Two suspected Chinese “police stations” in Quebec

and Yves Levesque MISE À DAY

The National Security Team of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is actively investigating two alleged “police stations” led by a municipal councilor from Brossard.

This was confirmed by the police force to our Investigation Office, which questioned it about these two centers which are of concern several observers (see other text below).

This is the first time that such establishments have potentially been spotted in Quebec.

The Chinese Family Service of Greater Montreal, in Montreal, and the Sino-Quebec Center on the South Shore, in Brossard, are under the scrutiny of investigators from the RCMP's Integrated National Security Team (INSET). 

Very well established in the Chinese diaspora, these service and reception centers for immigrants are both managed by Xixi Li, municipal councilor for the City of Brossard. 

The second “post” under investigation is located in a small shopping center in Brossard.

The RCMP is asking for the public's help to move forward with its investigation. 

“We need the Chinese community in Quebec to work with us. We must break the wall of silence,” said spokesperson Charles Poirier. p>

Xixi Li
Elected municipal official

“ We know full well that there are some people who are under pressure, who are afraid for themselves or for their family. We want to reach out to them. Not only to detect and [take acts of] disruption, but if we can also take repressive actions, we will do it,” said Sergeant Poirier.  

The issue of “police stations” Chinese has been making headlines for months in the country. The Spanish civil rights organization Safeguard Defenders revealed the existence of this phenomenon on a global scale last fall, including five positions that were in Canada. 

The RCMP had then opened an investigation into three alleged stations in the Toronto area and one in Vancouver. 

Councillor denies everything

These establishments are suspected of carrying out “law enforcement operations” on Canadian soil, in particular to convince nationals to return to China to face justice. 

Reached by telephone yesterday afternoon, Ms Li affirmed that the two centers had no link with the Communist Party which rules China. 

“We were never a police station. Who invented this story? […] We work for the welfare of the Chinese community, to help people in adverse situations,” she said. 

“Very closely related ;» to the Communist Party  

Sarah-Maude Lefebvre, Bureau of Investigation

The alleged “posts of police» Chinese in Quebec have been causing concern for some time now. 

The Chinese Family Service of Greater Montreal and the Sino-Quebec Center of the South Shore were both listed as service centers for overseas Chinese.

Spanish NGO Safeguard Defenders feared already, in a report published in December, that this kind of service center is or is transformed into a “police station”. Chinese. 

“All the evidence shows that they are very closely linked to the [Chinese Communist Party's] United Front Labor Department,” the door-wrote emailed us. Laura Harth lyrics. 

Partner with China

These concerns are shared in Quebec, especially since the Chinese Family Service of Greater Montreal displays on its website that it has the Chinese government as a “partner”. ;”. 

“It raises concerns: is this organization focused on the well-being of Canadians or is it passing information to a foreign country?” asks Benjamin Fung, co-spokesperson for Action Free Hong Kong Montreal and professor at McGill University. 

“Is it okay that a very well-known organization well established in Quebec, which collects data, has a foreign government as a partner? Does this raise any concerns for the government? ” he asks. 

“In general terms, whenever a center, non-profit organization or friendship group is associated with the Communist Party or the People's Republic of China, they are Communist Party actors. They do not act independently. It doesn't exist,” insists Kayum Masimov, of the Uyghur Right Advocacy Project. 

Concerns

foreign interference contacted by our Bureau of Investigation also raised concerns.

“Accessing foreign government services in Canada is not a risk as such. But with the Chinese government, it is something that could be used for harmful reasons, to obtain data […] or that it becomes a pressure point [on citizens] “, explains Arthur Wilczynski, former senior national security official, notably at the Communications Security Establishment. 

► The RCMP has set up a telephone line dedicated solely to this investigation to gather as much information as possible from the public: (514) 939-8301. 

► You have information on subjects that affect national security? Contact our journalist in complete confidentiality at sarah-maude.lefebvre@quebecormedia.com.

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