Queen’s club hosts Wellington-Halton Hills MP Michael Chong for an informative talk about foreign interference.
His talk on Feb. 29 saw the Queen’s community come out to discuss implications of foreign interference to Canada’s democracy, with roughly 60 attendees. He discussed his experience facing a targeted political campaign against him and his family, with China using foreign interference strategies to gather information about him. Chong has been critical of China, condemning their treatment of Muslim Uyghurs.
The talk was organized by Queen’s International Affairs Association (QIAA) and the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations (IIGR) as part of their regular speaker series. Niki Ehsan, QIAA speaker series director said the organization hosts these events to foster discussion among the next generation of leaders.
“Academic institutions, especially ones like Queen’s University with such a big student body, should be the preliminary grounds where we learn how to combat threats to our liberal democracy like foreign interference,” Niki said in an interview with The Journal.
IIGR Director Christian Leuprecht said Queen’s traditionally had close ties with leaders in Ottawa and Toronto, but the university has lost some of those connections in recent years. He said inviting prominent leaders in fields such as social sciences and humanities to campus will allow Queen’s to rebuild those historical connections.
“This is part of my effort to rebuild some of those connections and enhance the student experience, by giving them some direct exposure to key decision makers, whether it’s members of parliament or senior civil servants in the hope to inspire them and at the same time, allowing them to apply some of the critical and social science skill sets they’re learning in their classrooms,” Leuprecht said in an interview with The Journal.
Leuprecht finds these speaker series events analogous to lab work for students in social sciences and humanities, allowing them to immerse themselves in key topics of interest.
“I think it’s important for students, especially in the social sciences and humanities, not just to study things in the classroom, but to experience what they study as sort of a laboratory [for] natural science and applied science students.”
Ethan Carley, QIAA speaker series director, said Chong has been at the forefront of the discussion around foreign interference in Canada. He has recently been granted full standing at the upcoming public inquiry into foreign election interference as someone with a direct interest in the commission’s work.
“Hostile foreign actors are posing increasing threats to national security,” Carley said. “Our country’s response needs to evolve to meet these growing threats and Mr. Chong [provided] great insight into how our country can take steps to better protect our country’s sovereignty and how citizens can take steps themselves to inform themselves of threats.”
Chong highlighted the importance of tackling foreign interference issues both politically and legally, referencing diplomatic and legal recourses to tackling the issue, such as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act’s characterization of foreign interference as an illegal activity.
Chong faced the foreign interference attack in May of last year, with Global Affairs Canada releasing a statement in August to make information on the attack public. Chong believes transparency and publicity are important to counteract misinformation, along with education.
“I think the best way to combat disinformation and misinformation is education,” Chong said. “By being well read, you will very easily be able to make educated decisions about what is legitimate facts-based information and what is misinformation or disinformation.”
Tags
Foreign Affairs, MP Michael Chong, Queen’s International Affairs Association
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