#foreign interference in canadian elections

[terriwriting]

CSIS AGREES TO SIT PIERRE POILIEVRE DOWN AND EXPLAIN JUST HOW RIDDLED WITH FOREIGN AGENTS THE CPC REALLY IS

"We may need to use small words and simple pictures," says CSIS head

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) told CBC News on Saturday that it's determined "the disclosure of some information to the leader of the Official Opposition through a threat reduction measure is appropriate." Classified information is typically shared only with people who have an appropriate security clearance and a relevant need to know, CSIS said in a statement. But under a threat reduction measure, "certain information can be disclosed to reduce a threat," and plans are being "finalized" to convey the information to Poilievre, the agency said. In October, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he asked intelligence services to find a way to brief Poilievre about foreign interference allegations involving his party — and possibly to share "some names" with the Conservative leader. "It would be easier if he got his security clearance, but I've asked them to give him some information nonetheless," Trudeau said at the time.

Poilievre has so far refused to go through the screening process to obtain a security clearance that would allow him to view the information Trudeau has referred to over the past two months.

Reminder that Pierre Poilievre is the only party leader to refuse a background check for a national security clearance, and that he has lied about receiving classified information from the Conservative Party chief of staff.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

China tried to meddle in the last two Canadian elections but the results were not affected and it was “improbable” Beijing preferred any one party over another, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has told an official probe.

In sworn testimony on Wednesday before a commission conducting a public inquiry into alleged foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 Canadian elections, Trudeau answered questions about intelligence briefings he had received and asserted the elections were “free and fair”.

The prime minister set up the commission last year under pressure from opposition legislators unhappy about media reports on China’s possible role in the elections. China has consistently denied that it interfered in Canada’s internal affairs, calling the allegations “groundless”.

Erin O’Toole, who led the main opposition Conservative party during the 2021 campaign, has estimated Chinese interference cost his party up to nine seats but added it had not changed the course of the election. Trudeau’s Liberal Party won both the elections.

“Nothing we have seen and heard despite, yes, attempts by foreign states to interfere, those elections held in their integrity. They were decided by Canadians,” Trudeau said. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland, @vague-humanoid

Note from the poster @el-shab-hussein: Don't fall for this shit. It's a lie meant to distract you from the fact his campaign worked with the fascist BJP to slander and attack Sikhs in the elections wherein he had to go up against Jagmeet Singh. Corrupt bastard. Don't buy into this shameless redscare tactic, China's just his scapegoat here.

[piggy-ame]

hey hi to the americans following me uhhhhhhh

how the hell did this happen????? like?????? what?????????? how the fuck is the orange man about to win AGAIN???????????

not only that but good luck like just good luck

cant wait for our mini donald trump (pierre poilievre aka pee-ierre poo-lievre) here to become PM (because for some reason everyone loves him even though hes done jack shit in government and has no plans on how to do anything cuz he fucking sucks and was probably elected as the leader of the conservative party through foreign interference (allegedly (but cmon))) and fuck our country up even worse than it currently is!!!!!!!!

cuz lest we forget any BS the us republicans pull the canadian conservatives try to replicate it because why the fuck not i suppose

fuck conservatism man

[darkeagleruins]

30 mins ago in NYT: "Over the years, Mr. Trudeau’s Liberal Party has aggressively courted Indian, Chinese and other immigrant communities, even allowing noncitizens to vote in party elections." ...

"Mr. Trudeau is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the inquiry, which the prime minister had long opposed. But mounting evidence of foreign interference in the past two general elections and an extraordinary series of leaks by Canadian intelligence to the news media forced Mr. Trudeau to establish the inquiry."

[mariacallous]

On the same day U.S. President Joe Biden hosted the first-ever United States-Japan-Philippines summit at the White House, a much less conspicuous meeting to strengthen the U.S. alliance network in the Indo-Pacific took place a few blocks away.

On April 11, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken convened for talks at the State Department, declaring in a joint statement that their two countries are “working more closely than ever.” In almost any other case, this could be dismissed as meaningless diplomatic boilerplate. But in this case, it was a clear sign that a new era in New Zealand’s foreign policy was underway. Given that U.S.-New Zealand relations have long been strained—in part because Wellington charted a China-friendly course—the meeting was the latest example of Beijing’s behavior in the region driving countries into Washington’s welcoming arms.

The frostiness between New Zealand and the United States dates back to the 1980s, when a Labour government in Wellington declared its part of the Pacific a nuclear-free, disarmed zone and refused to allow port visits by U.S. nuclear-powered submarines. The Reagan administration, in turn, suspended U.S. obligations to New Zealand under the Australia-New Zealand-United States security treaty. The estrangement lasted many decades as New Zealand parted ways not only with the United States but also neighboring Australia to pursue a nonaligned foreign policy.

Relations began to thaw in 2010, when New Zealand Prime Minister John Key’s government signed the Wellington Declaration, which called for elevated strategic engagement and practical cooperation with the United States in the Pacific. Two years later, the two countries followed up with the Washington Declaration, which specifically strengthened defense cooperation and lifted a Reagan-era ban on New Zealand warships in U.S. ports—while leaving Wellington’s nuclear-free zone intact.

The rapprochement also survived the transition back to a Labour Party prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. In fact, the Ardern administration doubled down on the new policy. In 2022, Ardern became the first New Zealand prime minister to attend a NATO summit. Her Labour successor, Chris Hipkins, did so again in 2023. At these summits, New Zealand’s leaders expressed serious concerns about not only Russia but China as well, with Ardern in 2022 stating: “China has in recent times also become more assertive and more willing to challenge international rules and norms. Here, we must respond to the actions we see.”

Criticizing Beijing is a new tactic in New Zealand’s playbook. In 2008, the two countries signed a free trade agreement—Beijing’s first with a Western state. Since then, New Zealand has generally focused on business ties while ignoring or minimizing China’s worsening repression at home and rising assertiveness abroad. To its ostensible Western allies, Wellington’s “supine” attitude toward China was unnerving. In 2018, a Canadian government report called New Zealand the “soft underbelly” of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network, which also includes Australia, Britain, Canada, and the United States.

Wellington might have continued on this course, were it not for Beijing’s own actions that made it think twice about engaging—a clear trend that most recently pushed the Philippines to seek closer military relations with Japan and the United States. In New Zealand, it was the discovery of widespread Chinese political interference in the 2017 national elections that began to shift the China narrative from opportunity to concern. It also turned out that a Chinese-born member of the New Zealand Parliament until 2020, Jian Yang, who sat on the foreign affairs, defense, and trade committee, was not only once a member of the Chinese Communist Party but also worked as a trainer of People’s Liberation Army spies. These incidents, as well as Beijing’s turn to bullying smaller countries in the region, awakened New Zealand to the potential geostrategic threat posed by China, including in its own neighborhood.

These developments prompted Ardern to go against the grain of her country’s dovish China policy. In May 2022, New Zealand became a founding member of the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework—a limited policy that seeks to enhance trade and investment relations among friendly countries, not including China, while stopping short of being an actual free trade agreement. Addressing China directly, Ardern and Biden agreed in Washington that “the United States and New Zealand share a concern that the establishment of a persistent military presence in the Pacific by a state that does not share our values or security interests would fundamentally alter the strategic balance of the region and pose national-security concerns to both our countries.” A month later, New Zealand also joined the Biden administration’s Partners in the Blue Pacific—a group of countries coordinating on Pacific islands strategy, including Australia, Britain, and Japan.

Wellington’s harder line on China now permeates the government. In July 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a new strategic foreign-policy assessment that cited Beijing’s growing assertiveness throughout the Indo-Pacific region as the “primary driver of strategic competition,” adding that the “risk of a shift in the strategic balance in the Pacific is now a present and serious concern in the region.” One month later, Wellington released a first-ever National Security Strategy, arguing that Beijing has become “more assertive and more willing to challenge existing international rules and norms.” A simultaneously released defense strategy implied increased defense spending to meet the emerging China threat.

More recently, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his conservative coalition government, elected in October 2023, are sending strong signals that they plan to stay on this track, in spite of previously promoting China-friendly policies. The appointment of Peters as foreign minister, for example, does not bode well for Beijing. In 2018, Peters was the mastermind behind Wellington’s Pacific reset strategy designed to counter Beijing’s growing clout in the Pacific islands region. In a recent speech, Peters questioned the very basis of Wellington’s foreign policy: progressivism and nonalignment. While this policy has played especially well in the postcolonial, post-Cold War Pacific islands region, Peters seems intent on trading it in for aligning New Zealand in great-power competition against China.

Specifically, Peters has called for Wellington to elevate its role in Five Eyes, the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) security pact, and NATO. AUKUS could soon see New Zealand cooperating on nonnuclear security topics, including cyberwar, hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, undersea capabilities, and others. On his first overseas visit in Australia, Luxon strongly suggested that Wellington was moving forward on AUKUS cooperation. Defense Minister Judith Collins has been more circumspect on AUKUS, but her recent contacts with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell have deepened the intrigue.

Peters also confirmed this month that New Zealand is pursuing a formal partnership program with NATO. If the agreement is concluded before Luxon’s participation in the NATO summit this summer, it would be another monumental shift in Wellington’s foreign policy away from nonalignment and toward integration with other democratic nations.

From a U.S. perspective, it is easy to get overly excited by these developments and conclude that a restored ANZUS alliance is near. But New Zealand and the United States still seem far apart on restoring a formal alliance, and there have been no public indications that any such step is afoot. A signal of this magnitude to China that New Zealand is siding against it is probably a bridge too far for Wellington, which still seeks to maintain a healthy economic relationship with Beijing and not endanger economic growth.

Still, Wellington’s strategic pivot is good news for Washington and its allies—even if it is still unclear how, exactly, New Zealand’s pivot will support concrete U.S. objectives in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. However, the United States should temper its expectations: New Zealand is likely to continue to preserve productive relations with China while it emphasizes the importance of stronger security ties with Washington.

[doubleddenden]

Yeah no, this was absolutely rigged. The shithead party that cried and screamed and shat and vomited and pissed and COMMITTED TERRORISM BY STORMING THE CAPITAL ON JANUARY 6TH absolutely cheated like they always try to do.

The Nevada signatures

People in places like NC suspiciously being unregistered to vote

The call to end voting in places like Georgia before mail in ballots could be counted

The fire bombing of ballot boxes in a couple of states like Oregon

And Muskrat and Twitter. Election gambling promotion via ads by claiming the orange bastard had a higher chance to win- that's just one of the MANY ways Muskrat is suspected of election interference.

Give it a few days and they'll say there was foreign interference like with Russia in 2016. There are too many places with too many agendas to be met by having an ego maniac sociopath dumbass in office.

Oh I'm not saying nobody voted for him- no, I live in MS, I'm well aware of cult minded, ignorant people voting that simply choose not to believe or delve deeper into the orange man's own words regarding Project 2025 and making it so his "beautiful Christians never have to vote again," or fools who still believe inflation is caused by democrats. My vote is probably the closest you can get to worthless- a match in an ocean.

That stupid fucker that couldn't aim for shit (and I'm still suspicious of for a number of reasons) definitely did not help by painting the reds as heroes with victim complexes. God that stupid photo had to have been planned.

And lastly, if there's anyone else to blame besides racist misogynists or the severely ignorant, I'll point my middle finger at third party voters, people who abstained, or the absolute morons that actually voted FOR HIM thinking it would somehow help Gaza despite him saying he wanted to help get its destruction over with (and Ukraine too, if i remember correctly, because he loves Putin). Congratulations on your morality, bros. If you can't save everyone, you may as well speed run killing millions more than the other option, right? Despite the clear warnings that 3rd parties do not win anymore, despite the clear messages that this was about keeping the LESSER of 2 evils from winning, despite the very real threat of Project 2025 taking away any future right to vote and hand over our rights to neo nazi christo fascist dictators, you get to feel warm and cozy as you sip your pumpkin spice lattes and read fics with your cat while some of us lost progress to getting affordable healthcare or more children needlessly die. Because your morals are more important than lives, obviously, because you're the main character, obviously, because bots on Twitter or chat gpt or the tumblr user with a Hazbin Hotel pfp told you we deserved to lose our rights- and you believed them because you don't like critically thinking, obviously. Thank you guys specifically for making it even harder for women to receive needed abortions, thank you guys specifically for allowing the monster that fired the pandemic response team back in office after covid killed millions, thank you guys specifically for undoing any progress made in the last 4 years and healing from him the last time. Thank you, for signing the death warrants of innocents, because you can't comprehend the fact that EVERY POLITICIAN IS EVIL and that your job is to vote for the LESSER evil that has an actual chance of winning, because we don't get to toss out the options available for a new set because any time we get close to any sort of progress it gets REVERSED. I hope you're happy with the outcome, you stupid pieces of shit, and I can only hope that it's you instead of an innocent child that gets hurt because of your actions or inaction to vote.

God I hate this fucking shithole country. Why couldn't I be at least Canadian?

[darkmaga-returns]

An anonymous CSIS Whistleblower, in early 2023, reported that there were 11 compromised members of government being bought off by foreign governments and that our Elections have been compromised.

Of course this is something that All Members of Parliament should be concerned with…but our Liberal, and most likely on the list of those compromised, Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau…while seemingly terribly concerned, has done absolutely everything he could to stall the investigations…leading up to now, where we still have ZERO arrests and do not know the names of these individuals, despite there having been 2 investigations into the evidence.

The First Investigation, by Trudeau Family Friend and former Governor General, named as Special Rapporteur, who most likely is known to the Prime Minister as Uncle Dave - Johnston…spent months and millions of taxpayer dollars to produce a report that would only be suitable to line the bottom of a bird or hamster cage.

Total waste of time!

And in the most recent public investigation - the Hogue Inquiry…Justin Trudeau, with help of the RCMP threw in information to cast doubt on the majority of this foreign interference being from China, by shattering diplomatic relations with India, calling the India Government out for Murdering and Threatening, Canadian Citizens.

To be clear here…the only people who are seemingly threatened and have been murdered, are members of the Khalistan Movement…who just happen to be classified as a Terrorist Organization, who are also embroiled in a lot of terrible other crimes, while being on Canadian soil.

India knows this…and that’s why, for YEARS, they’ve requested extradition of these Terrorists, Back to India…there are some 26, terrorist on a list that Trudeau has had in his hot little hands for a fist full of years, doing absolutely nothing…not searching for these terrorists…and letting them roam free doing whatever the fuck they want.

What could go wrong, hey?

[secreteviltwin]

reading the news now is just constant double takes. what do you mean the government knows the names of current elected officials who willingly helped foreign countries interfere in canadian politics and is not willing to release that information. what fucking country is this

[panicinthestudio]

How Beijing targets Chinese Canadians through foreign influence operations, March 3, 2023

Alliance Canada Hong Kong executive director Cherie Wong joined Power & Politics Friday to discuss how Beijing targets Chinese Canadians. Akshay Singh and Dennis Molinaro, two experts in foreign influence operations in Canada, also weigh in on the scale and goals of foreign interference activities in Canada.

CBC News

@allthecanadianpolitics

There is an important distinction being made here that the foreign interference from China seeks to be pervasive by co-opting individuals, institutions, and community groups. The interest and influence is party agnostic and sees us in the Chinese diaspora as an entry point: whether in support of certain electoral and policy outcomes, controlling what information gets propagated into the communities, appropriating issues like discrimination and increasing distrust in our own systems and institutions, or directly and indirectly targeting people of interest.

***

It has been strongly implied in the recent reporting about Chinese interference in Canada that it has been a failing (if not to the benefit) of the Liberal government and Trudeau, rather than systematic attempts to influence Canadian politics and economics for decades coupled with our country’s complete underestimation of China and the United Front.

In my own experience the Chinese-Canadian media and political consumption has undergone an extreme shift into partisanship with clear pro-China and anti-China camps rather than aligning into our political parties.

The faltering of Hong Kong-based press, media, political freedom, and  ties with Taiwan and the greater diaspora community has seriously depleted any sort of moderate and critical voices in English or Chinese coming directly from the region, with writers and journalists re-immigrating or retreating from public view. 

Cold War rhetoric and posturing over Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, as well as exposed espionage and foreign interference operations is opening new fault lines within and directed at diaspora while deepening the isolation of the domestic Chinese population. 

The pop cultural center has moved with the economic affluence into the Mainland, catered to and directly influenced by a network of state-run broadcasters and private corporations ultimately answerable to the Chinese government. It can be difficult to engage with any of it as entertainment let alone to keep up with news without expending a lot of energy consuming it critically.

Tangentially but also related, many of Hong Kong’s pro-democratic political figures (the Hong Kong 47) that interacted with the outside and independent press or engaged other countries in the aftermath of the 2019-2020 protests and subsequent political organizing have been effectively silenced, charged, and/or jailed. They are only now being formally sentenced under the highly controversial Hong Kong national security law.

The political reverberations led to a postponed and then uncontested election for their legislative and executive body without any substantive opposition, the closure of multiple news organizations, civic rights groups and unions, the local polling institute, and the effective silencing of editorial independence at their public broadcaster.

Self-censorship and the chilling affect is extremely strong by those regions directly affected as well as the diaspora communities, out of fear or apathetic hopelessness it is eroding our ability to speak, associate, or engage with these issues freely no matter where we are.

[beardedmrbean]

OTTAWA — The capital of one of the world’s most stable democracies is gripped by growing panic about foreign agents working in elected office. A bombshell report by Canadian lawmakers has unnerved Parliament Hill, alleging that unnamed politicians have been covertly working with foreign governments.

The revelation in heavily redacted findings released this week by an all-party national security committee adds intrigue to a separate and ongoing inquiry into foreign interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 elections.

The new report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians is the first to suggest that lawmakers in Canada’s parliament may have helped foreign actors meddle in political campaigns and leadership races. Heightened anxiety in Ottawa about foreign interference comes in the middle of historic global elections where factors such as artificial intelligence and emboldened foreign powers are testing the resilience of democratic systems.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been on the defensive since the allegations broke Monday. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the government to name names.

“The national security committee indicates there are members of this House that have knowingly worked for foreign hostile governments,” Poilievre said Wednesday. “Canadians have a right to know who and what is the information — who are they?”

The findings put pressure on Canada's national police force to investigate potential criminal charges. The report also refuels debate on the ability of the federal government’s deterrence mechanisms to curb foreign interference in a country whose political and legal system is considered one of the highest-performing in the world.

The all-party NSICOP said Monday that it has reviewed intelligence that suggests “semi-witting or witting” parliamentarians have worked with foreign missions to mobilize voters during a political campaign; have taken cash “knowingly or through willful blindness” from foreign missions or their proxies; and have shared privileged information with foreign diplomatic officials.

The committee with top-security clearance said it based its findings on more than 4,000 documents and some 1,000 pieces of evidence. Its report said China remains the largest foreign interference threat to Canada with India the second.

The intelligence included a claim that unnamed parliamentarians are taking direction from unnamed diplomats to “improperly influence” their colleagues or parliamentary business to the benefit of a foreign state.

One of the most damaging lines in Monday’s report points out Canada’s failure to address long-standing challenges in how national security information can be used in criminal proceedings. The report says this is one reason why criminal charges for the potentially illegal activities are unlikely.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters Tuesday that she takes the issue seriously. She deflected when asked if Canadians have the right to know the identity of the parliamentarians involved.

“We should recognize this is a new time,” she said, adding that authoritarians want to undermine democracies by sowing public distrust in government.

Freeland would not commit to releasing names, nor did she agree that “sunlight” on the issue would benefit democracy. On Wednesday, after her Liberal party’s weekly caucus meeting, she ignored questions on the topic.

The Trudeau government called an inquiry into foreign interference in September in the wake of claims that the Chinese government helped mobilize voters against a Conservative candidate in western Canada and helped elect another as a Liberal in the Toronto area.

It tasked Justice Marie-Josée Hogue with investigating foreign interference and election meddling, a topic that has also captured the interest of U.S. Congress.

Last fall, Conservative MP Michael Chong appeared before the congressional-executive commission on China to testify about being targeted by Beijing because of his defense of Uyghur issues.

Chong discovered through media reports that a Chinese diplomat had been assigned to collect information on him and his family. Canada’s spy agency has warned other Canadian parliamentarians, including NDP MP Jenny Kwan, that they were also being surveilled by China.

An initial report released by Hogue last month observed that the government’s messy handling of foreign interference has undermined the public’s faith in Canadian democracy.

Hogue’s early findings stated that foreign interference did not significantly influence the 2019 or 2021 federal elections in a way that would have changed the fact that Trudeau’s Liberals won back-to-back minority governments.

The Conservatives were initially quiet about this week’s revelations, but on Wednesday Chong pressed the government to identify the parliamentarians alleged to have colluded with foreign state actors.

“We all know that no responsible government would reveal names under these types of confidential circumstances,” Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc responded on the floor of the House of Commons.

LeBlanc remained resolute Thursday against calls to release any names based on preliminary information.

“It's important for Canadians to understand that these names are contained in intelligence reports, in some cases, it's uncorroborated or unverified intelligence information,” he told a parliamentary committee studying foreign interference. “The idea that there's a perfect list of names that is entirely reliable that should be released to the public is simply irresponsible.”

David McGuinty, chair of the NSICOP, which published the buzzy redacted report, said the decision to publicize the names of lawmakers is outside of his control.

McGuinty and the nine other NSICOP members with top-secret security clearance are bound by Canada’s Security of Information Act and risk prosecution if they inadvertently reveal classified information, he said.

He wouldn’t say if he’s bothered by sitting in the same party caucus with potential abettors of foreign interference.

“I'm more concerned about the fact that now the government has to move forward on this,” McGuinty said.

[indizombie]

Indian officials, including Canada-based proxies, engage in a range of activities that seek to influence Canadian communities and politicians. These activities include foreign interference, which aims to align Canada’s position with India’s interests on key issues, particularly with respect to how the Indian Government perceives Canada-based supporters of an independent Sikh homeland (Khalistan)… India does not differentiate between lawful, pro-Khalistani political advocacy and the relatively small Canada-based Khalistani violent extremism. It views anyone aligned with Khalistani separatism as a seditious threat to India.

Interim report by Commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue, who is leading the independent public inquiry, found evidence of foreign interference in Canada’s last two federal elections in 2019 and 2021

[terriwriting]

Yesterday Justin Trudeau stated that Conservative “Parliamentarians” are engaged in foreign interference in Canadian elections. And many observers pointed out that it was a bit odd for our Head Of Government to drop a bomb like that and then refuse to give names due to an ongoing investigation, as it would call for seemingly rampant and harmful speculation. Which is what we’re going to do now. So here are our picks for the Conservative MPs who would make the funniest foreign agents.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A report newly tabled at the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference shows Canadian authorities have been monitoring bots and fake accounts linked to India’s governing party that have been observed interfering in Canada’s “digital information ecosystem,” including through coordinated harassment campaigns targeting Canadian activists, journalists and politicians.

According to a report by Rapid Response Mechanism Canada, a subsection of Global Affairs Canada set-up to monitor foreign disinformation, “pro-BJP” influencers and media outlets “worked in concert” and were linked to a network of “covert or automated accounts” on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube targeting an activist from Canada’s Sikh community.

The report notes the data was collected by the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensics Research Lab, which had been contracted by Global Affairs Canada. [...]

Coordinated targeting and online harassment of Sikhs in Canada has been well documented over the years, including misinformation campaigns by Indian nationalists. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

Notes from the poster @el-shab-hussein: Hm. I think this is a hate crime by proxy aimed at Jagmeet Singh. Like I think we shouldn't ignore the fact that Justin Trudeau was bolstered by a regime that is currently creating hate campaigns targetting people like Jagmeet Singh specifically for their faith. Specifically during election campaigns where he had to go up against Singh. I don't think this should be overlooked at all and I don't think it's a coincidence.

[newstfionline]

Saturday, May 6, 2023

Canada mulls expelling China diplomat for targeting lawmaker (AP) Canada’s foreign minister said Thursday the country is considering the expulsion of Chinese diplomats over an intelligence agency report saying one of them plotted to intimidate the Hong Kong relatives of a Canadian lawmaker. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said her department was summoning China’s ambassador to a meeting to underline that Canada won’t tolerate such interference. She said the intelligence agency report indicated that opposition Conservative lawmaker Michael Chong and his Hong Kong relatives were targeted after Chong criticized Beijing’s human rights record. “We’re assessing different options including the expulsion of diplomats,” Joly said before a Parliament committee. Many governments, the United Nations, and human rights groups accuse China of sweeping a million or more people from its Uyghur community and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minority groups into detention camps, where many have said they were tortured, sexually assaulted, and forced to abandon their language and religion. China denies the accusations, which are based on evidence including interviews with survivors and photos and satellite images from Uyghur’s home province of Xinjiang, a major hub for factories and farms in far western China.

Smaller Banks Are Scrambling as Share Prices Plunge (NYT) A cluster of regional banks scrambled on Thursday to convince the public of their financial soundness, even as their stock prices plunged and investors took bets on which might be the next to fall. The tumult brought questions about the future of the lenders to the fore, suggesting a new phase in the crisis that began two months ago with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and was punctuated on Monday by the seizure and sale of First Republic Bank. PacWest and Western Alliance were in the eye of the storm, despite the companies’ protestations that their finances were solid. PacWest’s shares lost 50 percent of their value on Thursday and Western Alliance fell 38 percent. Other midsize banks, including Zions and Comerica, also posted double-digit percentage declines. Unlike the banks that failed after depositors rushed to pull their money out, the lenders now under pressure have reported relatively stable deposit bases and don’t sit on mountains of soured loans. The most immediate threat the banks face, analysts said, is a crisis of confidence.

Oil boom starts to transform Guyana (AP) Villagers in this tiny coastal community lined up on the soggy grass, leaned into the microphone and shared what they wanted: a library, streetlights, school buses, homes, a grocery store, reliable electricity, wider roads and better bridges. “Please help us,” said Evadne Pellew-Fomundam—a 70-year-old who lives in Ann’s Grove, one of Guyana’s poorest communities—to the country’s prime minister and other officials who organized the meeting to hear people’s concerns and boost their party’s image ahead of municipal elections. The list of needs is long in this South American country of 791,000 people that is poised to become the world’s fourth-largest offshore oil producer, placing it ahead of Qatar, the United States, Mexico and Norway. The oil boom will generate billions of dollars for this largely impoverished nation. It’s also certain to spark bitter fights over how the wealth should be spent in a place where politics is sharply divided along ethnic lines: 29% of the population is of African descent and 40% of East Indian descent, from indentured servants brought to Guyana after slavery was abolished. Change is already visible. In the capital, Georgetown, buildings made of glass, steel and concrete rise above colonial-era wooden structures, with shuttered sash windows, that are slowly decaying.

Beyond King Charles (Washington Post) Though the British monarchy attracts the most global attention, there are wealthier, more powerful royals among the 28 monarchs around the world. Seventeen of them are kings. Margrethe II of Denmark is the only queen. The microstate of Andorra has co-princes, the president of France and a Spanish bishop. Japan has an emperor. Brunei and Oman have sultans. Liechtenstein and Monaco have princes. Qatar and Kuwait have emirs. Luxembourg has a grand duke. And the United Arab Emirates has a president, though he is a monarch. Although Charles is estimated to have a personal net worth between $750 million and $1.44 billion, others far surpass him. Leaders in Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Brunei are estimated to be worth well over $10 billion.

Italian foreign minister calls off Paris trip after French ‘insults’ (Reuters) Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called off a trip to Paris on Thursday, saying the French interior minister had offended Italy and its Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with unacceptable “insults”. Earlier, the French minister, Gerald Darmanin, told RMC radio that Meloni was “unable to solve the migration problems on which she was elected” and accused her of “lying” to voters that she could end a crisis over growing numbers of boat migrants. News of his comments came as Tajani was preparing to fly to Paris to see his French counterpart—a trip that was aimed partly at improving relations between the two European Union countries that have grown increasingly brittle. France swiftly issued a statement in which it sought to reassure Rome of its willingness to work closely with Italy, but it was not enough to persuade Tajani to catch his plane. It was the latest in a series of clashes between Paris and Rome since Meloni took office last October at the head of a nationalist, conservative government which has a very different world vision to that of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Kremlin accuses Washington of directing drone attack on Putin (Washington Post) The Kremlin spokesman on Thursday accused the United States of ordering what Moscow alleges was an assassination attempt on President Vladimir Putin with two drones that were sent to attack the Russian president’s official residence. “We know very well that decisions about such actions, about such terrorist attacks, are made not in Kyiv, but in Washington, and Kyiv does what it is told,” Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday. John Kirby, the spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, said Peskov “is just lying.”

Russian mercenary chief Prigozhin says his forces will leave Bakhmut next week (Reuters) Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia’s Wagner Group mercenary force, said in a sudden and dramatic announcement on Friday that his forces would leave the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut that they have been trying to capture since last summer. Prigozhin said they would pull back on May 10—ending their involvement in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war—because of heavy losses and inadequate ammunition supplies. He asked defence chiefs to insert regular army troops in their place. “I’m pulling Wagner units out of Bakhmut because in the absence of ammunition they’re doomed to perish senselessly,” Prigozhin said in a statement. Prigozhin has vented increasing anger at what he describes as lack of support from the Russian defence establishment. Earlier on Friday he appeared in a video surrounded by dozens of corpses he said were Wagner fighters, and yelling and swearing at Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov. He said they were to blame for Wagner’s losses because they had starved it of ammunition.

Earthquake-Proof, Not Corruption-Proof: Turkey’s Needless Deaths (NYT) The building began convulsing at 4:17 a.m. Firat Yayla was awake in bed, scrolling through videos on his phone. His mother was asleep down the hall. The region along Turkey’s border with Syria was known for earthquakes, but this apartment complex was new, built to withstand disaster. It was called Guclu Bahce, or Mighty Garden. Mr. Yayla’s own cousin had helped build it. He and his business partner had boasted that the complex could withstand even the most powerful tremor. So, as the earth heaved for more than a minute, Mr. Yayla, 21, and his 62-year-old mother, Sohret Guclu, a retired schoolteacher, remained inside. At that very moment, though, Mr. Yayla’s cousin, the developer, was leaping for safety from a second-story balcony. What Mr. Yayla and his mother had not known was that the system to ensure that buildings were safely constructed to code had been tainted by money and politics. A developer won zoning approval for the project after donating more than $200,000 to a local soccer club, where the mayor is an honorary president. The building inspector said that, even after the project had failed its inspection, the developers used political influence to get the doors open. The Feb. 6 earthquake revealed the shaky foundation on which so much growth was built. More than 50,000 people died as buildings toppled, crumbled or pancaked. Guclu Bahce, the mighty earthquake-proof complex, was among them. An estimated 65 people died there.

8 Are Dead in Shooting in Serbia, a Day After School Massacre (NYT) The Serbian police arrested a suspect early Friday after an hourslong overnight manhunt for a gunman who killed eight people and injured at least 14 others near Belgrade, according to Serbia’s Interior Ministry. The attack late Thursday was the nation’s second mass shooting in two days and rattled a country still reeling from an attack at a school that killed eight students and a security guard. Hundreds of police officers had gone door to door in the search for a 21-year-old male suspect, according to RTS, Serbia’s public broadcaster. They deployed helicopters and surrounded the area where they believed he was hiding, the report said. The gunman, who was in a moving vehicle, used an automatic weapon and fled the scene, according to RTS, which said the attack took place around Mladenovac, a municipality in the southern part of the capital, Belgrade.

Press group: China biggest global jailer of journalists (AP) China was the biggest global jailer of journalists last year with more than 100 behind bars, according to a press freedom group, as President Xi Jinping’s government tightened control over society. Xi’s government also was one of the biggest exporters of propaganda content, according to Reporters without Boarders. China ranked second to last on the group’s annual index of press freedom, behind only neighbor North Korea. The ruling Communist Party has tightened already strict controls on media in China, where all newspapers and broadcasters are state-owned. Websites and social media are required to enforce censorship that bans material that might spread opposition to one-party rule.

Israelis call out perks for ultra-Orthodox in latest protests (Washington Post) Israel’s protest movement, having forced the government to pause its attempt to overhaul the national judiciary system, pivoted to other targets in demonstrations across the country Thursday, including the exemption from military service and other special privileges long granted to the growing ultra-Orthodox community. Thousands marched for a “Day of Disruption to Demand Equality” focused on the unequal burdens of citizenship and status of the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredim as they are known in Israel. Ultra-Orthodox citizens are largely shielded from the country’s mandatory draft and educational standards and their families benefit from heavy public subsidies that allow boys and men to devote years to religious study instead of working and paying taxes in the mainstream economy. Demonstrators blocked roads, lined bridges and picketed the homes of cabinet members. While many still chanted against the judicial overhaul, which some ministers are seeking to revive, most focused on other concerns, including spiking inflation and rising crime. The anger against the special status of the Haredi has long been a dynamic in Israeli politics, but it has grown more intense as the community has ballooned to roughly 13 percent of Israel’s total population, making them the country’s fastest growing demographic.

Fighting rages in Khartoum, civilians complain of being forgotten (Reuters) Heavy gunfire echoed around Khartoum again on Friday as civilians trapped by fighting in the Sudanese capital said the army and rival paramilitary forces were ignoring their plight. “It’s been four days without electricity and our situation is difficult... We are the victims of a war that we aren’t a part of. No one cares about the citizen,” said Othman Hassan, 48, a resident of the southern outskirts of Khartoum. Despite multiple ceasefire declarations, the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) appeared to be battling each other for control of territory in the capital ahead of proposed talks. The sudden collapse into warfare has killed hundreds, triggered a humanitarian disaster, sent an exodus of refugees to neighbouring states and risks dragging in outside powers, further destabilising an already restive region.

[milfstalin]

full article text under readmore

CANADIAN INDIGENOUS GROUPS SEEK DEALS WITH CHINA DESPITE SECURITY FEARS

Canada’s indigenous communities are seeking deals with China that could give Beijing access to the country’s natural resources, despite warnings from Canadian security services over doing business with Xi Jinping’s government.

This week the Canada China Business Council indigenous trade mission is in Beijing to discuss potential energy and other business deals in a trip that could put Canada’s national “reconciliation” with its First Nation communities at odds with its national security priorities.

Karen Ogen, the trade mission’s co-chair and chief executive of the First Nations Liquefied Natural Gas Alliance, said her goal on the trip, which starts on Wednesday, was to sell LNG for the benefit of the Wet’suwet’en communities in Canada’s western province of British Columbia_._

“We’ve been oppressed and repressed by our own government,” she said. “I know the history with China is not good but we have an understanding of what we need and what they need.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to power in 2015 pledging to promote “economic reconciliation” with indigenous, or first nation, communities, which for decades saw their ancestral lands and resources exploited by European settlers and their culture belittled and attacked.

He committed to spend billions on business, economic and social programmes in an effort to reduce inequalities between indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians. The government also signed a number of land-sharing treaties with first nations communities giving them rights over the natural resources in their territories — subject to federal foreign investment rules.

Despite the pledges, many first nations communities remain socially and economically deprived. Earlier this year, a UN special rapporteur said Canada’s failure to provide First Nations reserves with clean drinking water and sanitation constituted a human rights violation.

China has spotted an opportunity in the sometimes fraught relations between Canada’s national and provincial governments and indigenous groups.

In 2021, shortly after Canada imposed sanctions on Beijing over the treatment of its Uyghur population, Chinese officials began to object to the “systemic violations of Indigenous people’s rights by the US, Canada and Australia” at the UN’s Human Rights Council.

“The PRC tries to undermine trust between Indigenous communities and Canada’s government by advancing a narrative that the PRC understands and empathises with the struggles of Indigenous communities stemming from colonialism and racism,” said a spokesperson for Canada’s security intelligence service.

A 2023 CSIS report accused China’s government of employing “grey zone, deceptive and clandestine means” to influence Canadian policymaking, including Indigenous communities.

“China knows how sensitive Indigenous reconciliation is to the Trudeau government,” said Phil Gurski, a former CSIS intelligence analyst.

Relations between Canada and China have deteriorated significantly in recent years. An official inquiry reported in May that China had directly meddled in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 elections and was “the most active foreign state actor engaged in interference” in the country. Ottawa’s 2022 Indo-Pacific strategy also described China as “increasingly disruptive”.

As a result, Canada’s policy towards Beijing is becoming more in line with that of the US, with Ottawa imposing tariffs on Chinese goods and forcing Chinese-owned social media company TikTok to close its Canadian office.

This realignment is expected to become even more important with the election of Donald Trump south of the border. “Canada would be expected to enforce harsher trade governance with China,” said Marc Ercolao, an economist with TD Bank.

But CSIS remains concerned over Beijing’s possible access to resource-rich areas or geopolitically important waterways and regions such as the Arctic through First Nations groups.

“It not only undermines the government but is a way to potentially embarrass them on Canada’s past,” said Gurski.

But Matt Vickers, from Sechelt Nations land in Canada’s western province of British Columbia, who first visited China in the 1990s and is part of the CCBC delegation heading to Beijing this week, rejected the concerns of the security services.

“China now understands that for any major project to receive approval in Canada, you need First Nation consent, and not only consent but the First Nations require a majority equity play in those projects,” he said.

The CCBC is a bipartisan organisation consisting of Canada’s biggest companies, including Power Corp, which is the main sponsor of the Indigenous event.

This week’s trip marks the third time a group of Indigenous officials has travelled with the council to China in an effort to identify export markets, sources of capital and potential tourism projects.

“These missions have been developed in the spirit of reconciliation and collaboration, to help delegates better understand how China’s economy and economic development influences its desire for imports and investment opportunities,” said Sarah Kutulakos, executive director of the CCBC.

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa declined to comment on CSIS’s security concerns over deals with First Nations communities but said: “We are pleased to see Canadians from all walks of life, including Indigenous Canadians, proactively engage in pragmatic co-operation with China.”

Deteriorating relations between Ottawa and Beijing meant this year’s CCBC meeting would likely be “sombre”, said former Canadian ambassador to China Guy Saint-Jacques.

First Nations leaders should have “very limited expectations” from the trip. “I don’t expect big business coming out of it,” he said.

But Ogen, of the First Nations LNG Alliance, said she would put the controversy surrounding the trip to Beijing aside. “I . . . look at the global energy sector, China’s need for our gas, and how I can make the best deal for my people,” she said.

ok ppl are saying this is funny as in "fuck around and find out" but completely honestly this could be laying the groundwork for more advanced warfare between canada and its first nations in the 21st century. like the fact that first nations are finding political alliances outside of major western powers at the express disapproval of the settler government is a big deal. am i the only one seeing how this is a big deal

[chloeworships]

Canadians may take out their “revenge” against Trump and Elon for the comments they made about Canada and not vote conservative ❌ Many Canadians are deeply offended and appalled by their comments, on either side of the aisle and, with them trying to destabilize our economy by threatening us with tariffs 🇨🇦

I was shown the words

“PISSED OFF” 👀

This is a revelation I received from the LORD.

✅ Also please understand, on social media there is a targeted campaign by foreign adversaries to promote pro-conservative views and accounts as well as anti-Israel and anti-Ukraine rhetoric and propaganda. Are you waking up now? The traffic, views and likes are not genuine. Remember these? 👇🏾People are being paid to make comments all day.

Social media and tech companies need to be careful and crack down on this to avoid potential costly investigations of being seen as taking part in foreign interference which can come with a heavy fine or jail sentences.

This is another reason why God said “hold ya peace”. Trump and Elon’s words could cost the cons the election 🗳️ so maybe having a snap election right now in -5 weather just might be ideal considering Canadians are mad as hell and we have a longggggggggggggggg memory lol 🙂

Our nation is deeply hurt by the comments of our most trusted ally. We see that as a betrayal

Remember this prophetic word? 👇🏾

Ppl are not looking favourable on billionaires and CEO’s right now, if you haven’t noticed, since the US elections and the CEO murder. Read the room babes. You’re all intelligent

🤓

I’m sorry to say but based on what God is showing me, Canadians 🇨🇦 will not forget those mean words considering how much we value our relationship with the Americans 🇺🇸 Trump had many Canadian “fans” up until now. They deserve an apology. If they keep up the insults, it will derail the conservatives campaign.

I tried to remind everyone that Canadians are just as patriotic as the Kings of the South aka the Americans 🇺🇸

And you know who’s also deeply offended? The Chinese 🇨🇳 but that’s all I’ll say. They are worse and never forgive a slight just like how the Iranian’s feel when you mock the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him). Not good babes, not good.

Let God confirm this prophetic word to you all.

God bless you.