Commissioner Justice Marie-Josée Hogue makes her way to the stage to deliver remarks on the interim report of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions on May 3, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
The perspectives of people from diaspora communities on how to stop foreign interference must be part of Canada’s electoral landscape so that Canadian democracy remains resilient.
A Chinese flag is illuminated by sunshine in the Hall of Honour on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in 2016.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
With a public inquiry into Chinese interference about to begin, China may feature prominently in the Canadian news cycle in 2024 — meaning a genuine thaw in Canada-China relations isn’t in the cards.
Conservative MP Michael Chong rises during Question Period in the House of Commons amid recent revelations that China targeted his family members who lived in Hong Kong.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
A robust national security environment results in serious protocols and relationships for dealing with something as sensitive as the Michael Chong affair. It doesn’t currently exist in Ottawa.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping after taking part in the closing session at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Indonesia in November 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Canada should examine Australia’s diplomacy-focused approach to China as it battles foreign interference.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference on Parliament Hill on Monday, March 6, 2023, announcing a probe into election interference.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Leaks about Chinese interference in Canadian elections isn’t just about politics — it’s also a deeply concerning national security crisis that raises questions about the legitimacy of our elections.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chinese President Xi Jinping participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok on Nov. 18, 2022, three days after their public confrontation at a G20 meeting in Indonesia.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
The federal government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are showing courage in standing up publicly to China. But words must be matched with serious action.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping after taking part in the closing session at the G20 Leaders Summit in Bali, Indonesia on Nov. 16, 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Xi Jinping thought he could chastise Justin Trudeau because this is the lesson the Jean Chrétien and Stephen Harper governments had conveyed: Don’t take us seriously when we talk about rights.
Michael Kovrig flashes a V for victory sign alongside his wife and sister at Pearson International Airport after his return to Canada.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
Did the U.S. cave to China’s exercise in hostage diplomacy when it signed a plea deal with a Huawei executive that resulted in freedom for the two Michaels? Or was it China that miscalculated badly?
Michael Kovrig embraces his wife Vina Nadjibulla after arriving at Pearson International Airport.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
The swiftness of the Chinese action to free the two Michaels signalled an important message to the world from the governing Chinese Communist Party: Don’t mess with us.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing in December 2017.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Canada is conspicuously absent from the new security pact signed between the U.S., the U.K. and Australia on China. Is it time for Canada to take a page from the Australian playbook on managing China?
People wearing masks attend a rally opposing discrimination against Asian communities in Toronto in March 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Sibo Chen, Toronto Metropolitan University; Henry Yu, University of British Columbia, and John Price, University of Victoria
Banning research ties with China, as Alberta just did, should be vetoed not only by the academic community but also the general public for its recklessness in fanning the flames of anti-Asian racism.
Pro-China counter-protesters, wearing red, shout down a man in a black shirt during a rally for Hong Kong in Vancouver in August 2019. The University of British Columbia is taking measures to enhance respectful dialogue over Hong Kong divisions.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Improving the China-Canada diplomatic relationship is fraught with hurdles, but it’s not impossible. At minimum, we must understand the root cause of the problem from multiple vantage points.
Canada can benefit enormously from trade with China. That’s why Justin Trudeau’s government should work to lead a China strategy among western nations.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Justin Trudeau’s government should assemble a strong, non-partisan China team led by the West to build a uniquely Canadian Asia strategy, with China at its core.
Canadian leaders face high-stakes decisions about 5G technology. In this June 26, 2019, photo, visitors tour the Huawei pavilion at the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, China.
(Chinatopix via AP)
The place of Huawei in Canada’s 5G network, and the associated national security implications, will be a key issue for the next federal government.
A bull grazes in a pasture on a farm near Cremona, Alta., after the Chinese announced a ban on Canadian meat imports. The ban could hit the Canadian beef and pork sector hard given China is a huge market.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Canadian beef and pork exporters have become increasingly reliant on China. That’s why the latest salvo in the Canada-China diplomatic dispute is so ominous for the agri-food sector.
Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, right, is escorted by a member of her private security detail while arriving at a parole office in Vancouver in December 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
In the absence of trust, greater cultural understanding is a powerful diplomatic tool and one that Canada needs to wield expertly when dealing with China.
In this image taken from video footage run by China’s CCTV, Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg attends his retrial in northeastern China. A Chinese court has sentenced him to death in a sudden retrial in a drug smuggling case that is escalating tensions between the countries over the Canadian arrest of a top Chinese technology executive.
(CCTV via AP)
Now is the time to give China the chance to show that while the Chinese justice system can mete out punishment, it can also exercise compassion and could spare the life of a Canadian drug smuggler.
Meng Wanzhou, CFO of the Chinese tech giant Huawei, is shown arriving at a parole office in Vancouver on Dec. 12. Her arrest at the request of the U.S. officials has strained Canada-Chinese relations.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
China is influential, but would not have succeeded in changing the UN human rights system without quiet consent from countries who wished to trade with it, including Canada.