A task force, which tracks suspected foreign interference, on Friday said it had detected “coordinated and malicious activity” originating from , targeting Chrystia Freeland — a leadership candidate from the country’s Liberal Party.
Freeland is currently in the running to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, come March 9.
Campaign targeting Freeland traced to WeChat account
The activity has allegedly been traced to a WeChat account linked to the Chinese government, Global Affairs Canada’s Rapid Response Mechanism said in a press release.
The department is mandated to monitor the digital information ecosystem under the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force.
“The launch of this information operation was traced to WeChat’s most popular news account — an anonymous blog that has been previously linked by experts at the China Digital Times to the People’s Republic of China,” the release said.
“RRM Canada identified over 30 WeChat news accounts taking part in the campaign. The campaign received very high levels of engagement and views.”
China’s embassy in Ottawa did not immediately respond to the allegations but Beijing has repeatedly denied attempting to interfere in Canadian affairs.
The department had already briefed the Liberal Party and members of Freeland’s campaign team.
Not the first time
SITE’s findings add to previous allegations Ottawa has made against China regarding election meddling.
Just in January, an official alleged that China has tried to meddle in previous Canadian elections but their attempts did not affect the outcome.
The same probe found that China viewed Canada as a high-priority target and was the most active foreign party targeting all levels of government.
How did Freeland respond?
In a post on social media platform X, Freeland said she will “not be intimidated by Chinese foreign interference.”
“Having spent years confronting authoritarian regimes, I know firsthand the importance of defending our freedoms. Canada’s democracy is strong. My thanks to our national security agencies for protecting it,” she wrote.
Formerly Canada’s finance minister, Freeland in December forcing Trudeau to announce his resignation as prime minister and Liberal Party leader.
Trudeau is still in the nation’s lead role until a new Liberal Party leader is chosen on March 9.
Edited by: Kieran Burke
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