OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — A former senior government official warned Canadian MPs that individuals who buy Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) and are critical of Communist China could be at risk.
Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa and an expert on China, told the House of Commons international trade committee on March 12 that Chinese vehicles, which are expected to flood the Canadian market, are capable of transmitting data from microphones and cameras as well as the vehicle’s location back to China.
She noted how Chinese-made EVs have software from Chinese technology company Baidu, which collects a host of vehicle information data that is sent back to China.
Most modern cars, notably EVs, have multiple cameras and microphones to log and track GPS data. The cars also have software that can be remotely updated or turned off.
“This would not be a problem for a normal country, but China has shown malign intent toward us,” McCuaig-Johnston told MPs.
She added that “Chinese companies are required to spy on behalf of Chinese intelligence services if requested,” and that those critical of China are at risk.
“A lot of people might say, ‘Well, I don’t care if somebody in China is looking at my things,’ but it’s a problem for people like me, who are critics of China,” she said, adding, “I certainly wouldn’t get into an Uber that was a Chinese car.”
The current Liberal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney has established cozy relations with China. Indeed, Carney was recently in China, where he said Canada’s relationship with China is more “predictable” than with the U.S. under President Donald Trump.
He also made a deal with China relating to Canadian agricultural products such as canola while trying to get tariffs removed. In exchange, Canada agreed to drop massive tariffs on Chinese-made EVs and import thousands of them next year.
China has a long history of going after Canadian MPs, academics, political parties, and local ethnic and spiritual groups who are critical of the country.
China has been accused of direct election meddling in Canada, as reported by LifeSiteNews.
What is known is that when it comes to the CCP and Canada, the final report from the Foreign Interference Commission concluded that operatives from China may have had a hand in helping to elect a handful of MPs in both the 2019 and 2021 Canadian federal elections. It also concluded that China was the primary foreign interference threat to Canada.
LifeSiteNews also reported on an exposé saying that Carney and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are influenced by an “elite network” of foreign actors, including those with ties to China and the World Economic Forum.
