There is no time more apt than now for Canada to re-examine its economic relationship with China.
Increasingly, signs are showing that China is taking advantage of the COVID-19 chaos to extend its influence globally. Post-pandemic, it will likely only get more powerful and assertive against a Western world mired in social and economic mayhem.
Both Canada and the world have allowed the pursuit of profit to gradually force dependence on a sometimes hostile market — that is the bedrock of China’s power. Now that COVID-19 has disrupted international supply chains, when Canada rebuilds, it should be toward an economy less integrated with China’s.
Middle powers like Canada, which have long been dancing between the majors, are increasingly impotent against tactics such as China’s detention of this country’s citizens, for example. China detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in 2019 on spying charges — widely considered to be retaliation over the Vancouver arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou under an extradition request by the U.S.
So began a new era in bilateral relations, calling into question decades of diplomacy. That boldness by China would have been unthinkable just a decade or so ago.
It’s a new boldness, born from China’s economic rise and the increasing chaos in the West — and the pandemic is accelerating both.
Meanwhile, harsh pandemic lockdowns threaten to return to Europe and Canada. The United States, China’s chief counterweight, is beset by all manner of instability.
In 2017, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, then foreign affairs minister, told Parliament the rules-based international order the West has upheld since the end of the Second World War is becoming less stable, and that Canada needs to chart its “clear and sovereign course.” Post-pandemic, that could prove to be particularly prescient.
Meng Wanzhou’s lawyers argued in a Vancouver court that American officials misled Canada about the strength of their case against the Huawei executive. 2:03
Heavy price of trade
Canada recently abandoned free-trade talks with China, a move revealed Sept. 18 by Foreign Affairs Minister Francois Philipe-Champagne. That revelation is largely symbolic, however, as free trade was never close to realization to begin with.
And on the same day, Canada’s ambassador to China, Dominic Barton, said this country needs to “do more in China.”
What Canada needs to realize is the heavy price of the trade it already has.
Since Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the father of Canada’s current leader, established diplomatic relations with China, bilateral trade has become a torrent — that cheap manufacturing, that vast market of 1.3 billion people. Thus Canada enriched itself.
But while China has become Canada’s second-biggest trading partner, this country is only the Asian giant’s 16th-largest trading partner. When China stymied Canadian canola seed and soybean imports in 2019, it hurt major industries in this country. But for China, the lack of such grains from Canada was insignificant.
That asymmetrical relationship has also made the affair over Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou all the worse. There is little Canada can do to pressure China, but an arsenal of options in terms of what China can do, has done and will continue to do to Canada. China recently blocked an experimental COVID-19 vaccine shipment bound for Canada, for example.
Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the UN General Assembly by video link on Aug. 23. China has been taking advantage of opportunities to expand its influence on the world stage, such as increasing funding to the World Health Organization in the face of U.S. cuts. (China Central Television (CCTV) via REUTERS)
Profit at the cost of resilience
Pandemic lockdowns have devastated economies because companies had sourced parts and labour from all over the world based on where they were the cheapest, and did not stockpile so as to maintain efficiency by eliminating warehouse costs. That lesson is the same one to be learned from Canada’s current troubles with China: prioritizing profit has come at the cost of resiliency.
As Canada restarts its economy, the government would be wise to guide companies toward diversified markets. It needs to further cultivate alternative trading partners, such as fast-growing India and Brazil, and those with similar values, such as the European Union. And it needs to do so actively and aggressively.
The goal is not to replace China, which is impossible, and this is also not an argument for disengagement. This is about reducing dependence and, in doing so, patching a vulnerability.
This is also about loosening the hold China has over others, a tiny step to steering it toward a more constructive international role.
Post-pandemic, the world needs more engagement with China, not less — but not through asymmetrical relationships — and it needs a rule-abiding China mindful of the adage that with great power comes great responsibility.
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.
