A Canadian government Task Force that monitors election interference by foreign countries revealed on Monday that Chinese state-linked social media posts were amplifying messages promoting unelected leftist Prime Minister Mark Carney as a “rock star economist” and worthy adversary to President Donald Trump.
The messages were associated with a news account on the Chinese social media app WeChat called “Youli-Youmian,” which is linked to the Chinese Communist Party according to the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force. The SITE task force refused to categorize the posts as necessarily positive, insisting that some references to Carney were neutral, and emphasized that, in its opinion, the foreign propaganda was not materially affecting the Canadian election. It described the content only as being about Mark Carney.
The Globe and Mail newspaper described the posts as celebrating Carney for challenging Trump on his tariff policy, which has been favorable for Canada relative to many other countries. One post reportedly described Carney as a “rock star economist” while another praised him as a “tough prime minister” and shared a description of him as “the only adult in the room.” The posts were reportedly in Chinese text and targeting Chinese-Canadian voters.
“The SITE Task Force observed large spikes of coordinated inauthentic behaviour preceding the election campaign, on March 10, and again during the writ period on March 25, 2025,” the government agency said in a statement. “The SITE Task Force will be discussing this issue with Tencent, the developer of WeChat, to raise our concerns.”
SITE insisted that, “at this time, the Panel has determined that this activity is not affecting Canada’s ability to have a free and fair election. This case is contained to one platform and has not spread further, nor is it affecting Canadians’ abilities to make an informed decision about their vote.”
At a press conference on Monday, Privy Council Office official Laurie-Anne Kempton claimed the materials in question “had contrasting positive and negative narratives” but described the alleged “negative” narratives as “targeting his experience and credentials.” Prior to being appointed prime minister, Carney ran both the Bank of England and Bank of Canada and had extensive experience as a shadow adviser to Trudeau on issues such as climate alarmism and civil rights abuses during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
“I don’t think we can speak to the intent, but I will say that the PRC (People’s Republic of China) should not be trying to shape the opinions of Canadians, particularly during an election period,” Kempton said.
Speaking to the National Post, former national security analyst Stephanie Carvin described the posts as falling short of a “full-throated endorsement” of Carney, instead more subtly painting a positive image of the prime minister.
“It could be that they’re trying to support Carney. It could be that they’re just testing the waters,” Carvin suggested. “And then the third thing could be that this is something that they felt sent a message that perhaps is just not clear to us. Because, I want to be very clear here, they don’t always understand democracy.”
Canada has scheduled a general election for April 28 to replace longstanding pro-China Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who resigned in January after an embarrassing display attempting to negotiate with then-President-elect Trump in Florida last year. The Liberal Party hastily replaced Trudeau with Carney — a lifetime finance expert with no political experience — in March and rapidly scheduled an election to limit the length of the election cycle.
Carney’s top rival is the leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, who is largely campaigning on reducing taxes and the cost of living in the country.
A new Conservative government will target tax cheats, expose their offshore fortunes—and bring the money home.
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) April 8, 2025
We'll fund roads, schools, and hospitals and reward hard work by lowering your taxes in Canada — For a Change: https://t.co/eIy7PDua09 pic.twitter.com/wVgLwOsCto
Poilievre has weighed in only in a limited manner on the Chinese election interference revelation. The Conservatives’ top foreign policy official, shadow foreign minister Michael Chong, issued a statement on Monday categorically accusing China of attempting to get Carney elected.
“Make no mistake, the Communist Party in Beijing is engaging in a sophisticated campaign to interfere in Canada’s election with the aim of re-electing Mark Carney and the Liberals to a fourth term,” Chong said. “The next Government of Canada should be chosen by Canadians and Canadians alone.”
My statement on Beijing’s foreign interference in Canada’s 45th General Election.#cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/QkVJ7sZqNu
— Michael Chong 🇨🇦 (@MichaelChongMP) April 7, 2025
“They know that the Liberals have stood by as Beijing interfered in our democracy, targeted and harassed our citizens, and threatened Canada’s interests at home and abroad,” Chong observed, vowing that Poilievre “would put an end to foreign interference in our country.”
The note on harassing Canadian citizens appears to be a reference to a separate scandal involving Mark Carney that erupted last week when a now-former Liberal Party parliament candidate, Paul Chiang, was revealed to have encouraged Chinese-Canadians to apprehend his opponent, anti-communist activist Joe Tay, so that the Chinese government would give them a “million-dollar reward.” Carney stood by Chiang, refusing to demand that he step down in representation of the Liberals. Chiang ultimately withdrew from the race, but not at Carney’s public behest.
Carney has a long history in finance that drew him close to China. Following the Chiang debacle, Canadian outlets uncovered an article in the state-run Beijing Daily describing Carney’s visit to the Chinese capital in October when he was still the head of Brookfield Asset Management. Carney reportedly was an enthusiastic proponent of Chinese investment.
Carney, it claimed, personally “highlighted Brookfield Asset Management’s keen interest in seizing development in China, further expanding its business in Beijing, and deepening cooperation with relevant partners in areas such as green finance, fund management, and infrastructure investment.”
A month after Carney’s visit, Brookfield secured a $276 million 15-year loan with four percent interest from a Chinese bank.
“His company owes the Chinese state-owned bank a quarter billion dollars,” Poilievre observed last week. “He protected a Liberal candidate & MP who said a Canadian citizen should be turned over to Beijing for a bounty. And now we find out he lobbied the Chinese government weeks before becoming PM to ‘deepen co-operation.’”
Carney’s Liberals are leading the Conservatives in most major national polls, the CBC’s polling average showed on Tuesday. The polls the CBC tracks have found an average of 44 percent support for Liberals compared to 36.9 percent for conservatives. In January, prior to Carney assuming the leadership of the party, Poilievre was leading the Liberals by over 20 points.
