BC NDP MLA Jenny Kwan is telling federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews to fire CSIS Director Richard Fadden if he doesn’t clear up his statements that some politicians in Canada are under foreign control.

In a statement issued today, Kwan said “public remarks by Fadden on three separate occasions are continuing to create confusion” and may put at risk ties with China and other nations that Kwan and other politicians in B.C. have been trying to build for years. “As we continue to work diligently to build relationships with China and other countries as elected officials, are we now under threat of surveillance by CSIS?” Kwan asks in her statement.

Kwan, who is Economic Development Critic for the NDP opposition in B.C., goes on to ask: “If Richard Fadden can have CSIS spy on elected leaders without providing details, then it raises serious questions about who is in charge and if public oversight of the security agency is adequate.”

Kwan’s 19-paragraph statement demands that Fadden address a number of questions raised by his recent statements, and ends with this demand:

“If Mr. Fadden won’t act on his own accord, Minister Toews should hold him accountable for his irresponsible actions and ask for his resignations now.”

David Beers is editor of The Tyee.