Calls mount for Carney to fire Liberal candidate who said Conservative should be turned in to earn Chinese bounty

Calls are mounting for Liberal Leader Mark Carney to drop Toronto-area candidate Paul Chiang, who said people should bring a Conservative politician to the local Chinese consulate to collect a bounty on him for criticizing Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong.

NDP candidate Jenny Kwan urged Mr. Carney to remove Mr. Chiang for his comments on Conservative candidate Joe Tay. “He advocated for people to bring him to the Chinese consulate to collect the bounty,” Ms. Kwan told reporters Sunday during a campaign event with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in Port Moody, B.C. “In what universe is this normal?”

She joined Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, human-rights advocates and members of ethnic communities traditionally targeted by China in calling for Mr. Carney to act soon.

Thirteen civic groups representing Canadians of Hong Kong descent issued a statement Sunday urging Mr. Chiang’s removal.

Organizations including Canada-Hong Kong Link questioned Mr. Chiang’s commitment to supporting Hong Kong immigrants fleeing authoritarian rule in the former British colony. “Anyone who is truly sympathetic to the oppressed Hong Kongers will not have made such comments,” the groups said.

The Liberal Party needs to send a clear message, they said, that it will not tolerate transnational repression against Canadian political candidates, particularly after the country was plunged into a foreign interference inquiry in 2024.

Mr. Tay was born in Hong Kong but immigrated to Canada. In December, Hong Kong police announced a bounty of HK$1-million – about $184,000 – for information leading to his arrest for allegedly violating a national-security law imposed on the former British colony by China. Mr. Tay runs a YouTube channel, HongKongerStation, that draws attention to continuing civil-rights violations in Hong Kong.

This bounty is a tactic used by authorities in Beijing-controlled Hong Kong to silence overseas dissidents and diaspora groups, similar to the illegal police stations China operated in major Canadian cities before the RCMP said it shut them down.

Conservatives demand Carney fire candidate who said Tory should be turned in for Chinese bounty

In January, Mr. Chiang, the Liberal candidate for Markham-Unionville, told a Chinese-language press conference that people should take Mr. Tay to the People’s Republic of China consulate in Toronto and collect the bounty.

“If anyone here can take him to the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto, you can get the million-dollar reward,” Mr. Chiang said of Mr. Tay, according to Ming Pao, a Chinese-language newspaper. Mr. Chiang is the incumbent MP for the riding. He was elected as a Liberal MP in 2021.

At the time, Mr. Tay was running for the Conservative nomination in Markham-Unionville. He has since been appointed Conservative candidate for Toronto’s Don Valley North.

The Globe and Mail contacted Mr. Chiang Thursday about his comments. On Friday, he posted a reply on social media apologizing for what he said.

“The comments I made were deplorable and a complete lapse of judgment on the seriousness of the matter,” the Liberal wrote. “As a former police officer, I should have known better. I sincerely apologize and deeply regret my comments.”

Mr. Chiang added: “I will always continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Hong Kong in their fight to safeguard their human rights and freedoms.”

The Liberal campaign, asked for comment on the call to drop Mr. Chiang as a candidate, did not indicate he would be let go and instead justified keeping him.

“Paul Chiang recognized that he made a significant lapse in judgment. He apologized and has been clear that he will stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Hong Kong” in their fight to protect their freedoms and human rights, campaign spokesperson Isabella Orozco-Madison said in a statement.

Mr. Poilievre on Sunday said that Mr. Carney should not be protecting Mr. Chiang.

“We have a Liberal MP saying that a Canadian citizen should be handed over to a foreign dictatorship to get a bounty,” Mr. Poilievre said. “And Mark Carney says he should stay on as a candidate. What does that say about whether Mark Carney would protect Canadians?”

In 2023, the NDP’s Ms. Kwan revealed that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had informed her she remains a target because of her outspoken criticism of China’s authoritarian regime.

Ms. Kwan said Sunday that Mr. Chiang’s conduct is inexcusable. “People who speak up against China’s repressive regime are fearful for their lives and that of their families. That is what transnational repression looks like, and we need to stand together to fight against it.”

Cheuk Kwan, co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, said Mr. Chiang “openly encouraged people to assist in China interference and transnational repression.” Rather than protecting Canadians, Mr. Chiang “betrayed them and jeopardized their safety.”

Gloria Fung, convenor of the Canadian Coalition for a Foreign Interference Transparency Registry, also urged Mr. Carney to remove Mr. Chiang as a candidate. Ms. Fung said malevolent actors are using the bounty on Mr. Tay to discredit him for speaking out about the erosion of civil rights in Hong Kong.

“Well-orchestrated fake news is being disseminated via WeChat groups and other social-media platforms to smear Joe Tay as being a criminal fugitive from Hong Kong,” she said. “Clearly the warrant list has been weaponized as a means of CCP transnational repression and election interference to discredit candidates critical of Chinese policies.”

The riding of Don Valley North has long been the subject of allegations related to foreign interference. Former Liberal MP Han Dong, who has denied knowledge of or involvement in any wrongdoing, said Sunday that he won’t seek re-election in Don Valley North in this campaign but expressed hope that the Liberals form the next government. Mr. Dong has represented the riding since 2019.

In a statement posted online, Mr. Dong said he was informed by the Liberal Party that it will have a new candidate running in the riding.

The party announced on Saturday that Maggie Chi will represent the Liberals.

Mr. Dong’s statement suggests that he could have run as an independent but decided against that option in order not to split the vote.

“After speaking with my family, team and supporters, I have decided not to participate in this election to give the LPC the best chance to form a government and protect us from the threats posed by Donald Trump,” he said.

Mr. Dong left the Liberal caucus in March, saying he wanted to clear his name after Global News reported that he allegedly told a Chinese diplomat in February, 2021, that releasing imprisoned Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor from detention in China would benefit the Conservatives.

Former governor-general David Johnston, named by the government as special rapporteur on foreign interference, deemed those allegations false. Mr. Dong has strongly denied the allegations and is suing Global News.

In Justice Marie-Josée Hogue’s final report on foreign interference in Canada released in January, she said the classified information she has read “corroborates Mr. Dong’s denial.” The MP “did not suggest that the PRC should extend their detention.”