On Friday (April 18), Canadian Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party, Mark Carney, highlighted that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses the biggest geopolitical threat to Canada and is also the largest foreign interference, while also posing as an emerging threat in the Arctic region.
As the election enters its final stages, Carney’s Liberal Party is leading in the polls. During the English-language leaders’ debate held on Thursday (April 17) evening before the federal election on April 28 in Canada, when asked about Canada’s greatest security threat, Carney replied, “China (CCP).”
On Friday, at a campaign event in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Carney was asked to further elaborate on his comments and stated that Canada must address the foreign interference threat posed by the CCP.
He also criticized the CCP for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and stated that the CCP poses a threat to the broader Asian region, especially Taiwan.
Carney stated that the CCP is “the biggest threat from a geopolitical perspective.” He added, “We are taking action to address it.”
The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Furthermore, Canadian federal authorities recently discovered online information operations related to the CCP attempting to influence the 2025 Canadian federal election.
In the early stages of the campaign, federal security officials identified an online information operation related to the CCP government targeting Carney.
Subsequently, the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force traced it back to a news account on WeChat called “Youli-Youmain,” which was very popular on WeChat. Intelligence indicates that this account is related to the CCP’s Political and Legal Affairs Committee.
The account posted both positive and negative information about Carney, especially “amplifying” his stance towards the United States.
The task force concluded that this information operation targeting Carney aimed to influence the Canadian Chinese community using WeChat and sought to shape opinions about the Liberal Party leader by manipulating information to influence the election.
This account had previously targeted Michael Chong, a Chinese-Canadian Conservative Party member, two years ago, and more recently targeted former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
(This article references relevant reports from Reuters and the Canadian Press.)