Canadians United Against Modern Exclusion
(CUAME)

PRESS RELEASE

December 19, 2025

Canadians United Against Modern Exclusion (CUAME) denounces the National Post article of 18 December 2025 entitled "Newest Liberal Faces Questions on China Stance".  The article gives voice to the baseless allegation that newly-minted Liberal MP Michael Ma is a "Beijing puppet" based on his previous employment and his attendance at events deemed to be unacceptable by self-selected guardians of Canada's democratic space.

Whatever the merits of Mr Ma's defection to the Liberal party, he does not deserve to be labeled as a foreign agent or proxy simply because he switched political allegiances.  Where were the accusations against him when he ran as a Conservative candidate and sat as a Conservative MP for eight months?

It is telling that the accusations of disloyalty stem from the same sources that have been promoting a Canadian form of McCarthyism for a number of years now, and which many of our media outlets seem to be in thrall to.  The playbook is always the same:  To accuse public figures of being foreign agents or proxies based on the events they attend, the people they associate with, or the views they may espouse, and to equate those activities with foreign interference.  This kind of disinformation and targeting of individuals has the effect of stigmatizing certain types of democratic activity and free speech, and to narrow the scope for public policy debate on issues such as Canada-China relations. In publishing this article, the National Post has shown itself to be a willing accomplice. 

CUAME has documented this kind of "modern exclusion" through a series of case studies available at https://www.cuame.ca/studies.  Sadly, Mr Ma has become yet another case study of foreign interference hysteria in this country.    

Media Enquiries: info@cuame.ca

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