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Canadians United Against Modern Exclusion
Case Studies of Modern Exclusion
Modern Exclusion in the Digital Public Square
This case study examines a government-funded 2024 report by Digital Public Square, which claims to shed light on Chinese government interference in Canada. While raising legitimate concerns about transnational repression, the report paints Chinese Canadians as a monolithic group uniquely susceptible to foreign influence, conflates opinion with fact, and lacks methodological transparency. Its framing may contribute to the marginalization of the Chinese Canadian community and reflects a broader trend of modern exclusion, where individuals are too often presumed disloyal based on ethnicity alone.
Litmus Testing as a Tool of Political Exclusion
This case study examines how litmus testing—judging individuals’ loyalty based on their views on specific issues—has been practiced in Canada. Through three examples involving parliamentary committee hearings and a public inquiry, it shows how litmus testing shifts the focus in conversations about foreign interference from evidence and logic to personal opinion and prejudice. This practice not only harms those directly implicated but also discourages broader political participation, by equating loyalty to Canada with holding certain approved views.
Dotting the Map: Modern Exclusion and the Making of the Disloyal Canadian
This case study analyzes Dotting the Map (DTM), a website by Found in Translation and Canadian Friends of Hong Kong that names Canadians allegedly acting as proxies for the Chinese government. Focusing on the facts behind the designation of Ng Weng Hoong as aproxy, we outline how DTM incorrectly conflates opposition to anti-Chinese racism with support for the Chinese government. Such labelling constitutes a form of modern exclusion, where individuals—especially of Chinese descent—are viewed as disloyal to Canada based on their ethnic origin and are marginalized for expressing views that diverge from dominant narratives.
Foreign Interference and the Exclusion of Chinese Canadians
This case study examines how the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference contributed to the exclusion of Chinese Canadians. Although framed as a neutral investigation into foreign threats to democracy, the inquiry marginalized the perspectives of the majority of Chinese Canadians and treated contested claims as objective evidence of interference. In doing so, it reinforced harmful assumptions that Chinese Canadians act under the direction of the Chinese government rather than their own judgment. These dynamics show how stated efforts to safeguard democracy can reproduce racialized narratives, constrain political participation, and reinforce broader patterns of exclusion.
All case study content has been prepared using publicly available information and has been reviewed for accuracy to the extent possible.