明报/外交部长的国会秘书周五发表声明，承认他给中国新华社多伦多分社女记者发电子邮件，行文有调情字句。联邦保守党政府连忙采取补救行动，总理办公室的电邮说，国会秘书没有不当表现。
外交部长白谔德(John Baird)的国会秘书鲍勃德克特(Bob Dechert)周五晚间发声明道歉，承认他与新华社多伦多首席记者施蓉(Shi Rong)在华语访问中相识，成为朋友。他说，电邮只是说说亲昵话，没有别的用意。“电邮有说调情话，友谊还是纯洁的，仅此而已，那是友情。这事如有伤害他人，我为此道歉。”
总理办公室发言人麦克杜格尔(Andrew Mac Dougall)发出电邮，回应此事，指德克特“否认不当行为，我们手上没有其他资料，证明相反说法”。
德克特在声明中说，施蓉的电邮“被黑客入侵，事情涉及持续的家庭纠纷”。施蓉告诉《环球邮报》(Globe and Mail)，是她的丈夫入侵她的电邮帐户。
施称丈夫入侵电邮帐户
大批电邮周四疯传加拿大240多个媒体、学术、政治和商界代表，据说电邮附录德克特透过[email protected]邮址发给[email protected]的邮件。
德克特2010年4月17日从国会办公室电邮地址发出邮件，感谢施蓉给他寄上7年前拍摄的照片。
鲍勃：想念你，爱你
电邮说：“你真美丽，我真的喜欢你在水边拍下的照片，你鼓起腮子，样子很有趣，我喜爱你这个样子。如今，我更想念你。”
另一封电邮在2010年4月20日发出，它邀请施蓉看电视，留意晚上渥京的投票。“亲爱的蓉，今天过得好吗，你在皇家银行(RBC)的访问顺利吗？资料够不够，可写文章吗？”
写信人告诉施蓉，“下午12时刚过”，他们抵达渥太华，“我想起你，就是享受旅程”。电邮鼓励她在那天，观看电视转播众议院议投票。“我们会在下午6时30分投票，如果你有时间，请看电视或在电脑看(CPAC网站)，我会向你微笑。”电邮结尾说：“我想念你，爱你的，鲍勃。”
施蓉回电说，为了他她会观看。众议院纪录显示，那天德克特3次投票。
施蓉的帐户周五清早发电邮给她的联络人，为黑客事件道歉。“有人入侵这邮箱，发出绝不真实的信息，以后不要理会这个邮箱发出的电邮。”
德克特2008年当选国会议员，代表密西沙加－艾林黛尔(Mississauga-Erindale)选区。他是活跃于华社的政治人物。2011年5月，他出任外交部长国会秘书，掌握敏感的政府信息，他也有参加众议院外交事务委员会。
华社活跃政治人物
2010年4月，他发出调情电邮时，刚获委任为司法部长国会秘书。德克特原任律师，他的网页说，他与克拉克(Ruth Clark)结婚。
他也加入加中国会议员协会(Canada China Legislative Association)，那是1998年成立的国会论坛，它“提倡加拿大国会议员和中国人大委员交换信息”。他积极参加华社内活动，去年底参加密西沙加华商会一年一度的圣诞联欢会，其他嘉宾还包括省议员德拉尼(Bob Delaney)夫妇及密市市长麦考莲。
2009年，他陪同总理哈珀访问中国，据说他对中国商业和贸易很有兴趣。
新华社多伦多分社 施蓉为主理人
据悉，新华社多伦多分社以施蓉为主理人，其外发的名片上印有多伦多分社首席记者的名衔，而施蓉在本地聘有3人，他们包括一名文字记者、一名摄影记者和一名摄影师，他们并不属于新华社的编制内，职衔是报道员。
施蓉本人非常活跃，日前还采访李娜参加本地约克大学举行的罗渣士杯(Rogers Cup)，与同行一同午膳，然而对于今次爆出的丑闻案，有接近施蓉的人士指出，他们毫不知情。
施蓉本人于北京大学毕业，来加工作只有一年多。
外长国会秘书 与新华社女记者暧昧
世界日报/联邦保守党国会议员、外交部长白谔德的国会秘书德克特（Bob Dechert），9日在网路上发表声明，承认与中国新华社驻多伦多记者施蓉互发含有暧昧和调情字眼的电子邮件，但双方只是朋友关系。
8日夜间，德克特写给施蓉的大量私人电子邮件，被发送至加拿大全国范围内逾240家媒体、学术单位、政治及商业机构的联络人，其中不乏德克特向施蓉表示爱慕的亲密电邮。这些写给新华社女记者的邮件，均是德克特用他的国会电邮帐户发出。
德克特说，他在一次华裔记者会上结识了施蓉，但只是普通朋友关系而已，他与施蓉之间的通信之所以被泄露，可能是一些想挑起加中两国纠纷的骇客，侵入施蓉的电邮后再泄露出去。
虽然德克特承认与施蓉间的电邮含有调情字眼，但他强调两人之间是纯粹的友谊关系，如果他写的这些信件伤害了什么人，他谨表示道歉。
渥太华公民报（Ottawa Citizen）9日在网际网路上公布了德克特与施蓉通信的部分内容，其中一封在2010年4月17日发出的电邮写道：“你是如此美丽，真的很喜欢你在水边拍的那张照片，你鼓起面腮的样子太可爱了，现在对你的想念更加绵长。”
在另一封去年4月20日发出的邮件中，德克特写道，他才抵达渥太华，“我以思念你的方式享受长途驾车。”
施蓉则对公民报表示，她称自己的电子信箱遭骇客侵袭，那些所谓的电子邮件全部是伪造的。但在随后在接受环球邮报采访时，施蓉又改口说是她丈夫侵入了她的电子邮箱，并将那些邮件群发出去。主流媒体质疑作为外交部长国会秘书的德克特，居然与中国记者之间有扑朔迷离的亲密关系，令人不禁担心政府会受到外国势力的影响。
环球邮报的报导还称，新华社是中华人民共和国的官方新闻机构，西方反间谍组织一向把新华社视为中国的情报组织。
总理哈珀的发言人麦道格（Andrew MacDougall）表示，暂不因电邮事件对德克特作出任何处罚，因为德特克否认自己做过任何不恰当的行为，并且目前联邦政府也没有发现他有任何过错。
德克特是来自安省密西沙加-艾林岱尔选区（Mississauga- Erindale）选区的国会议员，在2008年大选中，他以自己的成功当选，为保守党攻破了自由党在大多伦多地区的一统天下，从而为2011年5月联邦大选中保守党的压倒性胜利奠定了基础。
进入政坛前，德克特克之前曾任加拿大帝国俱乐部（Empire Club of Canada ）主席；在担任现职前，他是联邦法务部长的国会秘书。
德克特与妻子克拉克（Ruth Clark）居住在密西沙加市。
电邮情挑新华社女记 国会议员发声明解画
星岛日报/保守党国会议员德克特（Bob Dechert）向中国新华社驻多伦多女记者频发调情电邮一事昨天传得沸沸扬扬，令执政的保守党颜面蒙羞。而当事人德克特议员急于解释，坚称双方只是朋友关系，矢口否认有何不当行为。但鉴于两人的身份特殊，再次引起公众质疑外国对加国政府的影响。
议员德克特为外交部长白德（John Baird）的国会秘书，而女方施蓉（Shi Rong）则是新华社记者。
这类电子邮件从德克特的国会电邮账户上发出，收件人则是施蓉女士。本次事件于周四晚被揭示出来，成批电邮发送至全国超过240个传媒、专业、政治及商界人士。
代表密西沙加-艾灵岱尔（Mississauga-Erindale）选区的国会议员德克特事后在网站上发布的一则声明中说：“我所认识的这个人是一名新闻从业员，为朋友关系。我是在中文传媒活动中与她相识的。”
德克特写道：“以我所知，由于家庭纠纷，她的电邮遭骇。这类电子邮件具调情性质，但友情仍然是无辜的，这只是朋友之交。”“本人向该事件中受伤的人士道歉。”但德克特并未立即回应媒体采访的请求。
《渥太华公民报》（Ottawa Citizen）周五在网上登录了电子邮件的节录，其中一份日期为2010年4月17日的电邮中写道“你如此美丽，我实在喜欢那张你伫立水边，微风抚面的照片，看上去如此可爱。当你摆出这一姿势时我非常喜欢。现在，我更加惦念你。”
电邮下方的署名为“鲍伯．德克特，国会议员”
尽管这纯属私人关系，但鉴于双方的特殊身份，引起公众质疑外国对加国政府的影响。
新华社为中国官方新闻机构。
女记施蓉自爆 丈夫骇入电邮
新华社女记者施蓉向《渥太华公民报》表示，她的电邮账户遭骇客攻入，那些讯息都是假的。而据《环球邮报》报道，施蓉周四晚接受该报记者采访时，更直指散布德克特私人邮件的正是她的丈夫，她说：“他攻入了我的电子邮箱。”
总理哈珀的发言人麦杜高（Andrew MacDougal）表示，不会因这类电邮对德克特采取行动。麦杜高说：“他否认任何不当行为，而且我们也没有这方面的信息。”
一消息来源试图淡化这一潜在冲突，消息来源指出，外交部长的另一名国会秘书、保守党国会议员奥布莱（Deepak Obhrai）负责中国事务，并非德克特。
资料来源：星报、加通社
政坛明日之星亲昵电邮.“…朝你微笑…惦念你…”
星岛日报/出生于宾顿市（Brampton）的德克特于2008年的联邦大选中首次胜出，为保守党攻破大多地区堡垒立下汗马功劳，并为保守党在最近的春季大选中取得重大胜利铺平道路。他于2009年陪同哈珀访问中国，密西沙加一份地方报章上称，他对在中国的商业与贸易非常有兴趣。
德克特曾经是律师行Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP的高级合伙人，为加拿大帝国会所（Empire Club of Canada）前总裁，他还担任过司法部长的国会秘书。
他与妻子Ruth Clark在密市生活。
根据《渥太华公民报》报道，施蓉为新华社拍摄了德克特于春季竞选活动在密市宣传的照片。
德克特于2010年4月19日的电邮中，催促施蓉于晚间6时30分在电视上或在CPAC网站上观看他在国会投票的过程。
电邮以“最亲爱的蓉”开头，结尾为“我将朝你微笑。惦念你。亲爱的，鲍伯。”
该封电邮中还询问：“一天过得如何？采访皇家银行是否顺利？是否获得文章所需要的足够资料？”该名国会议员更告诉施蓉，他刚抵达渥太华，“享受边开车边想你。”
国会记录显示，德克特于当日晚间6时35分，就与加拿大与哥伦比亚自由贸易协议有关的动议投票。
资料来源：星报、加通社
德克特议员声明
星岛日报/国会议员德克特9月9日在议员网站上发布声明中：
“我所认识的这个人是一名新闻从业员，为朋友关系。我是在中文传媒活动中与她相识的。
以我所知，由于家庭纠纷，她的电邮遭骇入。
这类电子邮件具调情性质，但友情仍然是无辜的，这只是朋友之交。
本人向该事件中受伤的人士道歉。”
欲知详情请联络德克特议员办事处
Dechert Issues Statement
September 9, 2011
Mississauga, Ontario – Bob Dechert, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Erindale issued the following statement:
“The person is a journalist whom I have come to know as a friend. I met her while doing Chinese-language media communications.
My understanding is that her emails were hacked as part of an ongoing domestic dispute.
These emails are flirtatious, but the friendship remained innocent and simply that – a friendship.
I apologize for any harm caused to anyone by this situation.”
– 30 –
For further information contact:
Office of Bob Dechert, MP
Office:(905) 897-1952
http://bobdechertmp.ca/
网民发帖：担心加国机密外泄
星岛日报/■“桃色电邮”经媒体披露后，有网民在《环球邮报》(The Globe and Mail)网站纷纷发表议论，至本报截稿时，共有586个评论回应，以下是摘取自该网站的部分评论，并不代表本报编辑部观点。
网民centigrade
■“身为保守党人、资深议员，单是道歉还不足够。这名国会议员必须辞职以谢选民，否则他的选民便应要求他辞职。这种大情人会有可能将国家机密泄露。哈珀必须要求他辞职，将他踢出党团。”
网民brazeauboy
■“情报局(CSIS)已指出，一些政客、政府官员被外国控制，但情报局认为这情况还未严重至需要向枢密院报告，却公开报告了出来。枢密院对这事也反应全无。政府的失误已愈来愈多了。”
网民Paul,多伦多居民
■“外交部长的秘书与中国记者调情，到底他在做什么？显然这关系不是双方面的；看来也没有证据证明是她令他相信她曾关心他。撇开这一切，加拿大不是已有既定政策，要求所有国家代表对外国人员必须表现专业操守？我们是否想家丑外传？起码他应该辞去外交部长秘书之职。”
网民fresh22
■“国会议员的私生活与我无关，只是这名国会议员判断力太差，竟与外国新闻人员闹关系。加拿大情报局及政府已指出中国间谍的存在，而竟有可以索阅机密文件的国会议员与可能是间谍的女子调情？他可以是判断力差，但最劣的是：他可能泄露了国家机密。”
网民Anthony S
■“很易令人联想到60年代英国保守党内阁部长普罗富莫(John Profumo)跟活跃上流社会亦跟前苏联情报机关KGB人员有联系的女子姬娜(Christine Keeler)的交往。噢，等一等…普罗富莫其后因该宗丑闻辞职…但当年的政客总还算有点诚信。一名已婚内阁部长跟一名外国政府人员有暧昧关系，绝非小事一宗；当中存在勒索的可能性不容忽视。德克特先生至低限度须要立即请辞，加拿大保安情报局应该立即着手调查。”
网民Kristen-T
■“我根本不屑去理德克特跟谁寻开心，只要不是跟小孩子或动物就成。不过，我最痛恨像德克特这种摆明虚伪，满口仁义道德的社会保守主义者，将家庭价值和道德挂在口边，视作政纲基石，像比任何人都要神圣。”
网民Shades of Grey
■“这并非表面看的一宗已婚男子跟已婚女子互通缠绵电邮事。保安情报局主管早已警告，位高权重以及知道关乎加国外交利益保密资料的政客，一直被怀疑从事搜集情报的中国国家机构的代表乘虚而入，假如该类资料确实透过该名女子的丈夫传开，可能要尽快将德克特革职，以免他被说服将国家机密告知中国政府。假设这情况尚未发生吧。”
资料来源：环球邮报
加议员与新华记者暧昧信曝光 间谍说再起
（大纪元记者唐文综合报导）9月8日，加拿大保守党国会议员、外交部长国会秘书鲍勃‧德克特（Bob Dechert）与中共新华社驻多伦多记者施蓉的暧昧电子邮件被曝光。9月9日，德克特承认发送了暧昧电子邮件并发表声明道歉。加国媒体直指新华社是中共情报机构，质疑中共间谍渗透加拿大政府，中共“间谍说”再起。
暧昧电子邮件 大面积曝光
据加拿大《环球邮报》报导，9月8日，逾240位媒体、学术和政治圈人士收到了大量电子邮件，邮件内容是国会议员鲍勃‧德克特（Bob Dechert）写给中共新华社驻多伦多记者施蓉的，信中包括“你很漂亮”、“我很想念你”等调情内容。报导选登了一些调情电子邮件。
一份于2010年4月17日从德克特的议会办公室帐户发给施蓉的电子邮件说：“你这么漂亮。我真的很喜欢你在湖畔脸颊粉扑的照片，看起来是那么可爱，我喜欢你这样。现在，我更想念你。”信件署名为：鲍勃‧德克特，国会议员。
在另一封2010年4月20日的电子邮件中，德克特邀请施蓉观看一个在渥太华举行的下议院投票的电视直播，并说：“我将对你微笑。”德克特在信中还称“开车时想你的感觉真好”；在信的结尾说：“我想念你。爱，鲍勃”。
议员德克特声明道歉
9月9日，德克特在其官方议员网站发表声明，承认发送了暧昧电子邮件，并向所有受伤害的人表示道歉。德克特称，施蓉是他在负责华文媒体联络时认识的一个朋友，并称，他们之间只是纯洁、简单的朋友关系。
对于他的电子邮件为何被曝光，德克特在声明中表示：“黑客入侵施蓉的电子邮件是她持续的家庭纠纷的一部份。”
德克特是加拿大外交部长约翰‧贝尔德(John Baird）的国会秘书，出生在安大略省宾顿市（Brampton），2008年当选国会议员之前是一名律师。德克特的议员网站称，德克特与妻子露丝‧克拉克（Ruth Clark）在密西沙加生活了多年。
施蓉本人9月8日晚向《环球邮报》表示，有人骇客了她的邮件信箱，并指责自己的丈夫骇客了她的邮箱。但她不愿证实电子邮件的内容是否真实。
加媒关注中共间谍
《环球邮报》在报导中指出，中共一直积极从事海外情报收集，去年加拿大安全情报局（CSIS）局长法登曾警告，中共间谍已渗透到加拿大政治。西方国家的反间谍组织一直将中共官媒新华社当作一个情报机构。2003年，加拿大联邦政府曾将一个华裔幕僚炒鱿鱼，因为发现她曾任职于新华社，在联邦政府工作期间却依然和新华社有联系。
《赫芬顿邮报》报导指出，德克特作为外交部长的国会秘书，能参与、接触加拿大政府的机密信息。2009年，德克特曾陪同加拿大总理哈珀访问中国。有地方媒体曾报导德克特对中国商务贸易特别感兴趣。
法登：中共间谍已渗透加拿大政治
去年6月底，加拿大安全情报局（CSIS）局长法登（Richard Fadden）在加拿大广播公司（CBC）的专访节目中指出，加拿大的某些政府官员和加拿大的民主正受到来自外国的秘密影响。
法登披露的问题是，至少在加拿大的两个省份中，有内阁厅长受到外国政府控制；卑诗省的几个城市，有政府公务员在被怀疑之列；加拿大安全情报局的一半反间谍开支，用来应付中共政府的间谍。
提起媒体对中共间谍在加拿大活动的一些报导，法登说，这些报导“并非完全不对”；至少有5个国家在加拿大的大学暗地里招募政治人才。中国是这些国家中最活跃的，由其使领馆操控，向有关的大学俱乐部提供资金。媒体马上作出了相关报导。
维权律师：中共渗透“实际情况更严重”
法登（Richard Fadden）曝光外国政府渗透加政要后，在西方社会掀起轩然大波，对中共体制很了解的中国著名维权律师郭国汀，从自己观察的角度，剖析由此引起的间谍现象，认为“这是中共的战略、政策，”“肯定是事实，实际情况更严重得多”。
郭国汀表示，法登提到的外国政府对西方社会官员的渗透影响，“肯定是事实”。他认为，如果西方官员被中共间谍盯上，如果不是100%，也是80～90%被拖下水，“因为人都有弱点，而特务就投其好，或送金钱，或色欲诱惑，也有赠送特殊的艺术品，让官员受到帝王般的待遇，自然就使其改变。”
郭国汀指出一个特别现象，就是“凡是到中国访问过的官员，回来后对中国态度180度改变，原来对中共印象非常不好的人，回来后，大大称赞中国。”
郭国汀忠告西方官员：“不要与邪恶、流氓打交道，永远也占不到便宜，一定是！可能一时半会儿，得到了利益，最后将是赔老本，倾家荡产。”他劝告政要，如果必须打交道，“那就必须保持高度的警惕，否则一失足成千古恨。”
中国前驻澳大利亚外交官陈用林2007年6月3日到12日对加拿大4个城市进行访问，他在包括首都渥太华国会大厦新闻发布会等处，多次公开表示，中共内部文件披露中共驻外有大量间谍和线人，在加拿大就有约1千间谍。他并指出，像覆盖全球的华人组织“华联会”、“促统会”等团体都是中共操控的政治工具。
Tory MP admits to sending ‘flirtatious’ e-mails to Chinese reporter
BY GLEN MCGREGOR, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN
OTTAWA — A Conservative MP has apologized for sending “flirtatious” e-mails to a correspondent with the Chinese state news agency but says his relationship with the woman was innocent.
E-mails circulated on Friday revealed an apparently intimate correspondence between Xinhua News Agency’s chief Toronto correspondent, Shi Rong, and Mississauga–Erindale MP Bob Dechert, who serves as parliamentary secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.
A private relationship between an MP with ties to the foreign ministry and an employee of the Chinese state news service could prove embarrassing for the government, especially amid concerns in the intelligence community about Chinese espionage in Canada.
In an unusual statement issued Friday evening, Dechert, 53, said Shi’s e-mail account was hacked as part of a domestic dispute.
“The person is a journalist whom I have come to know as a friend. I met her while doing Chinese-language media communications,” he said in the statement posted on his website.
“These emails are flirtatious, but the friendship remained innocent and simply that — a friendship.
“I apologize for any harm caused to anyone by this situation.”
Friday evening, the Prime Minister’s Office released a statement saying simply, “Mr. Dechert has denied any inappropriate behaviour. We have no information to suggest otherwise.”
One message that appears to have been sent from Dechert’s Parliament Hill account reads: “You are so beautiful. I really like that picture of you by the water with your cheeks puffed. That look is so cute. I love it when you do that. Now, I miss you even more.”
It is signed “Bob Dechert, MP” and dated April 17, 2010, when Dechert was parliamentary secretary to the minister of justice.
Earlier Friday, Shi had sent out an e-mail saying her account had been hacked and that the contents of the e-mails were “untrue.”
Dechert, 53, could not be reached for comment Friday and did not respond to e-mails and calls to his offices and home.
Reached on her cellphone Friday and asked about the e-mails, Shi hung up. In a follow-up call, she explained, “It’s not my e-mail. My e-mail was hacked by someone else.”
She said she was considering legal action, but said she didn’t know who hacked her e-mail. When asked about the nature of her relationship with the married MP, Shi hung up again.
Dechert, a lawyer, was first elected MP in 2008 after two failed bids for the Mississauga seat. He is well-connected among Ontario Tories and was a leading member of the “Blue Committee,” a group that worked to bring the Reform Party and Progressive Conservatives together in 2000.
His biography says he is married to Ruth Clark, who is an executive with public relations firm Hill and Knowlton.
Dechert did not respond to repeated emails and phone calls to his offices and home.
Xinhua is the government-owned wire service of the People’s Republic of China. It has bureaus in most countries around the world and employs many Western journalists, as well. Its credibility is debated but at its highest levels, its news coverage it believed to be directed by the Chinese government.
Last year, Canada’s top spy warned that some Canadian politicians were under the control of foreign governments.
Richard Fadden, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told the CBC that “several municipal politicians in British Columbia and in at least two provinces there are ministers of the Crown who we think are under at least the general influence of a foreign government.”
Fadden later downplayed the remarks but confirmed that China was among the countries believed to be courting favour with Canadian politicians.
One of the e-mails to Shi passes on information about the Genie Awards in Toronto. It is a forwarded message with background information about the Canadian film awards, prepared by Dechert’s assistant, Jonathan Dale.
At the top of the e-mail, the sender wrote, “FYI, just in case you change your mind. Bob Dechert, MP.”
Dechert was one of several MPs who attended the 2010 Genie Awards gala in Toronto in April 2010.
Another message dated April 19, 2010, the sender says in the e-mail he was thinking of her while he drove to Ottawa. He encourages Shi to watch him voting on TV or on the CPAC website at 6:30 p.m.
“I will smile at you. I miss you. Love, Bob.”
House of Commons records show that Dechert voted on that date at 6:35 p.m., on a motion related to a free-trade agreement between Canada and Colombia.
There is no indication Shi every wrote about Dechert for her news agency but she is listed in a photo credit on Xinhua picture of Dechert campaigning in Mississauga during the election campaign this past spring.
Dechert’s riding has a large Chinese population. He has traveled to China and Taiwan and is a member of the Canada-China Legislative Association.
Tory MP apologizes for ‘flirtatious’ e-mails to Chinese reporter
STEVEN CHASE, OTTAWA— Globe and Mail Update
A senior Harper government MP with foreign affairs duties has apologized for sending “flirtatious” e-mails to a journalist with China’s state-controlled news agency, a revelation that’s embarrassed Canada’s ruling Conservatives.
Bob Dechert, Conservative MP for Missisauga-Erindale, scrambled Friday to explain amorous e-mails he’d sent in 2010 to Shi Rong, a Toronto correspondent with Xinhua News Agency.
Mr. Dechert is parliamentary secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.
Xinhua is the official press service for the People’s Republic of China and Western counterintelligence organizations have likened it to an intelligence agency.
This all came to light Thursday night when a mass e-mail was sent to more than 240 media, academic, political and business contacts across Canada. The missive contained the text of intimate messages written by Mr. Dechert, including ones where he professes love for Ms. Shi.
One e-mail, sent to Ms. Shi on April 17, 2010, from Mr. Dechert’s parliamentary office account, says: “You are so beautiful. I really like the picture of you by the water with your cheeks puffed. That look is so cute, I love it when you do that. Now, I miss you even more.”
The e-mail was signed “Bob Dechert, MP.” The sender account named was [email protected] and the recipient was [email protected], which Ms. Shi has used as an e-mail account.
Late Friday afternoon, Mr. Dechert issued a statement playing down the relationship.
“The person is a journalist whom I have come to know as a friend. I met her while doing Chinese-language media communications,” the MP said.
“These e-mails are flirtatious, but the friendship remained innocent and simply that – a friendship. I apologize for any harm caused to anyone by this situation.”
Mr. Dechert’s MP website said he’s “lived in Mississauga for many years with his wife Ruth Clark.”
Trying to explain why his amorous e-mails to the Chinese reporter were made public, Mr. Dechert said: “my understanding is that her e-mails were hacked as part of an ongoing domestic dispute.”
Ms. Shi, who spoke to The Globe and Mail Thursday night, blamed her husband for the mass e-mail that contained the personal messages from Mr. Dechert, saying he “hacked my e-mail box.”
Another e-mail, dated April 20, 2010, invites Ms. Shi to watch TV for an evening Commons vote in Ottawa. “Dearest Rong,” the note began. “How is your day? Did your interviews at Royal Bank go well? Did you get enough information for your articles?”
The MP told Ms. Shi he’d just arrived in Ottawa and “I enjoyed the drive by thinking of you.”
In this e-mail, he also encouraged her to watch televised proceedings in the Commons. “We will be voting at 6:30 p.m. If you have time, watch on TV or on your computer (on the CPAC website) and I will smile at you.”
“I miss you. Love, Bob,” the e-mail concludes.
Canada’s top spy warned last year that Chinese spies had infiltrated Canadian politics.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service head Richard Fadden suggested during a TV interview in June, 2010, that two provincial cabinet ministers and a number of other government officials and employees were under the control of foreign countries as part of espionage schemes.
“We’re in fact a bit worried in a couple of provinces that we have an indication there are some political figures who have developed quite an attachment to foreign countries,” he told CBC.
China is known to be an extremely aggressive collector of intelligence and Canadian security agencies have, in the past, cited links to Xinhua as a reason to remove bureaucrats from positions where they might have access to top secret data.
For example, the government fired a senior Chinese-Canadian bureaucrat from the Privy Council Office in 2003, partly because she had once worked for Xinhua and had kept up contacts with her former colleagues after joining the Canadian government.
Tory MP sent flirtatious emails to Chinese reporter
Joanna Smith and Bruce Campion-Smith
Ottawa Bureau, TORONTO STAR
OTTAWA—Conservative MP Bob Dechert exchanged a series of flirtatious emails with the Toronto correspondent for the Chinese state news agency he says is just a friend.
A mass email circulated this week included messages between Dechert, who is the parliamentary secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, and Shi Rong of the Xinhua News Agency.
The emails were sent from his parliamentary account.
“The person is a journalist whom I have come to know as a friend. I met her while doing Chinese-language media communications,” the married Conservative MP for Mississauga-Erindale said in statement posted to his website.
“My understanding is that her emails were hacked as part of an ongoing domestic dispute. These emails are flirtatious, but the friendship remained innocent and simply that — a friendship,” Dechert wrote. “I apologize for any harm caused to anyone by this situation.”
The Ottawa Citizen published excerpts of the emails online on Friday, including one dated April 17, 2010, that read: “You are so beautiful. I really like that picture of you by the water with your cheeks puffed. That look is so cute. I love it when you do that. Now, I miss you even more.”
It was signed “Bob Dechert, MP.”
A private relationship between the parliamentary secretary to foreign affairs and a reporter from China’s state news agency could prove embarrassing for the Conservative government as it raises the spectre of foreign influence.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service chief Richard Fadden made waves last summer when he said that foreign governments — including China — have been infiltrating ethnic communities and trying to influence politicians at all levels of government.
The Star later obtained a top-secret memo through the Access to Information Act last October that had Fadden telling Public Safety Minister Vic Toews that foreign entities were hard at work keeping tabs on ethnic communities, elected officials, public servants and political candidates with the goal of influencing federal government policies in their favour and obtaining sensitive information and technology.
Xinhua is the official news service for the People’s Republic of China.
A source sought to play down the potential conflict, noting that Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai, another parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs, has China as part of his portfolio, not Dechert.
Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier resigned his high-profile post in May 2008 after he left secret cabinet documents at the home of his girlfriend, a woman with past links to organized crime.
Andrew MacDougall, a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, suggested no action would be taken against Dechert for the emails.
“He’s denied any inappropriate behaviour and we have no information to the contrary,” MacDougall said.
A request for comment emailed to the address that Shi used to correspond to Dechert bounced back on Friday, but Shi had earlier told the Citizen that her email account had been hacked and that the messages were faked.
The Citizen published another message dated April 19, 2010, that encourages Shi to watch Dechert voting on television at 6:30 p.m. that day.
“I will smile at you. I miss you. Love, Bob,” said the email sent the day that Dechert voted at 6:35 p.m. on a motion regarding a free-trade agreement with Colombia.
Dechert helped the Conservatives break through in the Greater Toronto Area with his election win in 2008, paving the way for big Tory gains in the recent spring election.
Dechert, a former senior partner with the law firm Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, and a former president of the Empire Club of Canada, had previously served as parliamentary secretary to the minister of justice.
According to his biography, he lives in Mississauga with his wife, Ruth Clark.
Tory MP apologizes for flirty emails to Chinese journalist
By Laura Payton, CBC News
Bob Dechert, parliamentary secretary for Foreign Affairs, has confirmed he sent flirtatious emails to the chief Toronto correspondent for Xinhua, the official Chinese government news agency that is directly responsible to the governing Communist party.
In a statement released Friday night, Dechert said he met Shi Rong while doing interviews for Chinese-language media and she became a friend. He said the emails were nothing more than a flirtation: “These emails are flirtatious, but the friendship remained innocent and simply that – a friendship. I apologize for any harm caused to anyone by this situation.”
A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Dechert “denied any inappropriate behaviour. We have no information to suggest otherwise.”
In his statement, Dechert said Shi’s emails “were hacked as part of an ongoing domestic dispute.”
Shi elaborated for the Globe and Mail, telling the paper it was her husband who hacked into her account.
The emails were released Thursday night to a large number of people, including journalists, business people and political contacts. Dechert’s personal email address was on the list of recipients.
In an email sent about midnight on April 17, 2010, Dechert thanked Shi for sending a photo of herself from seven years earlier.
“You are so beautiful. I really like the picture of you by the water with your cheeks puffed. That look is so cute, I love it when you do that. Now, I miss you even more.”
In another 2010 email, Dechert tells Shi to watch CPAC because he will smile for her as he stands to vote in the House of Commons that night. She replies that she will watch for him.
An email from Shi’s account to her contacts early Friday morning apologized for the hack.
“Some one has used this mail box sent [sic] information that is absolutely untrue. Please ignore any mail that send [sic] from this email box in the future,” the email reads.
Dechert, a Toronto-area MP, was elected to represent Mississauga-Erindale in 2008 and was named to his role with Foreign Affairs in May 2011. He also serves on the Foreign Affairs Commons committee. In April 2010, at the time the emails were sent, Dechert had just been made parliamentary secretary to the minister of justice.
Last June, CSIS director Richard Fadden told CBC’s Peter Mansbridge that there were provincial and municipal political figures who have “developed quite an attachment to foreign countries.”
Dechert, a lawyer and former president of the Empire Club of Canada, is married to Ruth Clark, according to his personal website.
Dechert also serves on the Canada China Legislative Association, a parliamentary forum established in 1998 that “promotes the exchange of information between Canadian parliamentarians and representatives of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China in order to encourage better understanding and closer ties between the two countries.”
