Chinese Communist Party infiltrated Doug Ford Conservatives, Trudeau Liberals: sources

A covert Chinese Communist Party network allegedly directed by China's Toronto consulate during the 2019 federal election reportedly directed a member of the Ontario legislature, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

Vincent Ke, a Progressive Conservative member of Premier Doug Ford's government since 2018, allegedly acted as a financial intermediary for the CCP, according to two separate intelligence reports by the Privy Council Office. Ke is alleged to have received around $50,000, part of a larger disbursement of approximately $250,000 channeled through several intermediaries. Ke has denied the allegations.


 

Sources told Global News they were provided to the Prime Minister’s Office four months after the 2019 federal election advanced similar intelligence about the financing. "Community leaders facilitate the clandestine transfer of funds and recruit potential targets," the 2020 memo said.

The sources said that the covert funding scheme included funds of about $250,000 through a Toronto-based businessman Wei Chengyi, as well as a pro-Chinacommunity group named the Confederation of Toronto Chinese-Canadian Organizations, through an aide to a federal candidate running for the 2019 election. The aide allegedly provided about $50,000 of that sum to Ke.

Ke is the latest Canadian politician to be accused of being connected to Chinese Communists. Two weeks ago, Liberal MP Han Dong was accused of being connected to the CCP. It was also alleged that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ignored advice from CSIS that Dong was potentially connected to the CCP  Both Ke and Dong represent Don Valley North, one federally and one provincially.

In response to the accusations, Trudeau announced that he would appoint an "Independent special rapporteur," who will review the previous elections to ensure that democracy was not interfered with. 

Trudeau then announced that $5.5 million would be invested to "build capacity of civil society organizations to combat disinformation," adding that "disinformation often generated abroad can be a real threat to our elections, and it's a threat that the federal government cannot combat alone."