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While Liberal MP Michael Ma has belatedly apologized for questioning the veracity of expert testimony at a Commons committee hearing that China uses forced labour — claiming that was not his intent — cozying up to China has been mainstream Liberal thinking in a line stretching from Justin Trudeau to Mark Carney.

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Indeed, the Liberals can rightly be described as “Sinophiles” — those with a demonstrated fondness for China.

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Long history of fondness

In 2013, Trudeau, then Liberal leader, expressed admiration for China’s “basic dictatorship” because it could rapidly impose policies promoting green energy.

In 2018, Trudeau environment minister Catherine McKenna was approvingly quoted in China’s state-run media for describing China, the world’s largest emitter of industrial greenhouse gases, as a global leader in fighting climate change.

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In July 2019, John McCallum, Trudeau’s ex-Liberal ambassador to China, cautioned Beijing in an interview with the South China Morning Post not to further escalate ongoing diplomatic tensions with Canada because, “Anything that is more negative against Canada will help the Conservatives, (who) are much less friendly to China than the Liberals.”

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That followed McCallum’s firing in January 2019 for essentially arguing China’s case in the “two Michaels” affair, when China retaliated by jailing Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou who was wanted in the U.S.

In November 2019, Trudeau defence minister Harjit Sajjan startled a Halifax security conference when he said Canada did not consider China as an “adversary” while Kovrig and Spavor were still imprisoned.

In February 2020, China praised Trudeau’s then health minister Patty Hajdu for rejecting the banning of flights from China at the start of the global pandemic.

In May 2020, Trudeau announced that Canada and China had jointly agreed to develop a COVID-19 vaccine for Canadians, although the deal soon fell apart.

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There are other examples, but you get the idea.

Flash forward today — specifically to Jan. 16.

‘New strategic partnership’

That was when Carney, after calling China Canada’s greatest security threat during last year’s election, announced a “new strategic partnership” with the country.

That agreement involves not only the mutual lowering of tariffs between the two countries in exchange for Canada allowing up to 49,000 Chinese-made electric vehicles into the Canadian market, but closer co-operation in law enforcement, cultural exchanges and tourism.

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To be fair, when the Trudeau government came to power in 2015, Canada-China relations were in a very different place compared to 2023, when Trudeau reluctantly agreed to hold a public inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian elections, which concluded a year later that China was the greatest offender.

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In 2014, for example, then prime minister Stephen Harper’s government ratified the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. FIPA was intended to safeguard the rights of investors in both countries but was also criticized for its lack of transparency and concerns it was balanced in favour of China.

Resetting relationship with China

Similarly, Carney’s resetting of Canada’s relationship with China in the wake of the “two Michaels” affair and the findings of the foreign interference inquiry is part of his plan to double Canada’s non-U.S. exports by 2035, because of U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist tariff and trade policies.

But the danger of any policy of warming relations with China — which denies using forced labour — is to sacrifice the security and safety of Canadians in the name of trade and to soft-pedal China’s widely reported violations of basic human rights.

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That was apparent in the Liberals’ response to Ma trying to dismiss expert testimony by Margaret McCuaig-Johnston on China’s use of forced labour at a Commons committee hearing by labelling it as “hearsay” based on his silly, aggressive questioning demanding simplistic “yes or no” answers.

While Ma belatedly apologized to McCuaig-Johnston saying he condemned forced labour “in all its forms,” his stunt was quoted approvingly in China’s state-run media.

As for the Liberals, while they issued a pro-forma statement through a government spokesman that Canada condemns forced labour wherever it occurs and that Ma’s reported comments at the committee hearing did not reflect Canada’s position, there was no statement from the prime minister himself, as there should have been.

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Numerous laws and regulations on forced labour

This given that Canada has numerous laws and regulations against importing foreign goods manufactured using forced labour, including in the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade which is up for renewal — a live issue given the Carney government’s decision to allow up to 49,000 Chinese-made EVs into the Canadian market.

The U.S. is currently investigating 60 countries, including Canada, on whether they are enforcing rules on banning goods produced with forced labour, which could result in the Trump administration imposing new tariffs on Canada, even though the U.S. has been accused of doing the same thing.

When asked about Ma’s comments, Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, who was reportedly instrumental in getting Ma to cross the floor from the Conservatives, said Ma has apologized, Canada is firmly opposed to importing any goods made with forced labour, and Carney’s recent trade deal with China was good for the Canadian economy.

As for Canada’s relationship with China?

“We’ve got clear categories of where we agree, and we’ve got places where we don’t agree,” Hodgson said. “Those lines are clear. We don’t need to have public discussions about where we disagree. We make that clear, to our friends in China.”

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