The comment comes after Global News reported Monday that Canadian intelligence officials warned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that China was allegedly targeting Canada with a massive foreign interference campaign that included funding a secret network of at least 11 federal candidates who would run the 2019 elections. .

		Read more: Canadian intelligence warns PM Trudeau that China secretly funded 2019 election candidates: Sources 		
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			Canadian intelligence agencies warn PM Trudeau that China secretly funded 2019 election candidates: Sources

The “goal” of foreign interference campaigns — as well as other forms of pressure, such as the arbitrary detention of two Canadians last year — is to “reduce our autonomy,” David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said in an interview. with West Block’s Mercedes Stephenson, which aired on Sunday. Story continues below ad China wants to “make us much more likely to look over our shoulders, to check in with China, to exempt China from things that should apply to China.” “The risk to Canada is significant and I don’t think the government has accepted that and I don’t think they’re willing to act,” Mulroney said. 2:05 Trudeau government signals tougher stance on China after alleged election meddling The Canadian government has hardened its tone on China in the past week. Speaking Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly assured Canadians that the government “will do more to address foreign interference.” “We will not let any foreign agent interfere in our democracy. Period,” he said. As part of that effort, he said the government would invest “in deepening our understanding of how China thinks, works and plans. How does it influence the region and around the world.” Story continues below ad Key embassies in Canada’s network will have “dedicated experts,” Joly said, to deepen the government’s understanding of China’s goals and challenges. Current trend

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“This will be the focus of our diplomatic effort,” he said.

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The issue of Chinese interference has been growing in Canada, according to Mulroney, “for two decades.” “CSIS brings out report after report about Chinese interference operations, Chinese efforts to cultivate elites in politics, academia, journalism, and funneling money into Canadian election campaigns,” he said. But the latest report is “stunning” because of the “size, ambition and complexity” of the described interference effort. Mulroney was not alone in this interpretation of the latest allegations of Chinese interference. “I don’t think this is immediately surprising in the sense that China is conducting foreign intervention operations in Canada,” Akshay Singh, a scholar of international affairs at the Council on International Policy, said in a panel on The West Block with Mulroney. “I think what’s new about these allegations is the depth of what’s going on and the extent to which they’re actually happening in the country.” Story continues below ad It is “amazing” that China was allegedly able to carry out this attempted interference in 11 different election campaigns, Mulroney said. But what the former ambassador said he found “most troubling” was Global News’ report that China was investigating Canadian lawmakers who criticized China’s human rights abuses against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang. The allegation, contained in the CSIS briefing, related to a key vote in the House of Commons in February 2021 in which members would either support or reject a United Nations resolution declaring China’s treatment of the Uyghurs as genocide . 1:18 “Worrying” that Trudeau knew about possible Chinese interference in the election but did not act: Poilievre Intelligence agencies claimed that, after the House vote, Chinese agents conducted in-depth background checks on lawmakers who voted for the resolution, which passed with 266 votes to none. The Liberal cabinet abstained from the vote. Story continues below ad

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Agents studied the ridings of specific, targeted lawmakers to learn which industries and companies were present and whether those companies had financial ties to China. The aim was to gauge whether China could tap the local economies of Canadian politicians seen as enemies of the CCP, the sources said. “It’s scary because it probably works, in some cases,” Mulroney said. “I think we need to take a very deep, deep look at what China is doing to jeopardize our autonomy as a country, our ability to operate independently.” — with files from Global News’ Sam Cooper © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.