Liberal MP in B.C. said he'd oppose a foreign influence registry

Bains also quoted a CCP slogan in his campaign ad on Chinese-language media.

Earlier this month, Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the federal government would consult the public on the possible creation of a foreign influence registry in order to counter foreign interference.

The move has been praised considering the increasingly dangerous threats that foreign interference has posed to Canada, according to experts, especially from China, Russia, and other authoritarian regimes.

But not all Canadian lawmakers like the idea of a foreign influence registry. If you asked Liberal MP Parm Bains, he would possibly oppose it because he told the Chinese Canadian community during the 2021 federal election he was against a bill meant to create such a registry at the time.

Bains’ statement was made at an interview with “Rise Bowl”, the Youtube channel of Rise Magazine, a Chinese-language media in B.C. on Sept. 10, 2021, 10 days before the election day. 

The interview, headlined “Federal Election Focus: Parm Bains 白恩斯, Liberal’s candidate in Steveston-Richmond East and Brea Huang Sami 黄翠玲, Liberal candidate in Burnaby South, face to face with the Chinese Canadian community,” was hosted by Ivan Pak 白巍, a former candidate for the People’s Party of Canada (PPC). 

Watch here:

At 9’18’’, Pak asked Bains referring to a proposed piece of legislation at the time, “You probably have heard there is a Bill C-282 in the Canadian Parliament, tabled by Conservative MP Kenny Chiu, called Foreign Influence Registry Act…..If you are elected as MP, will you support this bill?” 

Sami, a Chinese Canadian and the Liberal candidate in Burnaby South, translated this question into English for Bains. During the translation, she mentioned that some people claimed this bill would be discriminatory against some groups.

Bains voiced his answer (10’52’’), “The simple answer is I’m not supporting that bill….I don’t believe that I can support any bill that is viewed as discriminatory against any community. If there are any organizations that need to be looked at that are causing problems or their political views are different or harm this country, then we look at these things through the RCMP, investigate and ban these organizations. I don’t think some registration like this…. To me, it looks like a very discriminatory type of policy.”

Before that, when Ivan Pak asked the question, he mentioned that Kenny Chiu was running in the same riding of Steveston-Richmond East against Parm Bains in the 2021 election. 10 days after the interview, Chiu was defeated by Bains in the 2021 election. Some experts believe Chiu’s loss was partly due to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s disinformation campaign that smeared Chiu’s Foreign Influence Registry as “anti-Chinese”. 

Bains adopted a CCP slogan in his election campaign ad