OTTAWA —
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government is using public and private measures to secure the release of two Canadians detained in China for 18 months, who on Friday were formally charged with espionage in the politically charged case.
Trudeau said he was “very disappointed” with the charges Chinese prosecutors unveiled, while Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland described feeling personally angry at the news.
Former diplomat Michael Kovrig was charged in Beijing on suspicion of spying for state secrets and intelligence. Businessman Michael Spavor was charged in Dandong near the North Korean border on suspicion of spying for a foreign entity and illegally providing state secrets.
Speaking at a press conference in Chelsea, Que., just north of the national capital, Trudeau said the only reason the two are being detained is because of independent judicial proceedings involving Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei who is fighting an extradition request to the United States.
Trudeau said aside from public statements, there is “action behind the scenes in very direct and firm ways” to secure their release.
“We have developed a certain expertise in what has worked to get Canadians home in very difficult circumstances over the past years,” Trudeau said.
“In the case of the two Michaels, I can say that we are using a wide range of public and private measures to ensure that everything is being done to get these Michaels home.”
The two have been held since December 2018, shortly after Canadian authorities arrested Meng at Vancouver’s airport. U.S. authorities want her extradited over allegations she circumvented American sanction on Iran.
The daughter of Huawei’s founder and the company itself deny any wrongdoing. She remains out on bail as hearings at the B.C. Supreme Court continue in her case. A judge rejected the first set of arguments from her lawyers late last month in a bid to set her free.
“We will not, and must not, and cannot interfere in the independence of our judiciary in this country,” Trudeau said.
“The Chinese authorities have directly linked the case of the two Michaels to the judicial proceedings against Ms. Meng, which is extremely disappointing because for us … there obviously are no links except in politics.”
Wrapped up in the case is Huawei’s bid to be a player in Canada’s 5G network, which was put in doubt after Bell and Telus announced partnerships with the Chinese company’s European rivals.
The Liberals have yet to decide whether Huawei will have a role in building the network.
The United States has warned Canada and other allies that it will limit sharing intelligence with countries that have Huawei equipment in their 5G networks — citing its potential use for spying by China, an allegation Huawei denies.
The charges against Spavor and Kovrig were announced Friday by China’s highest prosecutor’s office in brief social media posts. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said each is charged with “secretly gathering state secrets for overseas forces with particularly serious consequences.”
“The facts are clear and the evidence solid and sufficient,” Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing, without providing further details.
The International Crisis Group, where Kovrig worked at the time of his arrest, said the diplomat regularly interviewed Chinese officials to accurately reflect their views in his reports and had a constructive relationship with Chinese officials.
“This is yet another arbitrary and baseless step in a case that has been arbitrary and baseless from day one,” the group’s chief executive, Robert Malley, said in a statement. “Michael was not endangering China’s security: everything he was doing was in the open and well known to China’s authorities.”
Kovrig and Spavor have had no access to lawyers or their families as of May, with the exception of a phone call the Chinese embassy said Kovrig was allowed to make to his sick father in mid-March. Consular visits have also been suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking at a midday press conference on Parliament Hill, Freeland said it was essential to restore consular access to the two men.
“They are a priority for Canadian foreign policy in general, they are a priority for our government in general, they are not forgotten and we are going to continue to work very, very hard for their release,” she said.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said the government’s “naive approach to Beijing” has hampered efforts to release Spavor and Kovrig.
“This case should be being dealt with at the highest levels. But Justin Trudeau has repeatedly refused to intervene,” Scheer said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2020.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
