China allies paid $2,000 to attend Carney fundraiser

The Chinese flag flies on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Wednesday June 1, 2016. Photo by Adrian Wyld /THE CANADIAN PRESS

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Several Toronto-area business people aligned in various ways with the Chinese government were among guests who paid close to $2,000 to attend a Liberal Party fundraiser with Prime Minister Mark Carney last month.

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The attendees included individuals and groups that have won praise from Chinese diplomats and agencies, echoed Beijing’s talking points on contentious issues and worked with Chinese Communist Party (CPP) organizations.
One guest’s presence evoked memories of the famous “dumpling-making” photo of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a controversial fundraiser a decade ago.

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Co-hosted by local MP Michael Ma, the dinner attracted attention even before it began. Ma crossed the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals in 2025, then drew controversy last month by pointedly challenging parliamentary testimony about the well-documented phenomenon of forced labour in China.

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The fact China-friendly figures paid $1,750 each to attend a gathering with Carney is a worrisome reminder of Beijing’s reach, indirectly at least, into federal politics, China critics charge.

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“By paying for that expensive ticket, you get the face-to-face acquaintance with the political VIP you like to associate with,” said Gloria Fung of the group Canada-Hong Kong Link.

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“There are steps — step by step — how these politicians could be lobbied and lured into the acceptance of the narrative promoted by donors,” she said. “I don’t want any of our government officials to run into this evil cycle again, because it won’t end there. It won’t end with a fundraising dinner.”

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The Liberals are not alone in their interactions with pro-China figures here. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre sat next to a prominent Beijing ally at a party-organized community-outreach event in 2023, while Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown was endorsed by a Toronto group and a then-senator aligned with Beijing when he ran for the Tory leadership in 2022.

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But Fung said the recent dinner came as China-boosting forces seem to be stepping up their influence efforts once more. A recent letter urged Chinese Canadians to support the Liberals as they pursue “friendly cooperation between Canada and China.” It was signed by 36 groups, including two that espouse “reunification” of China and Taiwan, a key policy goal of Beijing. Most residents of Taiwan, a self-governing island that has never been part of the People’s Republic, oppose such a merger.

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Meanwhile, a new organization – called Canadians United Against Modern Exclusion – has emerged to oppose government plans for a foreign-influence registry and other products of what it calls “foreign interference hysteria,” while evoking a law that excluded immigrants from China – and was repealed almost 80 years ago.
Cheuk Kwan of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China said he’s not surprised such figures would pay to associate with the governing Liberals, especially after Carney’s recent mending of fences with Beijing.

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“I am not surprised but I am also very, very concerned.”