Re: [OT] Liberal MP proposes turning in his Conservative rival to China for a bounty

On 2025-03-31 1:51 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
 

A Liberal MP made a very controversial statement recently that has him
in hot water, at least with the opposition, during the current federal
election.

 

Paul Chiang, a sitting Liberal MP running for re-election, wrote a
comment in Chinese media, that his Conservative opponent, Joe Tay, a
city councillor, should be turned in to the Chinese consulate in Toronto
for a bounty. Tay is originally from Hong Kong where he ran afoul of the
local authorities for his anti-Beijing activism.

 

https://vancouversun.com/news/federal_election/transnational-repression-jenny-kwan-weighs-in-on-liberal-mps-chinese-bounty-quip

 

Liberals are apparently insisting that Chiang's remark was just a joke
but the opposition parties, Conservative and NDP alike, are calling for
Chiang to step down and get replaced by another candidate. Mark Carney,
the new Liberal leader, has the power to dump candidates but is
resisting demands to dump Chiang.

 

Given the media's love of Liberals, I'm expecting this story to die
quickly. I was surprised to learn that Chiang was a cop for 28 years.

 Ok. I'm a defender of the use of off-color jokes and bitter sarcasm in
public speech to make a point, and condemn those who infer racist or
hate speech, taking the remarks out of context.
 If he were contrasting Canada as a free society with China, he could
have said that he'd be subject to arrest in China, but in Canada, he's
perfectly free to run against an incumbant.
 But a bounty? I can't imagine a scenario in which that's funny. He needs
to apologize. What a jerk.

Proposing to turn in Tay to the Chinese, when his native Hong Kong actually HAS a bounty on him of $153K for his pro-democracy activism is pretty damned ominous in my opinion.
Apparently Chiang *has* apologized and that's enough for Carney but not for the opposition parties. I'm not sure it's enough for me either. The opposition parties may well be pushing this to see if it can hurt Chiang and/or Carney. I'm concerned that Chiang may actually be serious.
Personally, many of us here are concerned about foreign powers manipulating our elections by helping candidates they favour and making it more difficult for candidates that they see as hostile to them. I don't want our MPs chosen by the CCP, Putin or the USA!
We had a major inquiry into this matter just a year or two back, although I never heard a final report. I don't know if the inquiry is still mulling things over or if the guilty parties have somehow kept it from reporting. Maybe I just missed the news when it came out.
--
Rhino