Ottawa’s China Police Agreement Is With Same Organization Behind Secret Police Stations in Canada

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Mar 21, 2026 - 10:51 Updated: Mar 21, 2026 - 10:46
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Ottawa’s China Police Agreement Is With Same Organization Behind Secret Police Stations in Canada

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Ottawa’s recent agreement with Beijing on law enforcement cooperation involves the Chinese ministry that operated secret police stations across Canada, according to a former national director with the RCMP.

Garry Clement, former national director of the RCMP’s proceeds-of-crime program, testified on the issue on March 12 before the House of Commons international trade committee which is examining Canada’s trade relations with China.

He was asked by Conservative MP Michael Cooper whether the government’s agreement on law enforcement cooperation between the RCMP and China’s Ministry of Public Security involves the same Chinese ministry that was involved in “operating several illegal police stations in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver to spy, harass, intimidate, and coerce diaspora communities.”

“Yes,” Clement responded. Cooper then asked whether it is accurate that “Beijing’s overriding consideration for law enforcement” is to advance the interests of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“Law enforcement in China is part of the PRC [People’s Republic of China] apparatus,” Clement said. “You can’t separate them from the government, and they do not operate under the rule of law. I experienced it firsthand.”

A House of Commons report released in 2023 said “at least five” illicit police stations were operating secretly in Canada.
A 2022 report by Spain-based NGO Safeguard Defenders said secret police operations “eschew official bilateral police and judicial cooperation” and show the worrying growth of “transnational repression” and “long-arm policing” by the CCP.

The report also noted the stations target those sought by the Chinese regime, including dissidents and democracy activists.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has said the stations serve in part to “collect intelligence and monitor former PRC residents living in Canada as part of the PRC’s broader transnational anti-corruption, repression and repatriation campaign.”

Cooper asked Clement whether Canada is not an equal partner when cooperating with China, given that “we’re not dealing with a regime that respects the rule of law, due process, judicial independence, or other legal and ethical constraints that our law enforcement is bound by.”

Clement noted that Ottawa and Beijing are “not even close” to being equal partners.

“They have a totally different agenda than what we have ... and I don’t see how the RCMP can operate under this secret agreement,” he said, adding that the agreement is “flawed” and “dangerous” to Canada’s security interests.

“Prosperity cannot come at the expense of national security,” he added.

Police Agreement

Ottawa’s agreement with Beijing on police cooperation was one of multiple accords Ottawa and Beijing signed during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip to China in January. While other agreements have been made public, the federal government has so far kept confidential the agreement on law enforcement cooperation and intelligence sharing.
The Conservatives sent a letter to Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree on Feb. 9 requesting a copy of the agreement, saying such agreements should be subject to “adequate oversight and parliamentary scrutiny.”
When announcing the new agreements with Beijing, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Jan. 16 that Canada and China would pursue “pragmatic and constructive engagement in public safety and security.”

“Our law enforcement agencies will increase cooperation to better combat narcotics trafficking, transnational and cybercrime, synthetic drugs and money laundering – and create safer communities for people in both of our countries,” the office said.

Public Safety Canada has directed questions about the agreement to the RCMP. A spokesperson for the RCMP told The Epoch Times that the agreement is not a public document and that it “demonstrates a renewed commitment to cooperation between our two agencies to address a number of shared concerns, notably criminal activities in the fentanyl trade.”

‘Push Their Agenda’

Ten Hong Kong democracy activist groups have expressed concern about the agreement on law enforcement cooperation, saying Ottawa’s lack of transparency on the accord has intensified fears of Hong Kong diaspora communities.
“Hong Kongers living overseas have faced surveillance, harassment, intimidation, and pressure directed at themselves and their families by Chinese authorities,” the groups said in a Feb. 12 joint statement, adding that increased engagement with China’s internal security apparatus is “profoundly alarming” for communities that have fled repression.

Cooper asked Clement whether he thought the concerns of the diaspora communities are valid.

“Absolutely. In fact, that’s the reason I believe the police stations were set up here in the first place. It’s to push their agenda,” Clement told MPs. “We have to understand that they have a number of United Front organizations operating in this country, which also support anything that the alleged police stations would do.”

A recent report by U.S. think tank The Jamestown Foundation said the CCP has established a global network of organizations linked to its United Front Work Department, which it uses to advance its agenda abroad, including at least 575 such groups in Canada.
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China expert and Jamestown fellow Cheryl Yu said at a Feb. 11 press conference announcing the report’s findings that the number of these groups in Canada “gives a sense of how broad and deeply rooted the network already is, but at the same time, it is likely just the surface.”
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