Canada summons Chinese ambassador over alleged threats to MP

By Firdevs Bulut Kartal

TORONTO (AA) - Canadian government on Thursday summoned China's ambassador over allegations that a Chinese diplomat was part of a plot to threaten a Conservative MP, according to media reports.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has information about a diplomat working out of China's Toronto consulate targeted Conservative MP Michael Chong and his family in Hong Kong due to his criticism of human rights record of Beijing, Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly said Thursday.

The situation is completely unacceptable, and the government is considering the consequences for this behavior, Joly told the House of Commons foreign affairs committee Thursday morning.

The federal government is open to expelling Chinese diplomats from Canada altogether, she added.

The Conservatives insist that the federal government did not act on the threat that arose around two years ago, while Trudeau said the intelligence agency decided not to notify anyone, according to CBC reports.

"We asked what happened to that information, was it ever briefed up out of CSIS? It was not. CSIS made the determination that it wasn't something that needed be raised to a higher level because it wasn't a significant enough concern," said Trudeau on Wednesday when asked by reporters about the alleged threats.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre presented a motion in House of Commons asking MPs to call on the government to take more drastic actions against all threats of foreign interference, including expelling Chinese diplomats.