O'Toole says he considered expelling a Conservative senator over foreign influence concerns

Former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole said Wednesday he contemplated expelling a Conservative senator from his party's caucus over concerns that the senator was involved in foreign influence.

Testifying in Ottawa before the inquiry into foreign interference, O'Toole said one of his MPs was told by a local mayor that a Conservative senator was actively working on behalf of a Chinese government-owned company.

«There was a member of our upper chamber caucus that an MP brought to me that he had been directly or indirectly promoting or lobbying an interest of a Chinese state-owned enterprise in a riding in Ontario,» O'Toole told the inquiry.

«There had been previous stories about sponsored travel and other things that led me to have some serious concerns considering some of the subjects that we were discussing within caucus. But it was that issue in a town in Ontario, potentially advocating for an economic interest, that really forced me to make a decision about some concerns about that member.»

O'Toole said the senator took «a pretty extensive trip» to China, which had been the subject of media reports.

O'Toole said he felt it was «completely inappropriate for a member of the Senate to be advocating for a commercial interest related to a foreign entity in a riding in Canada.»

«Given that we were having very serious discussions at the time with respect to the relationship with China, the situation with the two Michaels, the consideration of the plight of the Uyghur peoples, Hong Kong, I was very concerned about this member,» he said.

O'Toole said he could have used help from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service or other government intelligence experts, but didn't have access to them.

O'Toole was warned about claims of racism

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