The federal government is expelling a diplomat accused of targeting Conservative MP Michael Chong’s family.
The government has been under intense pressure to sanction Zhao Wei, who reportedly played a role in attempts to gather information on Chong’s family in Hong Kong in 2021 following the MP’s condemnation of Beijing’s conduct in the Xinjiang region as genocide.
“We will not tolerate any form of foreign interference in our internal affairs,” Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said in a statement posted on Twitter.
“Diplomats in Canada have been warned that if they engage in this type of behaviour, they will be sent home.”
Canada has decided to declare persona non grata, Mr. Zhao Wei. <a href=”https://t.co/rZXeNTtdV4″>pic.twitter.com/rZXeNTtdV4</a>
A government source told CBC that Zhao has five days to leave Canada.
The Globe and Mail, citing a top secret document from 2021, reported last week that the Chinese government was targeting a Canadian MP. An unnamed security source reportedly told The Globe that Zhao was allegedly working on efforts to target Chong’s family in China.
The government briefed Chong last week — but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet have maintained that the report in question was never shared at the ministerial level in 2021.
Trudeau’s national security adviser Jody Thomas said the information was shared with the Privy Council Office (PCO). Trudeau said last week that he’ll compel CSIS to share intelligence with the government about threats to MPs in light of the Chong case.
Chong said the government should have taken similar action “years ago.”
“The fact is, we’ve become somewhat of a playground for foreign interference threat activities,” he told reporters outside the House of Commons on Monday.
Expelling Chinese diplomat ‘shouldn’t have taken this long’: Conservative MP
Conservative MP Michael Chong says the government should have expelled Zhao Wei as soon as it knew he was involved in Beijing’s reported effort to target his family.
“My hope is that this sends a clear message to authoritarian states that these kinds of activities are completely incompatible with being a diplomat in this country,” he said.
Chong said he hasn’t been in touch with his family in Hong Kong “out of an abundance of caution.”
NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson said it was “appalling” that the government took so long to make a decision on Zhao.
“This is unacceptable,” McPherson told reporters Monday. “Taking care of Canadians’ safety, making sure that every member in this House can do the job that they need to do, is vital.”
During a House committee appearance last week, Joly said the government was weighing the blowback from Beijing that would result from expelling Zhao.
“This decision has been taken after careful consideration of all the factors at play,” Joly said in her statement on Monday.
Speaking to CBC News Network’s Power & Politics, Liberal MP Rob Oliphant said the government took the time to act “appropriately and carefully.”
Canada should expect China to retaliate over diplomat expulsion, says ex-ambassador
Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada’s former ambassador to China, expects some form of response from Beijing, but not anything egregious. ‘I don’t think they will take anyone hostage,’ he added, in a reference to the detentions of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
“We know there will be ramifications, and so it’s the minister’s responsibility to act and to act carefully,” Oliphant told host David Cochrane.
National security expert Wesley Wark said it can take time to build up enough of a case to expel a diplomat. But given that the government appeared to have information on Zhao dating back to 2021, he said, the decision should have been made sooner.
“It’s all unfolded in an unfortunate and, I think, peculiar manner,” Wark told CBC.
Beijing promises retaliation
The Chinese embassy in Canada said in a media statement that it strongly condemns the decision to expel the diplomat and denies interfering in Canada’s affairs. It promised retaliatory action if the government goes any further.
“If the Canadian side acts recklessly, China will firmly fight back resolutely and forcefully,” the statement said.
Wark said he suspects that if Beijing retaliates, it will opt for a “tit-for-tat” response and expel one of Canada’s diplomats.
The Conservatives put forward a motion in the House that called for, among other things, the expulsion of diplomats involved in foreign interference. The motion — which also calls for a public inquiry into foreign interference and the establishment of a foreign agents registry — passed Thursday with the support of NDP, Bloc Québécois and Green MPs.
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.
