At last, Canada is confronting the problem of foreign influence
In recent years, many China watchers have developed a layer of cynicism, or at least low expectations, regarding pronouncements on China by Ottawa. For nearly a decade, many Canadians – myself included – have been calling for strict legislation to upgrade our safeguards in the name of detecting, disrupting and protecting Canadians against foreign interference threats. Even this spring’s testimony at the Hogue Inquiry, which prompted public demands for full transparency from anyone who influences Canada’s China policy – specifically, around whether or not they have a conflict of interest because they receive money or other benefits from Beijing – left many observers resigned to yet more rounds of “it’s complicated” from the Prime Minister and his cabinet.
While FITAA won’t be in effect for some time, its abrupt promulgation should have a more immediate dampening effect on the operations of Beijing’s agents. Elite Canadians will suddenly realize that accepting lucrative positions on Chinese boards and consultancies will be seen as nothing more than a humiliating moral compromise: agreeing to the compensation, free trips to Beijing and business opportunities will require tacitly supporting whatever CCP foreign-policy outrage Xi Jinping comes up with, and being complicit in genocide in Xinjiang and other violations of international human rights law going on inside China.
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