URAP Statement on Globe and Mail Article - EX-RCMP SPY FOR CCP

Yesterday, the Globe and Mail published an article entitled “Former Mountie targeted B.C. real estate tycoon for China, RCMP allege,”  claiming the ex-employee of the law enforcing agency  “…. used contacts and expertise to help the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS) in support of its Operation Fox Hunt and Operation SkyNet projects.”

Allegations made in the article raise serious questions about increasingly hostile acts by China to conduct spy operations on Canadian soil. It brings to attention the RCMP’s inability to protect and safeguard Canadians and our national security interests.

These possible failures are especially disconcerting to exiled members of the Uyghur community that have been targeted in Canada. The article explains that this ex-RCMP officer was tasked by the PRC to gather information on the World Uyghur Congress “…including schedules of meetings, events and financial status.”

The Chinese state-led campaign of intimidation and harassment of Uyghur-Canadians is a well-known public secret. For years, if not decades, community members have been sounding the alarm on these activities. Last year, URAP published our findings entitled “Intended and Unending – a report on China’s transnational Harassment and Intimidation Campaign against Uyghur-Canadians.”

URAP’s Executive Director, Mehmet Tohti, stated “Uyghur-Canadian activists alerted the government of Canada and Parliament about the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] infiltration [attempts] into our government to silence Uyghur activists and their lawful activism for decades and asked the authorities to clean up to secure our national security and the safety of Uyghur Canadians.”

URAP calls for the expediate adaptation of FIRA (Foreign Influence Registry Act) or similar legislation in order to provide our law-enforcing agencies an effective tool to combat the increasingly hostile behaviour of the Chinese Communist Party on Canadian soil. We call for the immediate launch of the Public Inquiry on Foreign Interference in the Canadian elections of 2019 and 2021 without further delay.

URAP reiterates these calls once more and asks the GOC [Government of Canada] to enact strict measures to safeguard the rights of Uyghur activists in Canada.