Richmond city Coun. Alexa Loo said nothing was mentioned about the 73rd anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party at an arts and cultural event she attended on Friday.
Rather, there was “a lot of singing and dancing” at the fourth Chinese Culture and Art Festival, hosted by the Canada Sichuanese Friendship Association, and Loo said she didn’t see any connections or hear any mention made of the CCP at the event.
“I saw some stuff online, nobody talked about it (at the event),” she said.
Loo, however, was captured in a photo next to the consul-general and deputy consul-general of China at the event.
The arts and cultural event was co-organized by the Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations (CACA) and the invitation was from the Sichanese organziation and CACA, which is affiliated with pro-CCP organizations.
Loo said her role as a city councillor is to “build bridges” and arts and culture are an important way to do this.
“My goal is to bring people together,” she said, adding people at various events can have different opinions on issues and she doesn’t necessarily endorse all their opinions. Furthermore, her presence at the event wasn't a political endorsement, she added.
Loo said the event signage “clearly articulated” it was the “4th Chinese Culture and Arts Festival,” and it was only after the event she became aware of a “perceived connection to anything other than a culture and arts festival.”
Loo added that, as a Chinese Canadian and a councillor in a multicultural city, she attends many cultural events. Her son’s friend and classmate was performing at the event.
According to the City of Richmond, Loo was invited as an elected official, not as a “representative of the City,” although, in a video, Loo said she was there “on behalf” of the City of Richmond.
She also said at the event, in a video filmed by Snow Goose Media, she was pleased the “Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations (CACA) is putting this on so that everyone can come together and celebrate arts and culture together.”
CACA's website describes how they cooperate with the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office.
Last January, a federal court accepted evidence from Canada Border Services Agency that the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office was conducting espionage against Canadians whose interests may run contrary to those of China.
CACA has declined multiple attempts to speak to Glacier Media concerning the judgment.
But Loo told the Richmond News there are actors funded by the U.S. that target Richmond city council as well, citing a presentation from West Coast Environmental Law, which receives some funding from the U.S., such as from Tides Foundation, to city council last year.
A U.S. congressional commission on U.S.-China relations warned already in 2018 that the United Front “overseas Chinese work” targets foreign actors and states.
A statement by Canada’s Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Rob Oliphant, noted there has been an increase in RCMP investigations into foreign influence over the past few years, something the Mounties are “monitoring and actively investigating.”
“This work requires collaboration with police of local jurisdiction and other local partners, as these types of criminality are almost always brought to their attention first,” Oliphant said in a statement to the House of Commons.
“Should there be criminal or illegal activities occurring in Canada that are found to be backed by a foreign state, the Federal Policing National Security program will take the lead in these types of investigations, given the complexity and the classification of information that form their basis.”
When asked by the News, Loo said Richmond RCMP have not briefed city council on concerns around the CCP infiltrating local government.
- with files from Graeme Wood/Glacier Media
