Chinese Canadian National Council issues statement on CSIS director's comments

by The Georgia Straight Staff on July 2nd, 2010 at 11:19 AM

Chinese Canadian National Council chair Sid Chow Tan issued the following statement today (July 2) in response to comments by Canadian Security Intelligence Service director Richard Fadden:

I want to first acknowledge the Coast Salish people on whose traditional territory we are meeting today.

The Chinese in Canada have had a continuous community history since 1858. Chinese workers helped to complete the railroad to unite this country 125 years ago this year. Yet, the early Chinese communities were subjected to overtly racist laws and experienced tremendous hardships. The yellow peril fear and suspicion was continuously reinforced in the public’s mind by public officials and newspaper editors to justify the harsh treatment.

Today we live in a multicultural society. We have the Charter, a more open immigration policy and about 1.5 million Chinese Canadians fully participating in nation building. We’ve come a long way from those dark days. Or have we?

Last week, CSIS Director Richard Fadden’s remarks on CBC stigmatize our entire community. He suggested that foreign governments were recruiting agents from the community. He specifically alleged that public servants, municipal politicians and two provincial Cabinet Ministers were being influenced by these agents. He then tried to retract his statements saying “CSIS has not deemed the cases to be of sufficient concern.”

CCNC is concerned. Mr. Fadden’s CBC comments and his post-interview statements are contradictory and harmful. If his original allegations are true he should be investigating and advising the relevant authorities and not making these allegations public.

To be clear, the CCNC fully supports CSIS and our security agencies in protecting the safety of Canadians. However, if Mr. Fadden chooses to make public comments about investigations, he should direct his allegations at specific groups and individuals.

Instead, his remarks, which were partially retracted, serve to stigmatize our entire community and specifically cast a shadow over public servants, municipal officials and provincial Cabinet Ministers.

He needs to be accountable for this. We will be monitoring the Parliamentary hearing on Monday to hear Mr. Fadden’s explanation.

CCNC and all Canadians would be concerned that foreign governments are recruiting agents and influencing our public servants and elected officials. It is time that all levels of Government adopt a process of full disclosure by all public officials to report all lobbying efforts by foreign interests to ensure greater transparency and accountability.

Our position is that CSIS needs to take the appropriate actions and investigate where warranted. However, CSIS must also be fully accountable for its public statements.

Comments

15 Comments

John Strohmann

Jul 2, 2010 at 12:09pm

Bear in mind that members of the CHINESE COMMUNITY have also alleged that there is PRC infiltration of local, Provincial and even Federal levels of government:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/38079/

Mike Grant

Jul 2, 2010 at 3:36pm

In a situation like this what's often more interesting then the accusations is who jumps highest.

Rudy Haugeneder

Jul 3, 2010 at 9:49am

Fadden did Canadians a service by pointing out that too many Canadian politicians are effectively on other countries' dole, says a columnist with a major newspaper.
I agree. And this must stop.

So Sad

Jul 3, 2010 at 12:16pm

Is Sid Canadian, or is he Chinese? As long as people like Sid Tan continue to push ethnic politics nothing will ever change.

LOL

Jul 3, 2010 at 12:58pm

Not a big fan of the idea that our politics and decisions implemented here are influenced by foreign interests.

I support a complete probe into this matter 100%.

I also like the fact that Fadden had the balls to say what needed to be said.

romeogolf

Jul 3, 2010 at 1:21pm

So Sad, your comments are blatantly ignorant. Perhaps you are unaware of what happened to Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry during World War II or how long it took the Chinese to gain all the rights of citizenship that today we take for granted.

The CSIS director's comments were sufficiently vague to bring the loyalties of an entire ethnic group into question. That is unacceptable, especially when other countries that are also engaged in espionage and related activities, including our allies, were not mentioned. Rather than impugn a large group of people with absolutely no evidence of a broad conspiracy, individual cases should be dealt with on that level.

With respect to Haugeneder's comments, the influence of foreign governments pales in comparison to that of corporations. That corruption also extends to mainstream media.

OK, but

Jul 3, 2010 at 8:38pm

1. The china is a fascist state with one political party and sooner or later this would turn out to be like many fascist states in the history. The only difference is it would spread annihilation never witnessed before.

2. The china is the only country in the world where forming a political party is punishable, sometimes by death.

3. In China, protest against the government is outright illegal and punishable by death. This excercise was witnessed by the world in Tinamen Square protest.

4. China has the strictest control on the media in the world. You cannot open BBC website in China. China even demanded Google to erase all results of 'Tinanmen Square Protests' from its search engine. It demanded Microsoft to install 'Curbing and Controlling devices' in all computers manufactured for China.

5. China has the worst cases of racism, aparthied, oppression of rural workers, strictly anti religious to the point that communist party members are required to be atheists.

6. China has consistently supported all human rights abusers, dictators, tyrannts and sworn enemies of democracy in the world, for example Robert Mogabe, Military Junta in Burma, Iran, Hugo Chaves etc.

So Sad

Jul 3, 2010 at 9:15pm

Perhaps romeogolf should look into lobbying efforts by organizations representing Canadian citizens of Chinese ancestry supporting the internment of Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry in WW2; you will be surprised what you will find.

Can't we just have a CANADIAN community without all the racist garbage the politically correct shove down our throats? My wife, born in Hong Kong, agrees.

romeogolf

Jul 3, 2010 at 10:26pm

@OK, but
Everything you have written is largely irrelevant or complete hyperbole. The point is distinguishing between whom is loyal to Canada and whom isn't. The Canadian government made a serious error with Canadian citizens of Japanese descent in 1941, something that was not duplicated with Canadians of German or Italian descent. To add insult to robbery, at the end of the war, those interred were urged to go to Japan, a country many had never even set foot on. The racism of that is rather blatant.

If you think China is the only government engaged in espionage here, you are naive. Nevertheless, the threat China represents to Canada pales in comparison to the creeping fascism within our own country.