ADAMS: Carney’s China EV deal extends Trudeau’s record of weakness
Prime Minister Carney has presented himself as a fresh start for the Liberals since the last election. On many issues, he is a breath of fresh air, but on China, he is not. The Janurary deal to let tens of thousands of Chinese electric vehicles into our economy at sharply reduced tariffs continues a pattern of putting commercial convenience ahead of clear Canadian principles on human rights and supply chain integrity.
In 2020, when evidence of mass detention, forced labour, and cultural erasure of Uyghurs in Xinjiang was impossible to ignore, three federal party leaders stood together. Yves-François Blanchet, Erin O'Toole, and Jagmeet Singh all called on Justin Trudeau to act.
Former Conservative Party leader Erin O'Toole says China should not be allowed to host the 2022 Olympics due to their treatment of Uyghurs and the kidnapping of Robert Schellenberg, Michael Kovrig, and Michael Spavor. Video credit: Candice Bergin, Facebook
Parliament held a motion declaring China's treatment of the Uyghurs a genocide. The motion passed because enough members from across parties refused to look away, but the former prime minister was notably absent from that vote.
That episode reflects a broader Liberal reluctance to confront Beijing on core issues of forced labour, hostage diplomacy, and economic coercion. Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor spent nearly three years in Chinese detention on trumped-up charges. They came home only after a prisoner swap arranged by the Biden administration. Canadian diplomacy alone had not been enough.
