QUESTION PERIOD — Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Canada-China Relations
June 13, 2019
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.
Senator Harder, over the past couple of weeks I have been asking about whether Prime Minister Trudeau had confirmed a meeting with his Chinese counterpart at the upcoming G20 meeting to discuss the illegal detention of two Canadian citizens in China. I have received only non-answers from you, including yesterday. Don’t worry, though. I have my answer, unfortunately from the CBC news, who have reported that Beijing has ignored a personal attempt by Justin Trudeau to arrange a conversation with his Chinese counterpart.
It is clear, Senator Harder, that China isn’t taking Mr. Trudeau seriously. He can’t even secure a phone call, let alone a meeting, with the President of China. Isn’t it time that your government takes serious measures to stand up to China to protect the interests and human rights of these Canadians, like committing, for example, to ban certain Chinese imports to Canada? And when is this government going to show Huawei the door to demonstrate to the Chinese that we’re serious about protecting Canadians?
I thank the honourable senator for his question. Let me simply say that the Government of Canada is taking all the steps necessary and appropriate, both publicly and otherwise, to secure the release of the Canadians and to resolve the matters that are under dispute in a bilateral sense, and I will add nothing to that.
Government leader, actions speaks louder than words, and it has been many months now that the government has shown complete ineptitude and inaction on this file and while Canadian lives are at stake. It is not, unfortunately, just Justin Trudeau that can’t be taken seriously. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has repeatedly tried and failed to obtain a meeting with her counterpart from China. The diplomat of the year, Minister Freeland, has now taken to begging with an open plea during a media scrum where she said:
If Chinese officials are listening to us today, let me repeat that I would be very, very keen to meet with Minister Wang Yi or to speak with him over the phone at the earliest opportunity.
Senator Harder, as a former deputy minister under five Prime Ministers and 12 different ministers, including at Foreign Affairs, as an experienced diplomat, is this normal behaviour for a Minister of Foreign Affairs to resort to a press conference in order to catch the attention of the Chinese administration? And don’t you think that the Canadian government right now should show concrete action in standing up for these two Canadians and not just words?
I have nothing to add to my previous answer.
