Tory MP Vows Daily Reminders on Confidential Police Deal With China Until Ottawa Discloses Details

Udumbara Udumbara
Feb 23, 2026 - 10:54 Updated: Feb 23, 2026 - 10:50
0
Tory MP Vows Daily Reminders on Confidential Police Deal With China Until Ottawa Discloses Details

.

Conservative MP and public safety critic Frank Caputo says he will keep asking the federal government to release its agreement with China on law enforcement cooperation until it discloses the document that so far has been kept confidential to the public.

Caputo sent a letter to Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree on Feb. 9, requesting a copy of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation in combating crimes between the RCMP and China’s ministry of public security, which Ottawa signed during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to China in January.
.
“13 Days. No response,” Caputo said in a Feb. 22 post on X, reposting his Feb. 9 letter. “I will post this every day to bring awareness to the fact the Liberals won’t release their Memorandum of Understanding with China on matters relating to intelligence sharing.”
This follows Caputo’s post on Feb. 21, in which he said he would continue to post his letter every day on X until Anandasangaree releases the MOU. “Canadians deserve transparency,” he added.

The MOU on police cooperation was one of multiple agreements Ottawa and Beijing signed during Carney’s trip to China from Jan. 14 to Jan. 17. While other MOUs have been made public, the federal government has so far kept confidential the agreement on law enforcement cooperation and intelligence sharing.

Caputo asked Anandasangaree in his letter whether the agreement would be made public, saying it should at least be made available for parliamentarians to review. He said it is the federal government’s and the minister’s “personal duty” to Canadians to be transparent about the MOU.

“Memoranda with the People’s Republic of China, especially on matters related to public safety, should be subject to adequate oversight and parliamentary scrutiny,” Caputo wrote in his letter.

The Prime Minister’s Office said on Jan. 16, in announcing the agreements, that Canada and China will “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.

Meanwhile, Public Safety Canada has directed questions about the agreement to the RCMP.

A spokesperson for the RCMP told The Epoch Times that the MOU 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.”

The spokesperson also said the RCMP is “committed to working in partnership with both domestic and foreign agencies to keep Canadians safe and secure and to protect Canadian interests at home and abroad.”

MOU Concerns

Ten Hong Kong democracy activist groups have also voiced concern about Canada’s new agreement on law enforcement cooperation with China, saying the federal government’s lack of transparency on the MOU has intensified the fears of Hong Kong diaspora communities.
In a Feb. 12 joint statement, UK-based Hong Kong Watch and nine other Hong Kong diaspora community groups expressed “serious concern” that the Canadian government has not explained what safeguards, limitations, or oversight mechanisms are in place regarding the agreement.

“Hong Kongers living overseas have faced surveillance, harassment, intimidation, and pressure directed at themselves and their families by Chinese authorities,” the groups said, adding that increased engagement with China’s internal security apparatus is “profoundly alarming” for communities that have fled repression.

The ten groups urged Ottawa to provide “full transparency” on the MOU and called on lawmakers and media organizations “to recognize the fear experienced by Hong Kong diaspora communities worldwide and to treat transnational repression as a serious and growing global concern requiring vigilance, accountability, and clear protections.”

The Tories have also voiced concern about the MOU, with Conservative MP and democratic reform critic Michael Cooper saying during a House of Commons procedure and House affairs committee meeting earlier this month that China poses a security threat to Canada. Carney had himself said during the 2025 election campaign that China was Canada’s “biggest security threat.”

Cooper asked Anandasangaree why Ottawa has agreed to pursue the police cooperation agreement with Beijing, noting concerns that China has engaged in transnational repression targeting Chinese diaspora communities in Canada, among others.

Anandasangaree told MPs Ottawa has agreed to cooperate with Beijing out of a need to diversify its trade relationships away from the United States. He also said Canada’s and China’s law enforcement agencies would cooperate on issues such as curtailing fentanyl and its precursors coming into Canada.

.

Read More