The Beijing-Mark Carney Mutual Admiration Society

"This content has been amplified in a co-ordinated and inauthentic way. This information operation had contrasting positive and negative narratives, first amplifying Mr. Carney's stance with the United States and then targeting his experience and credentials."

"The SITE Task Force assesses that the foreign state-backed information operation was intended to influence Canadian Chinese communities and look to mould perceptions [about Carney]."

"At this time, the panel has determined that this is not affecting Canada's ability to have a free and fair election."

"This case is contained to one platform and has not spread further, nor is it affecting Canadians' abilities to make informed decisions about their vote."

"The PRC [People's Republic of China] should not be trying to shape the opinions of Canadians, especially during an election period."

PCO (Privy Council Office) assistant secretary for communications Laurie-Anne Kempton

 

"They know that for a decade the Liberals have turned a blind eye to Beijing's interference in Canada's democracy."

"They know that the Liberals have stood by as Beijing interfered in our democracy, targeted and harassed our citizens, and threatened Canada's interests at home and abroad."

Conservative candidate Michael Chong 

 

"[The point of sharing the information with the public is not about whether the campaign was pro- or anti-Carney but] to be clear with Canadians that the account that made these posts is linked to the People’s Republic of China, and the Communist party in particular."

"Our intelligence has [shown] there is a concerted effort within an entity in the Communist party to spread and manipulate the narrative Canadians are seeing."

"We should all keep in mind that a hallmark of democracy is to be able to have such a debate during the election period, and it is to Canadians to have that debate unfettered by the influence of a foreign state."
Vanessa Lloyd, deputy director, operations, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and chair SITE Task Force

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at the Victoria Edelweiss Club during his Liberal Party election campaign tour in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada April 6, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Light

That Beijing is interfering in this latest federal election campaign should come as no surprise to anyone, since this is simply a repeat performance. Chinese agents were busy in previous elections, using Chinese-language media aimed at Chinese-Canadian expatriates from Mainland China to mark out candidates -- mostly Chinese-Canadians from Hong Kong who are critical of Beijing -- in an effort to persuade against their electoral success. Michael Chong, as a Conservative MP, had that experience and he was by no means alone in Beijing challenging his electoral success.

 

Aside from which, as a candidate for the prime ministership in the upcoming April 28 general election, Mr. Carney has his very own Chinese-experience baggage. Most of the Liberal Party elites, from Jean Chretien to Justin Trudeau have been focused on doing business with China -- and to that end, the pot at the end of the rainbow, a free trade deal, still elusive -- spurred them to do their utmost to shield Beijing from criticism over its heavy-handed intrusions into Canadian sovereignty, from buying up major stakes in Canada's energy sector and rare earth materials to funding China-friendly academics in Canadian universities.

 

Mark Carney's private sector employment with Brookfield Asset Management saw him negotiating deals with senior Chinese authorities, inclusive of directly meeting with President Xi Jinping in ingratiating overtures in the promotion of trade. Mr. Carney succeeded in persuading the state-controlled Bank of China to extend a hefty $276-million loan for Brookfield Asset Management. Like all the Liberal elite overlooking Beijing's human rights abuses while currying favour for special benefits with Beijing in the interests of lucrative agreements.

 

Liberal leader Mark Carney and his wife Diana Fox Carney arrive in Victoria, B.C., during a campaign stop on Sunday, April 6, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

 

Recent revelations that the Youli-Youmian popular Chinese-language account on the WeChat Chinese social media platform featured posts about Carney that presented him as a generally-Beijing-positive Canadian government leader, one whose governance would clearly continue to be friendly to the CCP, unlike the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre. The Youli-Youmian account posts gain traction at a peculiarly quick pace with 85,00 and up to 130,000 interactions, along with an estimated  one to three million views. That could be a lot of active users and it could also feature a lot of bots.

 

As a result of the pace of that activity, Canada's Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) was alerted and when analyzing the situation discovered an information campaign led by the People's Republic of China. SITE, in turn alerted the Privy Council Office. And although SITE warned the public to be aware of manipulation in information promulgated among Chinese-Canadians, they forbore from spelling out what they felt China's intention with the campaign would be. Other than to mention an earlier targeting of Conservative MP Michael Chong in 2023. 

"[The posts on Carney appear] loosely positive [but not a] full-throated endorsement [clearly to support the Liberal leader]."

"It could be that they're trying to support Carney. It could be that they're just testing the waters."

"And then the third thing could be that this is something that they felt sent a message that perhaps is just not clear to us."

"Because, I want to be very clear here, they [Chinese Communist Party] don't always understand democracy."

Former national security analyst Stephanie Carvin

Liberal Leader Mark Carney speaks during a campaign rally at the Metropolitan Centre in Toronto on April 4, 2025. pm