Ottawa, ON – Frank Caputo, Conservative MP for Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, released the following statement:
“As a direct result of Conservative demands to create a foreign agent registry, the House of Commons passed Bill C-70 nineteen months ago. Yet here we are, more than a year and a half later, with no commissioner, no registry and no accountability.
“This should be no surprise as the Liberals have a long history of failing to combat foreign interference. We already know that the former Liberal Prime Minister openly expressed admiration for China’s so-called ‘basic dictatorship.’
“But it became even more clear during the 2025 election that this perspective has infected the Liberal Party more broadly. A former Liberal MP for Markham—Unionville, Paul Chiang, called on people to turn in Conservative candidate Joe Tay to the Chinese consulate in exchange for a bounty issued by Beijing. Prime Minister Mark Carney stood by Chiang despite this egregious and dangerous call to action.
“From Communist-Beijing police stations operating in Canada to discovering that hundreds of Hamas-affiliated operatives have domestic ties, foreign interference continues to multiply due to Liberal inaction. In fact, the Liberals took over 6 years to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization, despite the House of Commons voting to support a Conservative motion to do just that back in 2018, after Iranian Canadians faced threats and intimidation from the regime for years, including on Canadian soil. Without a registry, the Liberals have no idea how many foreign agents operate inside of Canada, or what they do.
“Instead of urgently implementing a foreign agent registry, we learned today the Carney Liberals are mulling over fines for individuals who engage in foreign interference with some as low as $50.
“These are not the actions of a government that takes foreign interference seriously. In fact, they reflect the opposite, and are insulting to the countless Canadians, including Members of Parliament, who have and continue to be targeted by foreign intimidation and interference.
“Only a Conservative government, under the leadership of Pierre Poilievre, will swiftly implement a foreign agent registry to keep Canadians safe from foreign interference and intimidation by hostile foreign regimes.”