Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate.

Every March for the last four years the Trudeau government has made payments of almost US$40 million to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which is a major part of China’s strategy to expand its authoritarian governance and influence throughout the Indo-Pacific region.

According to an answer to a question on the Senate’s Order Paper, one final payment is scheduled to take place this month. That’s another US$40 million in Canadian taxpayers’ money going to a regime that even Prime Minister Trudeau now has to admit is playing democracies against each other. Leader, has your government made this payment this month? If so, why?

Is the NDP-Liberal government ready to put an end to this payment? Are they willing to pull Canada out of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank? Will you agree to these conditions?

I appreciate that, government leader.

Over the last few years, more than $1.1 billion in approved or proposed funding has been tied to Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank projects in Russia. This means Canadian taxpayer dollars have been committed to improving Russia’s highways, supporting their railway system and supporting an infrastructure that they have used over the last few months in the most nefarious ways.

A week after the start of Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank announced that it had put all of its activities in Russia and Belarus on hold and under review.

Leader, there is nothing to indicate that China will suspend these projects indefinitely. It has been exactly one month since the war in Ukraine began, and China still hasn’t condemned Russia’s invasion.

Why should Canadian taxpayer dollars continue to support this group?