WARMINGTON: Toronto MP Kevin Vuong says he will vote to remove David Johnston as special rapporteur

Saying “enough is enough,” a Toronto MP says the time to investigate what went on with communist Chinese forces influencing Canadian elections is now.

Himself a “victim” of communist interference, Spadina-Fort York MP Kevin Vuong said the stubborn effort by the Trudeau government to prevent a public inquiry should cease immediately.

“We need a federal inquiry and everybody knows that,” said Vuong.

There have been many final straws. His own situation which includes bomb threats on his office, the fact that fellow MPs of Chinese ancestry were targeted and, now, as Brian Lilley covered in Wednesday’s Sun, former Opposition leader Erin O’Toole was focused on.

The gig, Vuong said, is up.

“It is critical for the integrity of our democracy that a non-partisan public inquiry be held,” said Vuong. “Until we shine a light into the shadows where foreign operatives hide, a cloud will hang over Canadians of Chinese heritage.”

So, with a heavy heart, the 34-year-old said as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces naval reserves, who served under the leadership of Governor General David Johnston, it pains him to have to vote to terminate his old boss.

But, he said, that is what he will do when the House of Commons votes this week on NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s motion to see Johnston removed as special rapporteur looking into alleged communist Chinese meddling in Canadian elections and democracy.

“The NDP motion calling for a public inquiry and for David Johnston to step down is unfortunately necessary,” Vuong said. “As our vice-regal, he exemplified duty and service to country.”

But, said Vuong, “the perceived conflicts from Johnston’s own longstanding history with China, from opening the first Confucius Institute in Canada to his three daughters having all studied in China, his role as a governing member on the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation who received donations from CCP affiliates, and the latest revelation that his counsel is a long-time, exclusively Liberal political donor has made his continued involvement untenable.”

The country has been hurt by this mess but Vuong said it has been “especially hard” for the MPs of “Chinese ethnicity” who have had the humiliation of being briefed by CSIS that they were earmarked by CCP operatives.

In his case, news of a previously dropped erroneous sexual assault allegation was brought back up right before the election in 2021. He ended up winning but was forced out of the Liberal Party and now sits as an independent.

“The communists didn’t want me to be the MP,” he said, adding his parents of Chinese heritage escaped the communists in Vietnam and came to Canada for freedom.

That freedom, he said, is what he is fighting for now and why he is speaking out. When there are illegal communist Chinese police stations in Canada, and there are “honey traps” to try to put people into compromising positions, Vuong said things have gone too far.

While he may not always politically agree with fellow MPs of Chinese heritage Conservative Michael Chong, Liberal Han Dong and NDP Jenny Kwan, he said he feels for them all and their families for having been subjected to all of this turmoil and controversy.

“MPs and their families have been threatened,” said Vuong. “From Michael Chong’s family in Hong Kong to Jenny Kwan in B.C., both targeted for their outspokenness on the dismantling of Hong Kong’s democratic institutions and the ongoing Uyghur genocide. Erin O’Toole has also now revealed that CSIS informed him that he, his relatives in HK, and the Conservative Party during the 2021 election were targeted.”

1. LILLEY: After O'Toole's revelations on China, an inquiry must be held

2. WARMINGTON: 'Honey trap' setups by Chinese agents used to control, says Toronto MP Kevin Vuong says the tactic of using sex to put people in a vulnerable position is putting the country’s democracy at risk Author of the article:Joe Warmington

Although he’s had spirited political battles for roster spots to run for office with Dong, Vuong said he feels for the Don Valley North MP whose name has been dragged through the mud on unfounded allegations he encouraged authorities to not release the two Michaels from Chinese custody.

“I have empathy for him and especially his family and supporters,” said Vuong. “I unfortunately know through personal experience what it’s like to be tried and convicted by the court of public opinion.”

Vuong said the madness has to stop.

“I think about people like my parents, who risked their lives to come to Canada, evaded communist soldiers, fought off pirates, and survived two years in a refugee camp because they wanted to live in a country that embraced democratic and human rights” only to find “those same oppressive regimes seemingly have free reign to continue their coercion.”

MPs, he said, can end this circus by supporting the NDP motion asking Trudeau to do the right thing and have an open inquiry.

jwarmington@postmedia.com