Charles Burton: Many know about foreign interference, but no one’s doing anything about it
Having studied the complex mechanism of Chinese influence operations on Canadian politicians, from both inside and outside government, since the 1990s, I have a good idea of who CSIS is worried about in Ottawa.
My own list includes members from all three main parties. Most have had their photos taken at events in Canada and China, the flag of China displayed prominently, standing alongside Chinese figures with known murky backgrounds.
We are dealing with a deep, serious danger that nobody seems able or willing to confront. Apparently, there things that both the Government and the Opposition want to suppress forever, and we can assume that any information the Government censored from the redacted version of NSICOP’s findings will likewise not be revealed to the public by Justice Hogue.
Canadians need CSIS to show some patriotic mettle and provide the RCMP with any information that could form the basis of criminal investigations into the serious cases.
And CSIS also needs to tell MPs and Senators suspected of lesser disloyalties that they are being monitored, and must terminate contact with foreign agent contacts immediately — or potentially face prosecution under upcoming anti-foreign interference legislation.
