Exclusive: Eby advisor claims two Conservative leadership hopefuls denied foreign interference had a role in the 2021 federal election

Peter Milobar says he attended event, but disputed what Ding Guo said.

An advisor to Premier David Eby said his organization hosted two Conservative Party of B.C. leadership candidates and they both denied Chinese foreign interference played a role in Richmond during the 2021 federal election.

In an English translation of a video posted to WeChat, Canada Committee 100 Society (CCS 100) founding president Ding Guo did not name the candidates, but said he “raised concerns about the previous federal election, where some attributed the loss of an MP to foreign interference on voters in Richmond. I asked for their stance on these views.”

Peter Milobar at a Canada Committee 100 Society event in Richmond. The screen reads: “A Dialogue Between CCS 100 and Peter Milobar.”

“Both candidates expressed their disagreement with such characterizations,” Ding said.

theBreaker.news confirmed with Peter Milobar that he spoke at a CCS 100 event in Richmond’s Phantom Creek Estates hospitality centre attended by 50 to 60 people.

Milobar said he had not met Ding before the event and could not remember if Ding was the host or master of ceremonies sitting next to him, or if he asked a question from the crowd.

Milobar said Ding’s statement was inaccurate.

“I stated I have concerns about foreign interference regardless of country of origin, including [non-governmental organizations] with foreign money from foundations that shape things as well in B.C. and Canada,” said Milobar, the Conservative finance critic and Kamloops Centre MLA.

Milobar said it would have been the same day as another event in Richmond, a campaign banquet at Neptune Seafood Restaurant on April 4.

“I can’t control what others — how they may want to interpret what I say or didn’t —when I know what I’ve said.”

Ding, who also goes by David Ding, has not responded for comment.

Premier David Eby (left) and Ding Guo last fall at the Phantom Creek Estates hospitality centre in Richmond. (CCS100)

In 2021, before he became premier, Eby’s Attorney General ministry granted CCS 100 $20,000 to host 10 Chinese-speaking meetings in Vancouver, Richmond and Kelowna to discuss race-based data collection.

The Hogue Commission’s final report in 2025 said foreign interference was a factor in the 2021 loss of incumbent Conservative Kenny Chiu in the Steveston-Richmond East election.

Chiu had proposed a registry of foreign agents and voted to condemn China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims.

The Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections investigated Trudeau Liberal candidate Parm Bains’ 2021 upset victory. OCCE looked at the Chinese-Canadians Goto Vote campaign and a pivotal meeting in Steveston between Bains and prominent members of local United Front groups.

“Although information received during the review led to suspicions that attempts to influence the Chinese-Canadian community existed, the [OCCE] did not obtain sufficient evidence to support any of the elements of undue foreign influence or other contraventions of the Act,” the report said.

Premier David Eby (left) with Ding Guo at a CCS 100 event in 2024.

“Investigators did, however, find indications that PRC officials gave impetus and direction to an anti-Conservative Party campaign, which was then carried out and amplified by an array of associations and individuals using various communication channels.”

Foreign Interference Commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue called China “the most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions.”

Hogue said China “targets all levels of government in Canada,” through the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, which “tries to control and influence Chinese diaspora communities, shape international opinions and influence politicians to support PRC policies.”