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Alleged Chinese police stations still open in Quebec, despite minister’s claims

May 1, 2023 | 11:41 AM

MONTREAL — Two Montreal-area community groups under investigation for allegedly hosting secret Chinese government police stations say they are operating normally.

Their comments contradict claims made last week by federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, who told a parliamentary committee that the RCMP had closed all the alleged secret police stations in the country.

The RCMP say their investigation into the suspected police stations in Montreal and its South Shore suburb Brossard, Que., is ongoing.

But the two Chinese groups — Service à la Famille Chinoise du Grand Montréal and Centre Sino-Québec de la Rive-Sud — say they haven’t been asked to close by the federal police force.

The said Friday in a joint statement that they have co-operated with the investigation but that communication between them and the RCMP had ceased. 

The alleged police stations are described as overseas outposts that harass people on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, but the  Chinese government has denied those claims.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2023.

The Canadian Press