Opinions

Alexander Csergo, accused of ‘reckless foreign interference’, is being held in a top-security jail cell in Australia. His case is a ‘show trial’, his lawyer says, which reflects ‘an absolute hypocrisy in our approach to doing business with China’. by Su-Lin Tan The Australian businessman arrested in Sydney last month on the criminal charge of […]

In March 2023, Public Safety initiated public consultations on the merits of a Foreign Influence Transparency Registry. The following are my submissions to this consultation process. My recommendations are informed by reports from CSIS on foreign interference, as well as reporting by advocacy groups like Alliance Canada Hong Kong. It also incorporates Canada’s constitutional jurisprudence

In a recent column, Rex Murphy asks some important questions about racism in Canada. Among others, he asks “How much are racism and discrimination actually ‘a part of the Canadian reality’? Are they overwhelmingly present? Are they … a central part of Canadian life?”. It would appear that these are posed as rhetorical questions to

Dear Minister: I am writing to provide my feedback on the proposed foreign influence transparency registry. Given the importance of this issue and my concerns about the impulses behind a registry, I will be making this letter public. I appreciate that your department has launched a consultation and is seeking feedback on six specific questions.

We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to reconsider its proposed Foreign Influence Transparency Registry. If current legislation is not adequate to deal with intimidation by foreign actors, the government should consider instead strengthening these laws. We do not believe, however, that a foreign influence registry will meaningfully address intimidation of

Internment is the forcible confinement or detention of a person during wartime. Large-scale internment operations were carried out by the Canadian government during the First World War and the Second World War. In both cases, the War Measures Act was invoked. This gave the government the authority to deny people’s civil liberties, notably habeas corpus

I have been meaning for some time to do a deeper dive into the reporting by Global News on allegations of Chinese state election interference. This deeper dive would parallel an analysis I published earlier in this substack (in three parts) on reporting by the rival Globe and Mail. This is a longish piece with

This Petition is authorized and sponsored by Chandra Arya, a Liberal MP from Nepean, Ontario. Independent Senator Yuen Pau Woo of British Columbia contributed to the drafting of the Petition and is a strong supporter of the Petition, so as a Conservative Senator Victor Oh of Ontario. It is also supported by retired Senator Vivienne

It’s a tough time to be a Chinese entrepreneur in the United States. On one hand, they’re criticized for being too Chinese. On the other, they’re criticized for trying to be more American. Damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. Not a very American way to treat honest businesses if you ask me

This story is part of a series that includes live interviews with Canada’s top social sciences and humanities academics. Click here to register for In Conversation With Jordan Stanger-Ross and Audrey Kobayashi, April 18 at 2 p.m. ET. This is a virtual event co-hosted by The Conversation Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research