Liberal MP calls for Conservative to be handed over to China

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The Conservatives are calling on Liberal Leader Mark Carney to fire one of his candidates for suggesting he be kidnapped and handed over to China for bounty money.

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The story involving two Toronto-area candidates sounds far-fetched but it’s true.

The Liberal candidate who made the inflammatory comments has apologized, but the Conservatives say it isn’t good enough.

“Yesterday, it came to light that Mark Carney’s Liberal candidate, Paul Chiang, called for a Conservative candidate to be turned over to the authoritarian regime in Beijing in return for a bounty offered by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” Conservative MP Michael Chong said in a statement.

Chiang is the Liberal MP for Markham-Unionville and is still the Liberal candidate. While Chiang has issued an apology, Chong says it’s not enough.

He wants Mark Carney, who has so far been silent on this, to fire Chiang.

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“If he won’t remove a candidate for calling for the involuntary return of a political opponent in the service of another country, when will he stand up against foreign interference?” Chong asked.

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According to a statement issued by the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, Chiang was speaking with several Chinese-language media outlets in Toronto in January. He raised the issue of Joe Tay, the Conservative candidate in Don Valley North.

Tay has been an activist for democracy in China, including Hong Kong where he was born. That resulted in a $1 million Hong Kong Dollar bounty being placed on his head, a bounty Chiang encouraged people to take advantage of by turning Tay over to Chinese officials.

“To everyone here, you can claim the one-million-dollar bounty if you bring him to Toronto’s Chinese Consulate,” Chiang said according to TADC.

Chiang never denied the claims of his statement – instead, he issued an apology late Thursday.

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“The comments I made were deplorable and a complete lapse in judgment on the seriousness of the matter. As a former police officer, I should have known better. I sincerely apologize and deeply regret my comments,” Chiang said.

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The Liberals have been under fire for being too close the Chinese Communist Party and the dictators in Beijing for years. Evidence presented at the recent foreign interference inquiry showed that in the 2019 and 2021 elections, China actively tried to ensure the Liberals held power.

Then-prime minister Justin Trudeau and his team, many of whom helped Mark Carney win the Liberal leadership, refused to act even after being warned about specific candidates ahead of the 2019 election.

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In addition, China was allowed to operate their so-called “secret police stations” in Canada for years without the government acting to shut them down. These stations were used to harass and intimidate Canadians of Chinese descent into not speaking out against China’s brutal dictatorship.

Now, a Liberal MP and current candidate has said one of his political opponents should be handed over for bounty money.

An apology is not enough.

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The fact that Mark Carney has so far not spoken out on this is also a problem. Carney himself has deep ties to China that should raise questions, including increasing the business that Brookfield Asset Management did in China.

Until he entered politics, Carney oversaw Brookfield as chair of the board and head of transition investing. In November 2024, he helped secure a loan of more than $275 billion USD for Brookfield from a Chinese state-owned bank.

Is this why Carney won’t speak out? Is it his secret but substantial portfolio of assets that he refuses to divulge?

Chiang’s comments are despicable for any Canadian to make, let alone a Member of Parliament.

blilley@postmedia.com

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