government as special rapporteur on foreign interference, deemed those allegations false. Mr. Dong has strongly denied the allegations and is suing Global News.

The Globe reported in March, citing a national-security source, that Mr. Dong at the time of the conversation with the Chinese diplomat was also under surveillance by CSIS because China’s Toronto consulate considered him one of Beijing’s strongest allies.

“I have full confidence that Commissioner Hogue and the commission counsel will ensure that the Foreign Interference Inquiry is conducted in a respectful and fair way,” Mr. Dong said in an e-mail.

Mr. Woo has been accused by Conservative senators of being an apologist for Beijing after he opposed a motion that was critical of China constructing artificial islands and military airfields in the South China Sea. He has also opposed calls from human-rights critics of China to set up a foreign-agent registry.

Mr. Woo told The Globe that the Human Rights Coalition’s intervention “highlights the illiberal and censorious reflex of many public inquiry advocates and the risk of a witch hunt that could emerge from it.”

“I am confident that the Commissioner will make a wise decision,” he added.

Critics also worry that the inquiry, which the government had long resisted setting up, will not have access to all national-security cabinet documents to determine why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and senior ministers ignored warnings from CSIS about the scale of Chinese state interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

“I am concerned about whether this inquiry will really get at enough information to be able to make it clear to Canadians the nature of the Chinese operations in Canada,” said China expert Charles Burton, senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

This week, the commission will hear from national-security experts on what types of classified information can be released and what should be withheld from the public. Among the witnesses this week are CSIS director David Vigneault, former CSIS director Richard Fadden and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc. The inquiry then goes behind closed doors, with public hearings resuming again in March.

“This is one of the biggest challenges that the Commission will face,” Justice Hogue said in a statement this past Tuesday, saying she wants to “share as much information with Canadians as possible through our hearings and reports, even though much of the information that we receive will originate from classified documents and sources.”

Mr. Burton said the purpose for this week’s hearings “seems to be mostly justification for restricting access to classified materials that would shed light on what the government knew.”