Liberal Leader Mark Carney said Monday he’s sticking with candidate Paul Chiang, who suggested people try to claim a Chinese bounty on a Conservative candidate.
Carney faced a series of questions during a morning housing announcement on Liberal incumbent Paul Chiang, and the growing calls for him to be barred from running in the riding of Markham-Unionville.
In January, in an interview with Chinese-language media, Chiang suggested that Conservative rival Joe Tay should be turned over to the Chinese Consulate in Toronto. Last year, Hong Kong police offered a HK$1-million reward for information leading to the arrest of Tay for violations of the National Security Law.
Tay, a democracy activist, has been an outspoken critic of Hong Kong’s violations of civil rights. Politicians of all stripes condemned the bounty when it was first announced in December 2024.
Carney said the comments were “deeply offensive” and a “terrible lapse of judgment,” but that Chiang has apologized for his comments and has also apologized directly to Tay for the remarks.
Carney pointed out Chiang is a veteran police officer with 25 years of service, “28 years of defending rights in this community and he will continue with his candidacy going forward.”
Chiang said in a social media post Friday that his comments were “deplorable” and “a complete lapse of judgment on the seriousness of the matter.”
“As a former police officer, I should have known better,” Chiang said in the post. “I sincerely apologize and deeply regret my comments.”
Tay reached out to RCMP
Tay says he had been in contact with the RCMP prior to Chiang’s “insidious comments coming to light.”
“This situation has left me fearing for my safety,” he wrote in a statement published to X.
“Mark Carney must fire Paul Chiang,” he also wrote. “His threatening comments to intended to intimidate me, and they must not be tolerated.”
Tay last week declared that he was running in the neighbouring riding of Don Valley North. That was the riding formerly held by then-Liberal MP Han Dong. Whether China meddled in that riding was studied by the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference. The inquiry did not find definitive links.
Monday morning, 13 groups representing Hong Konger-Canadians across the country issued a statement condemning Chiang’s actions.
“This speaks to the perspective of the government,” said Katherine Leung of Hong Kong Watch. She says if Chiang is allowed to stay, it shows that the Liberals “might be putting someone’s ability to get out the votes” and “win the ground game” over Canadian values to protect human rights.
A former police officer
Chiang, a former officer with York Regional Police, was first elected in 2021. He was the parliamentary secretary to the minister of diversity and inclusion in Justin Trudeau’s government.
Chiang first spoke in an interview with Ming Pao News in January, but his comments did not surface in English media until the Toronto Association for Democracy in China flagged it to reporters on the campaign trail.
Later Monday morning, the Conservative party released a statement demanding the Liberals drop Chiang.
“Paul Chiang’s support for the CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party’s) illegal and unjust bounty on a Canadian citizen is shocking, particularly to the countless Canadians of Chinese descent who have been targeted and harassed by the communist regime,” reads a statement attributed to Michael Chong, Conservative candidate for Wellington-Halton Hills North.
Of 343 seats, the Liberals say they have nominated candidates for about 300 ridings. The deadline to declare is April 7.
According to Statistics Canada, 70 per cent of the population of Markham, where Chiang is based, consists of people of colour. Of those visible minorities, more than half are ethnic Chinese. One in five residents immigrated from China.
Human rights groups say China has a history of kidnapping dissidents overseas and bringing them back to the country to imprison them indefinitely without due process.
Earlier this month, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that Beijing had executed four Canadians since the beginning of the year.
With files and editing from Luca Caruso-Moro, breaking news digital assignment editor, and Phil Hahn, CTVNews.ca election editor in chief. With additional files from The Canadian Press.
