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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2019 | THEGLOBEANDMAIL O A
The Governor-General waded in-
to international relations on Fri-
day, telling newly appointed Chi-
nese ambassador Cong Peiwu
that she hopes Ottawa and Beij-
ing can use the 50th anniversary
of bilateral relations in 2020 to
“bridge any divide” between the
two countries.
Julie Payette made no men-
tion of two Canadians who are
locked up in China in apparent
retaliation for Ottawa’s arrest of
a Chinese high-tech executive
last December on a U.S. extradi-
tion request. Former diplomat
Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur
Michael Spavor remain detained
in what critics call a case of “hos-
tage diplomacy” by Beijing.
Mr. Cong visited Rideau Hall,
the governor-general’s residence,
to present his credentials as Chi-
na’s new ambassador to Canada.
After the ceremony, Ms.
Payette welcomed him to Otta-
wa. She noted next October will
be half a century since former
Liberal prime minister Pierre
Trudeau’sgovernment suspend-
ed diplomatic relations with Tai-
wan and instead recognized the
People’s Republic of China.
“Next year in 2020, Canada
and China as you know will cele-
brate 50 years of bilateral rela-
tions. And I think we all agree
that we need to use this mile-
stone to bridge any divide, to fur-
ther the things we have in com-
mon and to work on all these ve-
ry pressing global and social is-
sues that we have in common,”
Ms. Payette said.
“It’s a relationship that, like
any relationship, requires work-ing on. And we look forward to
working with you especially in
advancing this.”
David Mulroney, a former Can-
adian ambassador to China, said
Ms. Payette’s comments obscure
important facts concerning the
disagreements between Canada
and China. And they help create
the impression both sides have
something to apologize for,
when in fact, he says, Canadadoes not.
China is an authoritarian sur-
veillance state that interferes in
Canadian affairs and its disre-
gard for human rights means
that the relationship will almost
always be fraught with disagree-
ment, Mr. Mulroney said. He
noted Canada’s serious concern
over the internment of an esti-
mated one million Uyghur Mus-
lims in Chinese “re-educationcamps” and the erosion of hu-
man rights in Hong Kong.
“It’s wrong to pretend that
China is a country like any other
and that it’s our friend. It doesn’t
mean we have to be combative
or confrontational. I think China
actually respects countries that
show some backbone,” he said.
“It’s not clear in what she said
that critical to getting back on
track in 2020 would be release of
our Canadians and a complete
turnaround in Xinjiang – where
the Chinese are erasing Uyghur
culture and religion – and not in-
terfering in Hong Kong,” he said.
Philippe Lagassé, a professor
at Carleton University’s Norman
Paterson School of International
Affairs, said he is not worried by
Ms. Payette’s comments.
“I think these comments are
sufficiently boilerplate and high
level that they should not be a
cause for concern,” he said.
“They’re also aspirational rather
than focused on a particular
problem or policy.”
Conservative MP Peter Kent
said it’s not Ms. Payette’s job to
comment on bilateral relations.
“That’s the responsibility of the
government.”
Mr. Cong served until recently
as director-general of the Depart-
ment of North American and
Oceanian Affairs, which is re-
sponsible not only for the United
States and Canada but also coun-
tries including Australia and
New Zealand.
He has worked as a diplomat
in Canada earlier in his career.
Mr. Cong was posted to the Chi-
nese embassy in Ottawa in the
early 2000s.PayettewadesintoCanada-Chinarelations
Governor-General
saysshehopesthe
countriescanbridge
dividesin2020asshe
welcomesChina’snew
ambassadortoOttawa
STEVEN CHASEOTTAWA
Governor-General Julie Payette receives a letter of credential from China’s newly appointed ambassador
Cong Peiwu during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Friday.PATRICKDOYLE/REUTERSCanada’s premiers will face a
number of divisive issues, in-
cluding equalization, pipelines
and growing regional alienation
later this year as they gather
ahead of their first meeting with
the new federal Liberal minority
government.
Uncertainty surrounds Otta-
wa’s legislative priorities, since it
will need opposition support to
govern.
With that in mind, premiers
with otherwise clashing political
positions say their goal is to pre-
sent a united front when they
meet Justin Trudeau early next
year. The date and location of
both meetings has yet to be de-
termined.
The premiers agreed on Friday
during a conference call to hold a
face-to-face meeting after the
Prime Minister unveils his new
cabinet on Nov. 20. The gather-
ing comes at the instigation of
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney,
who has called on the Prime
Minister to do more in the face of
growing Western alienation and
a stumbling energy sector.
New Brunswick Premier
Blaine Higgs said the premiers
discussed a new national dynam-
ic since the federal election on
Oct. 21, when Mr. Trudeau’s Lib-
erals lost 20 seats and their ma-
jority government. The party was
wiped out across most of West-
ern Canada. Andrew Scheer’s
Conservatives won every riding
in Alberta and Saskatchewan,
with the exception of one NDP
seat in Edmonton.
“We have a nation divided, so
how do we best approach mov-
ing that together?” Mr. Higgs said
of the conference call. The Pro-
gressive-Conservative Premier
added that much of the discord
is due to an economic policy ad-
vocated by Mr. Trudeau that he
argued “has shut down the econ-
omy in some provinces.”
The federal Liberals over-
hauled Canada’s environmental-
review process, creating rules
that some critics say make the
building of new pipelines and oilfacilities almost impossible. Mr.
Trudeau’s supporters counter
that much of the slowdown in
the country’s energy-producing
provinces is due to a global drop
in oil prices. They also point to
the Liberalgovernment’s pur-
chase of the Trans Mountain
pipeline and its commitment to
expand it.Mr. Higgs said he told Mr. Tru-
deau in their first discussion af-
ter the election that the “greatest
opportunity you have right now
is pulling our country back to-
gether, because this election has
shown some significant divi-
sions.”
Newfoundland and Labrador
Premier Dwight Ball said therewas consensus among premiers
on the call that coming out of
the federal election, there are dif-
ferent issues effecting each prov-
ince.
But the Liberal Premier said
he stressed on the call that the
premiers “have a greater respon-
sibility now to work towards na-
tion-building” and finding areas
of unity rather than talking
about the differences between
the regions.
B.C. Premier John Horgan told
reporters after the call that the
first ministers, which includes
premiers and territorial leaders,
will also be discussing the future
of equalization when they meet.
“I think there’s an awareness,
even in those provinces that
have been beneficiaries of equal-
ization, that there needs to be a
reassessment of how we do this
in a modern Confederation,” said
Mr. Horgan, a New Democrat.
Alberta’s Mr. Kenney has com-
mitted to holding a referendum
in 2021 on stripping the federal
program from the Constitution.
His office said he was not
available to speak about the callon Friday.
Mr. Kenney has offered to
drop the referendum in ex-
change for a number of de-
mands, including the construc-
tion of a new pipeline, the end of
a tanker ban off parts of the Pa-
cific Coast and the rescinding of
the new federal environmental-
assessment rules.
Some Albertans have also ar-
gued that Quebec should drop
its opposition to new pipelines
in exchange for equalization
funds that the province receives
under the federal program.
Equalization is funded from fed-
eral income taxes and is de-
signed to ensure that all prov-
inces can offer their citizens
comparable levels of public ser-
vices.
Mr. Horgan said there was no
direct sparring during the call
about pipelines – B.C. and Alber-
ta, in particular, are at odds over
the expansion of Trans Moun-
tain pipeline.
“The consensus was, ‘Let’s sit
down and get together on what
issues we want to bring to the
federal government,’ ” he said.Kenneysummonspremiersforconferencecalltodiscussnewnationaldynamic
JUSTIN GIOVANNETTICALGARY
MARIEKE WALSHOTTAWA
JUSTINE HUNTERVICTORIA
Wehaveanation
divided,sohowdowe
bestapproachmoving
thattogether?BLAINE HIGGS
NEWBRUNSWICKPREMIERNEWS |