A battle over a foreign agent registry highlights split in Chinese-Canadian community
- Supporters say registry would protect dissidents, Canadian officials from targeting by Beijing; opponents fear it could chill discourse, people-to-people ties
- The debate, which has grown since 2021, may soon reach a climax, with the government expected to introduce its registry bill before the end of the year
For more than two years, Canadian concerns about Beijing-led political interference – and subsequent demands to register “foreign agents” – have been increasingly debated in Ottawa, dividing Chinese-Canadians and even crippling some political careers.
Now, with the Canadian parliament poised to return from the summer recess next week, the debate may soon reach a climax, as the government is expected to introduce a foreign influence registry bill before the end of the year.
In April, a citizens’ petition supported by centre-left Liberal Party MP Chandra Arya pushed the federal government to reconsider creating such a registry, arguing that it would be a “misleading way to identify sources of foreign influence”.
Last month, a rival petition, supported by left-leaning New Democratic Party MP Jenny Kwan, urged the government to swiftly create the registry to “safeguard our Canadian democratic system”.
The duelling petitions, both of which have received thousands of signatures, reflect the challenges of addressing potential foreign electoral interference and intimidation – but also competing sets of fears that don’t fall neatly within partisan lines.
While some Chinese-Canadians say that without such a registry, public figures and Chinese dissidents will become easier targets for Beijing, others fear it could chill benign engagements with Chinese actors and civil discourse more broadly.