The News Rundown

Liberal candidate invited head of suspected secret Chinese police station to campaign event

China as a threat to Canada and their interactions in our elections continues as we head into the final week of the campaign. Last week we talked about the alarming story of the CCP promoting Mark Carney.
This week we bring you a story of a Montreal Liberal candidate inviting the head of two organizations suspected by the RCMP of operating Chinese secret police stations.
Alexandra Mendès running in Brossard–Saint-Lambert invited Xixi Li who is known by the RCMP as the head of two controversial Chinese community organizations.
Li is the executive director of Service à la Famille Chinoise du Grand Montréal (SFCGM) and the Centre Sino-Québec de la Rive-Sud (CSQRS).
In 2023 it was announced that these two organizations housed a Chinese police station that was thought to be supporting the efforts to intimidate or silence critics of the CCP.
Initially the RCMP was investigating but a month later they announced that they had shut down illegal police activity.
The leadership of both groups have denied the RCMP’s allegations and went as far as filing a defamation lawsuit against the RCMP.
The Liberal party said there was “discomfort and consternation” after they found out about the invite but stressed no donation was taken.
The Liberals knew.
We discussed the Chinese police stations on this podcast and as a summary…
The SFCGM was designated as an Overseas Chinese Service Centre by China’s Overseas Chinese Affairs Office which later became part of China’s United Front Work Department in 2018.
Chinese media has published photos of Li with the directors of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office which was an integral part of the United Front Work Department.
Putting this all together, at this point Li went to this Liberal event. She has met with both China’s Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and the United Front Work Department.
Both the OCAO and UFWD are engaged in influence activities.
Former national security analyst Dennis Molinaro said, “It is well known that China uses community organizations to engage in united front influence activities. In a general sense, inviting groups connected to the UFWD or OCAO to political events could send the wrong message to Canadians and the diaspora community and the right message to China.”
Media silence.
Liberal science.
The fact that China has had an influence on this campaign and what that means.
The next government needs to step up their approach to China and foreign influence as a whole.
Right now the pushes made by China seem to be focused around influence.
Influence adds up and can lead to swaying votes.
China is a threat and we should start there in cracking down on foreign influence.
India, Russia, and others should also be looked into but China first.

Mark Carney’s platform was released on Saturday morning, and includes $130 billion in new spending which will see the country run deficits until at least the fiscal year 2028-2029.
Entitled “Unite, Secure, Protect, Build”-- the platform also commits more than $18 billion of spending on national defence, putting Canada on track to “exceed our NATO target by the year 2030,” according to policy experts who briefed reporters.
Part of those expenditures include new submarines and additional icebreakers for the Royal Canadian Navy, and the purchase of “Canadian-made airborne early warning and control aircraft.”
The billions in new spending over the next four years to support promises outlined in the platform would see the Liberals increase Canada’s deficit from a baseline outlined by Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer.
The PBO’s baseline indicated a deficit for this fiscal year of $46.8B, equal to 1.47% of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). That PBO baseline also showed the deficit to GDP ratio would drop to 1% next year and stay under that mark for at least the next two years.
Under a new Liberal government that would no longer be the case, here’s the four year deficit breakdown:
2025-26: $62.3B -- > 1.96% of GDP
2026-27: $59.9B -- > 1.83% of GDP
2027-28: $54.8B -- > 1.61% of GDP
2028-29: $47.8B -- > 1.35% of GDP
Carney's plan actually puts Canada even further into debt than what Justin Trudeau's economic update last fall indicated. This was the update that former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland reportedly resigned because there was no path back to balance.
Carney’s Liberal platform also separates the operating budget from capital spending.
Carney at a press conference in Whitby, Ontario said: “We will balance the operating budget over the next three years by cutting waste, by eliminating duplication and by deploying technology.”
One has to wonder exactly what "eliminating duplication and by deploying technology" means.
The Liberal platform does show a $222 million surplus in the operating budget at the end of the four-year term, as promised by Carney. The Liberal leader contends these measures will “grow our economy and offset the impacts of Trump’s tariffs,” according to the Liberal platform document.
The Liberal’s platform also indicates the government expects to generate $20 billion dollars in revenue from Canada’s tariff response. Carney has previously said that money would be used to help support affected businesses and workers. As the tariff war with the United States looms large over this federal election, U.S. President Donald Trump’s name appears eight times in the Liberal platform, a nod to the persistent threat posed by tariffs from the U.S. The word debt is printed only 3 times, with only one referring to government spending.
The 65-page document shows a reversal in the proportion of operating and capital spending within the government as Carney eyes attracting and stimulating private-sector investment amid the global economic crisis prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also released his fully costed platform Saturday in British Columbia. The Bloc Quebecois was the first party to release its full platform five days into the federal election campaign.
Carney said there is no room for “libertarians” during an economic crisis because that’s when the private sector retreats and governments must step up: “Governments must lead and catalyze private sector investments. The core of this platform is investing, and investing here at home is going to build out.”
The Liberal leader sought to contrast his vision against Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre by comparing his rival to Trump and his playbook, saying Poilievre would slash the public service and scrap the single-use plastics ban to bring back plastic straws. Carney said in a mocking tone: “That’ll show Trump, that’ll show the Americans – we’ve got our straws.”
Carney also said his plan would introduce some fiscal belt tightening on operations for a federal government that has been spending too much and investing too little. But while he pledged to balance the operating budget by 2028, the capital budget would still run a $48 billion deficit that year.
Poilievre spent most of an almost 25-minute long speech at a news conference in Richmond, B.C. Saturday heavily criticized the Liberal plan. “It’s a shocking plan,” Poilievre said, accusing the Liberals of ballooning the deficit that will lead to higher costs for Canadians. It's amazing how there's an almost 25 minute speech to pull quotes from, but 'it's a shocking plan' is all we get from Global News on it.
The media reporting on this story has been shoddy at best, with very little talking about how the ever increasing debt under the Liberals would have Canadians paying more in debt servicing costs and less on actual services. No one ever points out how the debt will eventually end up in cut services. And definitely no one has been scrutinizing the details of where all this spending will actually go. A week or so to go in the campaign and we're still left in the dark.
Supplementals:

New Alberta addiction model will see some users ordered into treatment

This week Alberta tabled the Compassionate Intervention Act. The Bill is aimed at supporting those with severe addiction who pose a risk to themselves or others.
This is one of the UCP’s election campaign promises under Danielle Smith who pledged to move to a recovery focused model.
Many have called the new Bill controversial but there are a series of safeguards in place we’ll get into shortly.
Under the legislation patients will be unable to refuse taking medication to treat their addiction, receiving clinical advice, and being observed, monitored, and assessed by the treatment team.
There have been concerns about how this will affect someone’s charter rights.
Monty Ghosh an associate professor at the University of Alberta and an addictions physician said there’s a lack of caution the province is taking.
Premier Danielle Smith said, “For those suffering from addiction, there are two paths — destruction or recovery. In Alberta, we choose recovery, ensuring our most vulnerable can access vital supports.”
Mental Health and Addiction Minister Dan Williams said, “Over the last 25 years, Canada has seen this dramatic shift where the activist class and the so called experts from community colleges have told us that we need to endanger our communities and forgo the dignity of the loved ones. There's this lie we've been told that we're choosing between caring for those in addiction and having safe communities."
If the Bill is passed in order for there to be an intervention the following criteria must be met:
An adult would have to be likely to cause substantial harm to themselves or others within a reasonable time due to their substance use or addiction.
For youth, the threshold would be slightly lower, to allow an intervention before the point of imminent danger and life-threatening harm.
To protect those receiving an intervention individuals will be presented with information about their rights including the right to legal counsel and the right to speak with the Alberta Mental Health Patient Advocate.
People will have the right to appeal and right to request a review of a treatment care plan.
Everything undertaken will follow the laws put in place by the Health Information Act, the Personal Information Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act Protection of Privacy Act.
And finally, individuals and guardians will need to agree to most treatment. There is a right to refuse. There will be certain treatment that cannot be refused, as set out in legislation. This is similar to the Mental Health Act, both here in Alberta and across every other Canadian province and territory.
Finally, this is intended to be a last resort where conventional supports have failed or are no longer available.
The NDP opposition did not have much to say on the detailed plan except that in their view “forced treatment” has, in their view, little evidence that it works and could have a negative outcome.
Alberta NDP mental health and addiction critic Janet Eremenko said, “What I think is incredibly important to communicate here is that forced treatment is a culmination of a failed drug policy from the UCP”
The Alberta government is open in that they have said that no one jurisdiction entirely mirrors Alberta’s approach.
They also admit there is a scholarly gap in research on mandated treatment.
Most research focuses on comparing voluntary versus involuntary treatment – which is not the case in Alberta.
In Norway 75% of patients with longer duration of care and followup found that intervention helped and they were happy someone cared enough to get them help.
In Massachusetts a study found that for people with opioid addiction followed people for 12 weeks. They received brief treatment (21 days) and opioid agonist treatments. By 12 weeks after release there were no deaths and 59% reported not relapsing back to opioid use.
People in safety sensitive occupations such as pilots, airline attendants, nurses, physicians, dentists and pharmacists all get similarly structured programs. These programs demonstrate incredible results including abstaining from drugs or alcohol in the range of about 70-95% long term, with frequent return to work and high quality of life outcomes.
Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre also announced this weekend that if elected the federal government will follow a similar strategy.
There will be opposition but as the UCP has shown they’re willing to try and reform areas of government where others have failed.
The important thing to remember is that a one size fits all approach seldom works and this needs to be used with every other tool we have as part of a comprehensive strategy.
The ultimate success will be empowering people to reclaim their lives which is the main angle the media missed this week.
Supplementals:

Firing Line

Liberal operatives planted 'stop the steal' buttons at conservative conference

Several staffers from the Liberal party did some sneaky things last weekend, during the Canada Strong and Free Networking (CSFN) Conference, formerly the Manning Conference where they planted buttons that used Trump-style language and tried to highlight division between Conservatives.
One said "stop the steal" — an apparent reference to Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The Liberal Party of Canada has tried desperately to tie Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to the American president in speeches and ads, and make the election all about Trump's trade war.
Another button had the name "Jenni Byrne" crossed out, with the name "Kory Teneycke" underneath. Byrne is the national campaign director for the Conservative Party of Canada. Teneycke is a longtime Conservative strategist, who played a key role in Ontario Premier Doug Ford's re-election campaign. He has been deeply critical of the Conservative Party of Canada's campaign to date.
Several others, in pictures uncovered by Toronto Sun journalist Bryan Passifume, showed more buttons including "Make Canada Great Again" "There Is No Climate Crisis" "Lock Justin Up" "A Vote for Mark Carney Is a Vote for Wexit" and "Danielle Smith for CPC leader 2026".
The buttons were scattered in the event space in a way to give the impression that they were made and left by people attending the conference. In fact, the idea came from the Liberal war room.
The way we know about the story is actually quite crazy. On Friday night, in two Ottawa bars, campaign workers shared how the party was behind this move — two Liberal Party staffers attended the conference intended for conservatives and placed these buttons in areas where attendees would find them.
At the pub D'Arcy McGee's near Parliament Hill, a number of Liberal war room staffers met for drinks on the far side of the bar. A CBC journalist joined one of them for a quick conversation, but heard another staffer, who had previously identified himself as being involved in opposition research, describing how he and a colleague planted the buttons.
The staffer knew he was sitting next to a journalist. When confronted, the staffer at first confirmed what he'd done. But he then denied saying anything when told that CBC News would be reporting on the operation. A Conservative source overheard the other conversation in a different bar.
And one might think, well that's pretty dumb, for someone to brag about their wrongdoings in a bar after having a few beers, but that tends to happen a lot when alcohol is involved.
The Liberal Party sat on the story for a few days before finally last Sunday evening said that some campaigners "regrettably got carried away" with the use of buttons "poking fun" at reports of Conservative infighting. Liberal spokesperson Kevin Lemkay said the party has conducted a review of the matter and that leader Mark Carney had made it clear "this does not fit his commitment to serious and positive discourse." Carney publicly apologized Monday, stating he was “unaware” and had “reassigned” the staffers. That's it, no firings, and the Liberals clearly wanted the story swept under the rug.
As journalist Warren Kinsella pointed out, the Liberals' statement on the scandal shows that they think Buttongate "(a) is not a big deal it's all good fun (b) we didn't do all of it just some of it and (c) it's serious and we are serious people but hey look at the Tories!"
People working on the Poilievre campaign were instructed not to attend the conference, and instead be out door-knocking.
Conservative Party of Canada spokesperson Sam Lilly said: "Despite their public claims, it's clear that it's the Liberals who are attempting to bring American-style politics to our country. One wonders what other dirty tricks the Liberals are behind as they desperately seek to distract from their disastrous record while seeking a fourth Liberal term."
Conservative candidates are now accusing the Liberals of “importing American-style politics” and running “sophisticated disinformation campaigns.” Conservative candidate Michael Barrett went so far as to float the idea that a group that appeared at one of Poilievre’s rallies with banners casting doubt on poll numbers last week were undercover Liberals engaging in an “astroturf disinfo campaign”. The group actually has ties with supporters of Doug Ford’s Ontario PCs, but one has to wonder if maybe Doug Ford wants the Liberals to win instead.
It’s worth pausing and reflecting on what these operatives were really doing here. They were not simply distributing satirical buttons to make a point. What is more likely is that they were hoping that unsuspecting journalists or bystanders would notice these buttons and post photos on social media as if they were both authentic and revealing. That’s the textbook definition of disinformation.
Perversely, in their attempt to make the Conservatives look like conspiracists, the Liberal staffers have helped to promote and encourage precisely the kind of conspiratorial thinking they sought to lampoon. Those already primed to believe in election conspiracies or to reject the eventual outcome of this federal election are now far more likely to do so.
Some might shrug off the incident as just a prank or an attempt at trolling. But that overlooks the corrosive effect these dirty tricks and deceptive tactics can have on our democracy. After all, how can we have healthy debates about policies or the future of our country when we’re all left questioning what’s real and what’s fake?
The fact that less than a week later the story has been completely buried says all you need to know about the media's coverage of the election campaign.
Supplementals:

Quote of the Week

"Despite their public claims, it's clear that it's the Liberals who are attempting to bring American-style politics to our country. One wonders what other dirty tricks the Liberals are behind as they desperately seek to distract from their disastrous record while seeking a fourth Liberal term." - Conservative Party of Canada spokesperson Sam Lilly on Liberal operatives leaving inflammatory material in a conservative conference.

Word of the Week

Harm - to injure or have an adverse effect upon something

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Show Data

Episode Title: Pushing Buttons
Teaser: A Liberal candidate invited Chinese influence into the campaign, Carney’s platform puts Canada further into debt, and a new Alberta addictions plan looks at involuntary treatment. Also, Liberal staffers spread disinformation buttons.
Production Code: WC-414-2025-04-19
Recorded Date: April 19, 2025
Release Date: April 20, 2025
Duration: 1:06:22
Edit Notes: None

Podcast Summary Notes

Duration: XX:XX