The Globe and Mail - 13.03.2020

A8 | NEWS O THEGLOBEANDMAIL| FRIDAY,MARCH13,

A special committee of parlia-
mentarians with access to sensi-
tive intelligence briefings is
warning that China and Russia
are increasingly conducting “sig-
nificant and sustained” foreign
interference activities in Canada
and trying to influence politic-
ians, academics, students and
the media.
In a report tabled Thursday,
the all-party National Intelli-
gence and Security Committee
outlined specific areas where
Beijing and Moscow are threat-
ening the country’s sovereignty
and security as they try to influ-
ence government decision-mak-
ing at all levels, from Ottawa to
municipalities.
“The threat is real, if often hid-

den,” the report said. “The per-

petrators have become more bra-

zen and their activities more en-

trenched.”

The committee also criticized

this country’s response. “Canada

has been slow to react to the

threat of foreign interference.”

Members of Parliament and

senators on the special body

were granted a high-security

clearance to gain access to confi-

dential security reports and brief-

ings. Some key parts of their re-

port were redacted.

“These states target Canada

for a variety of reasons, but all

seek to exploit the openness of

our society and penetrate our

fundamental institutions to

meet their objectives,” David

McGuinty, a Liberal MP who

chairs the committee, said, read-

ing from the report, which iden-

tified only two countries – China

and Russia – by name.

The body called for a “whole

of government approach” to

fighting this meddling, saying if

foreign interference is left un-

checked, it will “slowly erode the

foundations of our fundamental

institutions including our de-

mocracy itself.”

The Chinese and Russian em-

bassies did not immediately

comment.

The committee paid particular

attention to the activities of Chi-

na, saying it’s conducting “clan-

destine and coercive measures”

that target and threaten individ-

uals around the globe, including

those living in Canada. China’s

National Intelligence Law com-

pels Chinese citizens, even if they

are citizens of other countries, to

co-operate with Beijing’s intelli-

gence-gathering agencies, it

noted.

“Foreign interference activities

are targeted at three key areas:

the electoral process at all stages,

elected officials and their staff;

and sub-national areas of gov-

ernment,” the report said.

There is also growing concern

among Canadian security agen-

cies about the relationships be-

tween overseas Chinese student

associations on campuses and

China’s embassies and consul-

ates, the committee said, noting

reports of “growing ideological

pressure” from Chinese diplo-

mats to toe the party line.

“[Their] behavior may also

pose a threat to freedom of

speech and assembly,” the report

said of Chinese Students and

Scholars Associations on cam-

puses.

The People’s Republic of Chi-

na (PRC) and Russia manipulate

mainstream media and “ethnic

media” in Canada to push their

messages, the committee said.

There are approximately 650

publications and 120 radio and

TV programs in Canada that are

published or broadcast in lan-

guages other than English and

French; some of these are “heavi-

ly influenced and manipulated,

either unwittingly or wittingly”

by foreign states, the report said.

“The PRC is seeking to harmo-

nize international Chinese-lan-

guage media with its own by at-

tempting to merge the editorial

boards of those outlets with PRC

media,” the report said. “This

would result in the PRC controll-

ing the message in Chinese-lan-

guage media, thereby under-

mining the free and independent

media in this country.”

Canada is a prized target “due

to its global standing, robust and

diverse economy, large ethnocul-

tural communities, membership

in key multilateral organizations

such as the Five Eyes [intelli-

gence-sharing group], G7 and

NATO and close relationship

with the United States,” the body

said.

On Russia, the committee said

that some of Moscow’s intelli-

gence officers “under diplomatic

cover, have engaged in threat-re-

lated activities.”

Wenran Jiang, an adjunct pro-

fessor at the University of British

Columbia’s School of Public Pol-

icy and Global Affairs, said the re-

port raises serious concerns if the

allegations it makes are “proven

to be the case.”

But he warned against any

suggestion that overseas Chinese

communities are the tool of the

PRC. “The generalization that

somehow the PRC government,

its embassies and consulates can

control, and do control, overseas

Chinese behaviour is an insult to

millions of overseas Chinese, be

they PRC citizens or foreign citi-

zens of Chinese origin,” Mr. Jiang

said.

“Canada must be vigilant in

defending itself against any for-

eign interference in its internal

affairs, especially from non-dem-

ocratic states, but at the same

time, we must be aware of the

growing Sinophobia and not de-

scend into racial profiling and

McCarthyism.”

All-partyparliamentary

committeereportdetails

‘brazen’interferencein

Canada,andcallsfor

‘wholeofgovernment’

approachtocounterit

ROBERTFIFE
STEVENCHASEOTTAWA

LawmakerswarnofRussia,Chinameddling

I

twasonThursdaythatthecoronavirusfinallycausedBri-

tain’s famously stiff upper lip to quiver.

You initially had to go into a grocery store to see it. As

someone who works from home, I often take a midday

break to buy things for dinner. Usually it’s just me and a few

retirees listening to gentle Muzak as we wander the aisles.

Not today. Not when Italy is in lockdown, Ireland is closing

schools and the United States is barring travellers from Eu-

rope, though not yet the United Kingdom. Everyone in the

U.K. is wondering how long it will be before Prime Minister

Boris Johnson decides that it is time for Britain to start shut-

ting things down too.

Britain has thus far tried to maintain a business-as-usual

pose,evenasthenumberofconfirmedcasesofthenewcoro-

navirus rose Wednesday to 460, including 104 in London. Ten

deaths have been reported.

A trip to the grocery store made it clear that many in Lon-

don are expecting the country to soon head in a much more

closed direction.

ThefirstthingInoticedwhenIpoppedinastorenearLon-

don’s Clapham Junction train station – intending only to buy

a few things for salad – was the absence of the usual music.

Instead of wordless Ed Sheeran tunes, the soundtrack was

provided by the squeaking wheels of grocery carts moving

rapidly through the aisles.

The store was crowded right from the fruit and vegetables

section at the front to the deserted toilet paper racks in the

back. As I paused to consider whether I needed one or two

avocados, a woman pushing a stroller, and rushing to get

somewhere deeper inside the store, cut between me and the

produce, the wheels nudging the end of my shoes. I decided

then and there to grab the second avocado.

My mind flashed forward to a possible future where the

thing that bothered me most – in

my second week of theoretical

quarantine – was the decision to

leave that second avocado be-

hind.Inthenextaisle,Icouldhear

a woman and a member of staff

discussing, almost in a whisper,

how long it would be before the

store received more toilet paper.

Things got more hectic further

intothestore.Aseverywhereelse,

antibacterial hand gel disap-

pearedfromBritishshelvessever-

al weeks ago. Toilet paper started

to get scarce earlier this week, af-

ter videos emerged online of

shoppers in Australia fighting

over the last rolls as though hav-

ingenoughTPwastheonlywayto

immunize yourself from CO-

VID-19.

ThingsvanishmorequietlyinEngland,inthelandofkeep-

ingcalmandcarryingon.TheEnglishwalkbytheplacewhere

the hand gel should be, looking everywhere but the empty

shelf. I could have sworn this is where they kept the cereal. I

certainly was not looking for hand gel. Were you?

Toilet paper disappeared on Monday, and by Wednesday

there was such a run on other tissues (the stuff Canadians re-

fertoasKleenex),thattheClaphamJunctionstorehadputits

unsold supply of Christmas-decorated tissues back on dis-

play. Why sing “Happy Birthday” as you wash your hands

when “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” will do the trick?

On Thursday, it was rice, pasta and other non-perishable

goods that were becoming scarce. An employee moved

amongtheaisles,appendinggreen“temporarilyunavailable”

stickerstoshelvesthatusedtoholdcansofpeas,jarsoftoma-

to sauce or bags of basmati rice. A last can of cut green beans

stared out from one rack, daring shoppers to decide they

would not need it in the days ahead.

My wife texted to ask whether the store had any baking

powder(amongotherthings),anditwasmyturntoaskastaff

member for help. A tall young man in a green apron looked

relieved to be asked for something the store still had in stock.

“Busy day?” I asked him rhetorically as I tried to find room

for the baking powder in a basket bulging with far more than

salad.

“I’m going straight to the pub after this,” he replied.

Inotherwords,hewouldbekeepingcalmandcarryingon.

Or at least trying to keep up the appearance of doing so.

But behind him, a woman was filling her cart with all the

flour she could grab.

Avisittothegrocerystore

showscoronavirusis

testingBritain’sability

tokeepcalmandcarryon

MARKMACKINNON

SENIORINTERNATIONALCORRESPONDENT

LONDON

OPINION

Toiletpaper

disappearedon

Monday,andby

Wednesdaythere

wassucharunon

othertissues[...]

thattheClapham

Junctionstore

hadputitsunsold

supplyof

Christmas-decorated

tissuesbackon

display.

While a growing number of coun-
tries across Europe close schools,
restrict travel and limit public
gatherings to combat the spread
of the new coronavirus, Britain
has remained resolute in not fol-
lowing suit.
British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson announced on Thursday
that the country will not close
schools or ban sports events, at
least not for now. Instead, the
Prime Minister has encouraged
people who are ill to stay home
for a week, suggested the elderly
should avoid cruises and advised
schools to cancel trips abroad.
“We are guided by the science
ineverythingwedo,”Mr.Johnson
told reporters in defending the
government’s response to the
pandemic. He stressed that the
government will consider further
action, but that for now, health
officials were hoping to delay the
spread of the virus. And he said
adopting stronger measures,
such as banning large gatherings,
likely wouldn’t do much good
andthatitwasmoreimportantto
prevent the spread of the virus in
homes and workplaces.
He added that he wants to take
the right steps at the right time.
”We’ve all got to be clear: This is
the worst public-health crisis for
a generation,” he said. “I must
level with the British public:
Many more families are going to
loselovedonesbeforetheirtime.”
Britain has 590 confirmed
cases of the virus, although offi-
cials say up to 10,000 people may
have already been infected. A to-
tal of 10 people have died, all el-
derly patients with underlying
health issues. There are more
than 25,000 cases across Europe,
according to the European Centre
for Disease Prevention and Con-
trol. The bulk of those cases are in
Italy, which has more than 15,
confirmed cases and 1,016 deaths.
Mr. Johnson’s gradual ap-
proach to tackling the illness has

been at odds with several other

European countries that have an-

nounced far more sweeping mea-

sures. On Thursday, France, Ire-

land, Norway, Lithuania, Den-

mark and Slovakia announced

plans to close schools and univer-

sities, and ban public gatherings.

The Netherlands has also restrict-

ed gatherings and closed major

museums, while the Czech Re-

public shut its borders to travell-

ers from 15 countries.

The British Prime Minister is

also facing pressure from inside

the country to go farther. Scot-

land’s First Minister Nicola Stur-

geon said on Thursday that as of

nextweekhergovernmentwould

begin banning public gatherings

of more than 500 people. She said

the move was aimed mainly at

freeingpublicservicesthatwould

otherwise be tied up at the

events.

Britain’s Electoral Commission

also called on thegovernment to

delay local elections planned for

May 7, which involve 118 regional

councils, and mayoral races in

several cities including London,

Liverpool, Manchester and Bir-

mingham. Officials in Northern

Ireland have said they may have

to restrict some health services to

cope with the virus.

John Ashton, a former regional

director for Public Health En-

gland, has criticizedthe govern-

ment’s approach as being too

pedantic. “The pandemic decla-

ration was a kick up the bottom

for the Britishgovernment,” he

told the BBC. “We have had a

complacent, academic attitude to

this outbreak.”

However, Chris Whitty, the

Chief Medical Officer for England,

backed the measures and said

that timing the response was crit-

ical since the outbreak was far

from peaking in Britain.

“If you move too early, people

get fatigued. This is a long haul,”

Dr. Whitty told reporters Thurs-

day.

He also said that closing

schools would be ineffective

since children are not a high-risk

group for the virus. “Closing

schools has big knock-on effects

across society and has to be justi-

fied for very strong reasons,” he

said. “And the evidence for doing

this appears to be quite weak.”

Britain’s Chief Scientific Advis-

er, Sir Patrick Vallance, also said

that banning sports events would

be largely unproductive since

that would only encourage peo-

ple to gather in small venues,

such as pubs, where the virus can

spreadmuchfaster.Healsosaidit

was far too late to restrict flights

from certain countries.

Mr. Johnson shied away from

questions about U.S. President

Donald Trump’s decision to ban

all passenger travel from much of

Europe. Mr. Trump announced

the ban late Wednesday and it

covers 26 countries that are part

of the Schengen common visa ar-

ea. That includes most EU mem-

bers, such as Italy, France, Germa-

ny and Spain. It does not include

Britain and Ireland, which aren’t

part of the Schengen area.

The President justified the ban

bysayingtheEUhadfailedtotake

the same precautions as the Unit-

ed States in banning travel from

China in order to stop the spread

of the new coronavirus. That

drew a terse response from EU

leaders, who chastised Mr. Trump

for acting unilaterally.

“The European Union disap-

proves of the fact that the U.S. de-

cision to impose a travel ban was

taken unilaterally and without

consultation,” a statement on

Thursday from European Com-

mission President Ursula von der

Leyen and European Council

President Charles Michel said.

“Thecoronavirusisaglobalcrisis,

not limited to any continent and

it requires co-operation rather

than unilateral action.”

BorisJohnsonspeakstoreportersaboutCOVID-19inLondononThursday,flankedbyChiefMedicalOfficerfor
EnglandChrisWhitty,left,andChiefScientificAdviserSirPatrickVallance.SIMONDAWSON/AFP/GETTYIMAGES

U.K.willstickwithgo-slowresponse

toCOVID-19threat,Johnsonsays

PAULWALDIE
EUROPECORRESPONDENT
LONDON

Weareguidedby

thescienceineverything

wedo.

BORISJOHNSON

BRITISHPRIMEMINISTER