Former Solicitor General Urges Inquiry Into Chinese Interference in PEI, Warns of National Threat

Oct 9, 2025 - 09:54 Updated: Oct 9, 2025 - 09:47

Former Solicitor General Urges Inquiry Into Chinese Interference in PEI, Warns of National Threat

Former Solicitor General of Canada Wayne Easter is calling for a federal public inquiry into Beijing’s interference operations in Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.), following a two-year investigation detailing how the Chinese regime exploited immigration loopholes and used elite capture to turn Canada’s smallest province into a front-line for foreign influence.

Easter, who served as the Liberal MP for a P.E.I. riding from 1993 to 2021, urged Ottawa to launch a public inquiry into the matter during an Oct. 8 press conference in Ottawa. Also speaking at the press conference was former national director of the RCMP’s proceeds of crime program Garry Clement, who presented findings from an investigation he conducted with former CSIS intelligence officer Michel Juneau-Katsuya into China’s interference in P.E.I.

The findings of Clement and Juneau-Katsuya’s investigation were published in a book released in August called “Canada Under Siege: How Prince Edward Island Became a Forward Operating Base for the Chinese Communist Party.”

“There’s threads leading everywhere in terms of concerns over Chinese involvement in Canada, and I think the operation in Prince Edward Island is key to where things seem to be going—is that a forward operating base to move to other areas of the country?” Easter, who served as solicitor general of Canada from 2002 to 2003, said on Oct. 8.

“It’s for all those reasons, tying those threads together that there’s only one real way to get to the bottom of what is happening, and that would be a federal public inquiry.”

Among the findings of the investigation by Clement and Juneau-Katsuya, dubbed Project Anne, is that P.E.I.’s Provincial Nominee Program was exploited by wealthy applicants linked to Beijing to gain permanent residence in exchange for investments that, the authors say, often never materialized.

Clement said at the Oct. 8 press conference that their investigation was prompted by concerns brought forward by “brave” P.E.I. residents who provided information so troubling it would give “a law enforcement agency sufficient grounds to launch a criminal investigation.”

He said the investigation led them to discover “money laundering, corruption, and elite capture at the highest levels.” He noted that during the time period covered by their investigation, large amounts of cash were entering P.E.I. in the form of brand-new, consecutively numbered $100 bills—which he described as strong evidence of potential money laundering activity tied to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The money that entered the province amounted to millions of dollars, he said.

“My view is that the PRC government, the only way to describe it, is that they are the largest transnational organized crime group in the history of the world,” Clement said.

Canada’s Institutions Being ‘Tested’

The investigation into Beijing’s infiltration of P.E.I. spanned five years of research and intelligence gathering, Dean Baxendale, CEO of the China Democracy Fund and Optimum Publishing International—which published Clement and Juneau-Katsuya’s book and took part in the investigations—said at the Oct. 8 press conference.

He said the investigation also involved collaboration with international security experts, whistleblowers, eyewitnesses, and religious experts, and consultation with multiple governments in different continents.

“We followed the money, we followed the networks, and we followed the silence,” Baxendale said.

“What we found were clear signs of elite capture, failed oversight, and infiltration of Canadian institutions and political parties at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels by actors aligned with the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department.”

The United Front Work Department, an agency tasked with overseeing Beijing’s influence activities in China and abroad, is a primary foreign interference tool of the Chinese regime, as documented by research posted by Public Safety Canada.

Baxendale said the investigation also found signs that potential money laundering on the island may have involved tactics similar to those used in transnational crime, such as the Vancouver Model—a method in which proceeds from drug sales are laundered by gambling them in casinos and cashing out the winnings as clean money.

That model is one of the methods used by transnational criminal groups backed by the Chinese regime, known as triads, to launder illicit money, often from drug sales, Clement previously told The Epoch Times.

Baxendale says Beijing’s threat to Canada demands urgent action.

“Canada’s democratic institutions are being tested, not with tanks or warplanes, but with capital, policy manipulation, and silence,” he said.

“Today, we are calling for transparency, for national scrutiny, and most of all for Canadians to wake up to the subtle siege underway.”

More Than a Public Inquiry Needed, Says Former Intelligence Analyst

Phil Gurski, senior strategic analyst at CSIS, says that while former Solicitor General Easter is “making the right noises” in bringing attention to Beijing’s infiltration in Canada, launching a public inquiry into the matter may not be enough to solve the issue.

He points to the recent federal inquiry into foreign interference, which he says hasn’t done enough to address foreign meddling. The inquiry’s final report, released earlier this year, identified China as the “most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions.” Advocacy groups have expressed disappointment at the final report, calling its recommendations “incomplete” and “too weak” to prevent foreign interference.

“What’s the point? You get a bit more information in the public domain, but what is the government going to do about it?” Gurski told The Epoch Times in an interview.

Ottawa last year passed Bill C-70, “An Act respecting countering foreign interference,” in the wake of official probes into Chinese interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. The legislation created new criminal offences in relation to foreign interference and provided additional tools for Canadian intelligence officials to address the issue.

Meanwhile, a key part of the legislation involving the creation of a foreign influence registry has yet to be implemented, drawing criticism from Conservatives and concerns from advocacy groups who argue the registry should have been established by now, as the legislation was passed more than a year ago. Former MP Kevin Vuong raised those concerns during the Oct. 8 press conference.

“Nearly a year and a half after passing the required legislation, Canadians continue to wait for the federal government to act. Why? What’s the reason for the delay?” Voung said. “Parliament has done its job.”

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said in August the registry will be established this fall. Public Safety Canada had told The Epoch Times in July it was still working on the registry’s implementation, describing it as a “significant undertaking.”

“We put the world on notice that Canada is an independent, sovereign nation with a clear ability to ensure the safety and security of Canadians. And any attempts that circumvents or undermines that principle, we will take action,” Anandasangaree said at the time.

“As we talk about the strength of Canada, the sovereignty that we’re proud of, that we will never be a state of another country, I think it’s more important that we tell the world and we amplify this message: that Canada is not a place where you can come and interfere with the civil and human rights of Canadian citizens.”

Gurski says the best way to address Beijing’s interference in Canada is for the government to “play tough with China,” even if that means putting at risk trade relations.

“We have more than enough evidence—some of it is intelligence from CSIS, some is just open source information—about what China has been doing to Canada for decades,” he said.

“It’s time for Canadians to say enough is enough.”