House Committee Initiates Inquiry into Chinese Cyberattack Targeting Legislators

June 4, 2024 TruthUSA

A House of Commons committee has started looking into a cyberattack in 2021 by a Chinese hacking group that targeted parliamentarians.

MPs unanimously voted last month to launch the investigation. Testimony on June 4 revealed that Chinese cyber threat actors targeted 18 Canadian MPs and senators. This incident followed a U.S. indictment in March, charging seven hackers from the APT31 group, known for targeting political and business figures critical of the Beijing regime.

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis, one of the affected parliamentarians, expressed frustration during a Procedure and House Affairs committee meeting for not being informed of the attack. He criticized the government for not actively notifying parliamentarians about the threat.

When Mr. Genuis inquired about the issue, House of Commons clerk Eric Janse mentioned exchanges between security partners and the House Administration but did not provide further details during the televised committee meeting.

Mr. Genuis and Liberal MP John McKay raised concerns in an April 29 statement about not being informed of the threat. They noted that despite U.S. intelligence warnings about APT31’s activities in 2022, the Canadian government did not notify the affected parliamentarians.

Both MPs serve as co-chairs of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), an international group of legislators working to address Beijing’s threat more effectively, with IPAC members being prime targets of APT31, as per the U.S. indictment.

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Mr. Genuis raised a question of privilege on April 29 and proposed an investigation motion in a House committee. He highlighted similarities between his case and that of Conservative colleague Michael Chong, who, according to an intelligence leak in May 2023, was an intelligence target and received no government warning.

The Procedure and House Affairs committee was tasked with reviewing a question of privilege related to Mr. Chong’s situation in May 2023. The committee outlined recommendations in an April 2024 report, including establishing a protocol to inform the whips about foreign interference threats.

Referring to the report, Mr. Janse informed MPs that agreements with security partners relevant to these recommendations are already in place. He added that Mr. Genuis’ question of privilege would allow the committee to explore additional measures to safeguard parliamentarians from cyber threats.

“Cyber attacks have various objectives, including affecting our technical systems and hindering members’ work. They can try to steal confidential information, impacting members’ work on sensitive matters,” he stated.

“These attacks may also aim to intimidate members, thereby disrupting the House’s operations,” he continued. “When individual members face obstacles, it can hinder the House’s overall functioning.”

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