OTTAWA — As British Columbia heads toward an October 24 snap election, I spoke with Jason James about something I believe is missing from much of the political analysis: the documented history of Chinese foreign interference in the province, and the unanswered questions surrounding Premier David Eby.
My reporting at The Bureau has repeatedly examined intelligence concerning Beijing’s efforts to influence political contests in British Columbia—from Vancouver municipal elections to federal and provincial politics.
One particularly sensitive Canadian Security Intelligence Service document I obtained, classified Canadian Eyes Only, describes a Chinese consular contact arranging a discreet meeting in a Canada-based consulate, with a candidate seeking the leadership of a provincial political party in 2022. The candidate, identified only as “CA3,” was expected to enter through a side entrance.
In November 2023, I wrote:
The report’s chief allegation – Chinese officials arranged in June 2022 to surreptitiously meet an elected provincial official only identified as “CA3” — suggests CSIS monitored a particular candidate in Alberta or British Columbia.
This is because the B.C. NDP and Alberta United Conservatives were the only provincial parties reportedly selecting leaders in the June to October 2022 timeframe described by the Intelligence Assessment. Canada hosts four Chinese Consulates, in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.
The document does not name Eby, who won the BC NDP leadership that year. When I put its contents to his office, it strongly denied any involvement in such a meeting or anything untoward. I have not established CA3’s identity, and the intelligence does not prove Eby was involved. But for me, the question remains unresolved—and it hangs over his decision to call a snap election.
The same intelligence document describes three community organizations acting as proxies to support a candidate in a 2022 mayoral election, as well as efforts to influence the federal Conservative leadership contest that year.
In this podcast, I tell James that all three alleged operations could have been run through networks connected to the Chinese consulate in Vancouver. While this has not been proven, and CSIS has never publicly confirmed such a connection, I explain why I consider it plausible. The intensity of Beijing’s influence networks in British Columbia, together with other documented CSIS concerns—including those involving the current municipal contest in Richmond, as I have previously reported—strengthens that assessment, in my view.
And there are other questions surrounding Eby’s government.
In recent reporting, The Bureau examined heavily redacted Public Safety Canada records identifying national security concerns involving BC Ferries’ plans to purchase new vessels from a Chinese shipyard, backed by $1 billion in federal financing. The records flag the vessels’ proximity to sensitive Canadian military and signals intelligence facilities, as well as their importance to British Columbia’s supply chains.
In my conversation with James, I explained why these previously documented cases matter as British Columbians prepare to vote—and why any serious examination of the province’s political upheaval should consider the established record of foreign interference without assuming that every political controversy is evidence of Beijing’s involvement.
In my November 2023 story, I also interviewed former Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart about intelligence pointing to municipal politics in the city.
I wrote:
Under the heading “Community Networks” the October 2022 Intelligence Assessment explains Beijing’s interference is woven throughout Canadian democracy in hidden social webs consisting of Consular officials, “leaders of local Chinese Canadian community groups,” political staffers and targeted “political candidates/officials themselves.”
This system “enables an adaptable, resilient approach to extending and enabling PRC covert influence,” the document says, adding “the role played by each component varies by location and campaign.”
It continues, saying “CSIS intelligence from November 2021 and late April/early May 2022,” found a People’s Republic Consulate was “clandestinely supporting a particular mayoral candidate” in an upcoming municipal election.
“The Consulate has mobilized the leadership of three co-opted Chinese Canadian community groups to provide material and financial support for this candidate,” the Intelligence Assessment says.
“It is noteworthy that the PRC Consulate supported this same mayoral candidate in the 2018 municipal election, and used the same community groups to clandestinely channel this support.”
“I don’t know if this interference, which I am now almost certain occurred, was enough to tip the balance in 2022,” Kennedy Stewart responded, in 2023. “But it looks like it almost worked in 2018 too, which is shocking.”
More recently, as The Bureau has reported, Stewart has disclosed he received further information from federal lawyers about alleged Chinese interference against his campaigns in Vancouver. Stewart asserts that he also confirmed with governmental sources that Premier David Eby is aware of an investigation into one of Eby’s cabinet members, in connection with allegations of Chinese interference.
“It’s come to my attention and I’ve reported it and in fact was interviewed for about four hours by lawyers working for the federal government about a B.C. cabinet minister under investigation for collaborating with the Chinese government,” Stewart told Global News anchor Jas Johal, a former Beijing-based reporter for the network.
Stewart has not disclosed the identity of the elected official, citing his concern about lawsuits. Stewart told podcaster Aarron Pete that he isn’t convinced by Eby’s response to questions about the alleged case.
Pete told Stewart he had put the allegation directly to Eby when the premier appeared on the program. “He says neither CSIS nor the RCMP have raised concerns with him about his cabinet or his caucus,” Pete said. “How do you interact with that claim? Do you think that that’s true? What’s going on here?”
Stewart’s answer was that Eby is a lawyer, and should be read like one.
“I would listen very carefully to what lawyers say to you,” Stewart said, “because they’re going to phrase it in a way that’s not confirm or deny without saying anything.” He continued: “when you say, ‘I have not been briefed by CSIS or the RCMP about this,’ full stop, it doesn’t mean [Eby] doesn’t know.”
In my discussion with Jason James, for American listeners, I offered a comparison: the political stakes in British Columbia are comparable to those in California, given the province’s strategic geography, Pacific trade routes and national security significance.
And this conversation came just days before an explosive new alleged Chinese intelligence case emerged in California, where the FBI arrested Irvine real estate agent Wanying “Heather” Zhang, accusing her of secretly working for Beijing to surveil the U.S.-based son of Taiwan’s president and his family. Federal investigators allege Zhang collected photographs, video and vehicle information for Chinese government officials. The case raises further questions about the reach of Beijing’s intelligence operations across North America.
