Want racism? Want fear? Stall a Canadian foreign agent registry.

Canada is descending into a cesspool of McCarthyesque-driven hate. We have to stop it.

In the latest Canadian census, nearly 20% of the population within the federal electoral district I represent claimed Chinese ethnic heritage. They have built Alberta's economy, positively influenced its culture, and are leaders in our government.

Over the years, I have met thousands of members from that community. Many of my campaign supporters are from that community, as are several of my mentors and voices that have provided sage words during my time in office. 

I've also had to address many matters brought to my attention by members of the community. As with any issue that uniquely impacts any diaspora community, I've always attempted to place the safety of Canadians and our country's sovereign interests at the front of the debate - hearing out all points of view while standing resolute in certain principles and making progress while attempting to cool tensions. I'd like to think that, for the most part, this approach has been productive. The entire time I've served in office, I have never seriously wondered if the goals or motivations of any person I've interacted with on these matters were anything other than to build a stronger Canada. 

That changed on Monday.

About halfway through Bob Fife and Steven Chase's alarming and most recent article outlining the depth of egregiousness of Beijing's political influence operations within Canada was this paragraph:

"To win favour with the Conservatives, CSIS said China's Calgary consulate tried to use a third party to influence a prominent Conservative MP, and similar attempts were made with senior party officials in Ottawa and Montreal. CSIS did not name the third party or the Conservatives approached on Beijing's behest."

As I read this I wondered, "oh my God……did they try to do this to me?". 

My mind immediately started leafing through innumerable conversations I've had over the years on policy issues related to the government in Beijing. Was anyone I spoke with acting on their behalf? 

Then came anger - boiling and white hot - and shame. 

I had begun to profile some of my own constituents and community members. The seeds of doubt these questions that article raised had placed in my heart bear suspicion, division, and ultimately, discrimination and hate - the exact things my community entrusts me to defend them against. 

Knowing how incredibly wrong that path is and how important it is that I don't walk down it, I now realize how few tools I have to address this situation. Frankly, I've always (reasonably) assumed our various law enforcement agencies were preemptively handling these matters and that if there was a problem, I would be notified - which has never happened. I certainly would never have assumed that the government in Beijing's influence was as pervasive as has been described by whistleblowers talking to the Globe and Mail and Global News over the last few months. 

Perhaps more accurately, I never assumed that Canada's government and its agencies might have known about this and done so little to stop it.

The reality is I have no idea if the line the Fife article referred to me, and I’m not sure I have any way of ever finding out. With no foreign agent registry and no apparent proactivity from our government, how could I determine if someone was attempting to influence me on behalf of another government? 

Does our federal government actually expect me to profile members of my riding, or simply act like nothing is wrong? 

I refuse to review every interaction I've ever had or will have on matters of import to my community through a McCarthyist lens simply because our country has a woefully inadequate system to prevent foreign interference. That is precisely what Canada's foes want to happen. But I also refuse to proceed unarmed in a hostile geopolitical reality in a fight to protect myself, my team, and my community against foreign influence.

And that is why - on top of the threats against my colleague Michael Chong and an untold number of other Canadian citizens - it's beyond urgent that the government immediately put in place a foreign agent registry, expel diplomats who are responsible for coercing Canadian citizens, and crack down on foreign "police stations."

But the bottom line is that now, with almost daily leaks happening from Canada's security agencies, each worse than the next, unless the government takes immediate steps to place clear, transparent guardrails around what foreign agents can and cannot do - and then vigorously enforce those rules - I am convinced our country will rapidly descend into a McCarthyesque cesspool of racially motivated fear. 

That people within Canada's security agencies are willing to risk imprisonment to leak their concerns is sending a clear message that this is a direct attack on Canadian sovereignty, and that the system that should protect Canadians is broken.

There is a way to fix it.

There are clear guidelines in other areas on how certain persons can interact with federal legislators and political candidates. Corporate lobbyists, for example, are subject to extensive rules which limit how they can contact Members of Parliament and their staff. Their political activities are limited, and there is a public list of who they are. Most importantly, there are very real consequences for those who break those rules.

There is no similar structure for foreign agents. However, knowing what we now know about threats to our country, it is unfathomable that Canada places stricter requirements on corporate lobbyists than on agents of foreign governments.

Suppose the status quo is allowed to continue. In that case, I am confident there will be more doubt and suspicion cast among members of the Chinese community in Canada, precisely as another Member of Parliament did today. There will also be increasingly desperate attempts to coerce and control our citizens and our political process. That path places Canadian citizens in danger within their own country and leads to overt racism, violence, and the erosion of Canadian sovereignty. 

I say this without hyperbole - this is a national crisis.

The government cannot continue to blame the current state of affairs on government departments, as they did today. The buck stops with them because these departments report to them. They also cannot blame inaction on the need for diplomacy. The recent allegations that have come to light regarding the government in Beijing’s actions suggest that they have no intention of acting with honour in their relations in Canada. 

In all my time in office, all my interactions with foreign diplomats, and in any discussion on issues related to foreign policy or any diaspora community, I have never thought to consider that myself or my staff could face ramifications from another government within our own country for our decisions, via Canadian citizens. 

I have never felt like my community was on the precipice of a witch hunt that could inflame racial tensions and rip our communities apart.

The fact that has changed should keep every Canadian awake at night, as it does for me.