CACN Committee Report

Supplement to the report titled, “A Threat to Canadian Sovereignty: National Security Dimensions of the Canada-People’s Republic of China Relationship”

Conservative members of the Special Committee on the Canada-People’s Republic of China Relationship support the report and its recommendations. We would, however, like to include additional comments not included in the report.

With respect to Recommendation 9, we believe the Government of Canada should clearly advise provinces and education institutions of higher learning against entering into agreements with Confucius Institutes. Evidence provided to the committee indicated that Confucius Institutes serve as a platform for the PRC to spread CCP ideology, to control Chinese international students on university campuses and to serve as a platform for espionage. Additionally, Confucius Institute funding comes from the Institute’s head office in Beijing.

With respect to Recommendation 10, we believe an additional recommendation is necessary. The Critical Election Incident Public Protocol should be amended so that the decision to release information during a general election is made by an authority independent of the Prime Minister. Currently, the decision to release information during an election is made by individuals who are appointed by and accountable to the Prime Minister. This creates an inherent conflict of interest during a federal election where a decision regarding the release of information is required – information that may be advantageous or injurious to the various political parties and candidates.

With respect to recommendation 24, we fully support this recommendation, but would like to provide additional detail in support. We believe the Government of Canada should create a single national beneficial ownership registry under federal criminal law power which would include not only corporations created under the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA), but also corporations created under provincial statutes and real estate. This would ensure that all corporations and all real estate in Canada are captured by the registry. The government's proposed registry would only mandate that entities incorporated under the CBCA be included. This would only capture about 10 percent of the approximately 4.3 million businesses that exist in Canada. Furthermore, not all provinces have put in place registries clearly listing ownership in corporations created under provincial legislation. Thus, as it currently stands, there are gaps in the federal government's approach to a registry that could be exploited by corporations and individuals.