RCMP investigators say they have found no evidence at this point of fraud related to allegations of vote buying in the Vancouver region ahead of Saturday’s municipal elections
Richmond RCMP announced an investigation last Friday after the force received complaints about a Richmond-based group calling itself the Canada Wenzhou Friendship Society. The complaints from Richmond, Vancouver and Burnaby followed allegations that the group posted on a Chinese-language social media app that it would provide voters with a $20 “transportation fee” if they went to the polls. The WeChat post also encouraged its members to vote for some specific mayoral and council candidates.
Richmond RCMP announced Friday morning that they haven’t discovered any evidence of criminality.
“Thus far in our investigation, we have uncovered no evidence to substantiate a criminal or British Columbia Local Government Act charge. Subject or subjects involved with the allegations have co-operated with police,” Corporal Dennis Hwang, media relations officer for the Richmond RCMP, said in a news release.
He noted that the Richmond RCMP has only received third-party allegations of wrongdoing and that no individuals have come forward to allege that they were victims. Cpl. Hwang also encouraged anyone who believes they were a victim to come forward to police.
A spokesperson for the Burnaby RCMP, which is assisting the Richmond RCMP with the investigation, said the Burnaby force has also not found any evidence.
Constable Jason Doucette, spokesperson for the Vancouver Police Department, said in the e-mail that the RCMP is leading the investigation, and as of Friday, there is no indication of an offence.
The Canada Wenzhou Friendship Society did not respond to multiple phone calls and e-mails seeking comment.
According to the WeChat post earlier this month, the group encouraged people to vote in the municipal elections, and that "Wenzhou Friendship Society will subsidize everyone who votes with $20 transportation fee.”
A volunteer with the group told The Globe and Mail last Friday that it planned to drive voters, especially the elderly, to different voting locations. Amy, who would only provide her first name, said the idea of the subsidy came up when the society realized that it didn’t have enough people to provide the transportation, and the money was meant to help people subsidize their own transport.
She said that the offer was withdrawn as soon as the society was made aware that there were concerns.
In the post, the group also asked its members to support a list of candidates: including Vancouver mayoral candidates Wai Young and Fred Harding; Vancouver council candidates Jason Xie and Wei Qiao Zhang; Richmond mayoral candidate Hong Guo; Richmond council candidates Peter Liu, Chak Au and Melissa Zhang; and Burnaby council candidate James Wang.
Mr. Liu said he is an “innocent victim” of this incident, and that his campaign has been hugely affected.
“After some [reporting], many voters started to become suspicious about Chinese-Canadian candidates,” Mr. Liu said in an interview. “Even though the RCMP has made the clarification, but there already has negative impact.”
He added that the RCMP should continue its investigation until it has a clear conclusion.