The Glone and Mail - 01.08.2019

A12 O THEGLOBEANDMAIL| THURSDAY,AUGUST1,

EDITORIAL

PHILLIPCRAWLEY

PUBLISHERANDCEO

DAVIDWALMSLEY

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

T

he controversy over phone calls made to two former

Canadian diplomats asking them to “check in” with

Global Affairs before commenting on China policy

reached its inevitable conclusion Tuesday, when the Liberals

usedtheirmajoritytovotedowntheOpposition’scallforPar-

liamentary hearings into the affair.

The Conservatives and other critics saw the calls as at-

tempts to silence David Mulroney and Guy Saint-Jacques,

both of whom served as Canada’s ambassador to China and

are regularly called upon by the news media to comment on

this country’s frozen relations with Beijing.

It was a clumsy move on thepart of the Trudeaugovern-

ment, one that preserved its losing streak when it comes to

exerting pressure on the wrong people.

But Global Affairs has since apologized and said its inten-

tion was never to muzzle the diplomats. Foreign Minister

ChrystiaFreelandhasalsoapologized,atleasttoMr.Saint-Jac-

ques.Intheabsenceofparliamentarytheatrics,let’smoveon

to the main event.

What remains, and is the critical issue here, is the fact that

Ottawa doesn’t have a visible policy for dealing with China in

thewakeofthearrestofMengWanzhouinVancouverlastDe-

cember. The Chinese businesswoman is currently out on bail

andlivinginamansioninVancouverwhilefightinganextra-

dition request from the United States.

BeijingrespondedtoMs.Meng’sarrestbyjailingtwoCana-

dian citizens on bogus national-security charges, moves that

amount to political hostage-takings. China also retaliated by

suspending all canola imports from Canada, as well as beef

and pork imports.

To date, the Trudeau government’s response has been to

protestthearrestsandseekmoralsupportfromallies,includ-

ingtheless-than-reliableTrumpadministrationintheUnited

States. But Ottawa hasn’t taken any retaliatory measures,

whichhasleftavoidforcommentatorstosuggestactionsthat

would show a little spine.

Mr. Mulroney, for instance, advised against non-urgent

travel to China and suggested Canadian tourists avoid “a re-

pressive detention state” – a phrase accurately describing to-

day’s China, but which was raised in his unwelcome phone

call from Global Affairs.

Another former diplomat, writing in The Globe and Mail

this week, said Ottawa should consider withholding visas for

students related to members of China’s ruling Communist

Party, among other get-tough measures.

And then there’s the fact Canada imports at least twice as

much, in dollar terms, from China as it exports to it. China, in

fact, buys only about 5 per cent of Canada’s exports, the vast

majority of which – 76 per cent – go to the United States.

In other words, Canada has the leverage to ban targeted

ChineseimportsthatmightstingtheleadershipinBeijingthe

samewayBeijing’scarefullytargetedbansonCanadiancano-

la and meat are makingthe Trudeaugovernment wince.

That’s precisely what Ottawa did after U.S. President Do-

nald Trump put tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in

2018; it retaliated with tariffs on products, such as bourbon

and prepared foods, made in key Republican states.

It’soddthatOttawawasmorewillingtoplayhardballwith

its biggest trading partner and most important ally, while it

treats China with unexplained deference and caution.

This could well be because, in spite of all of Mr. Trump’s

many flaws, his country is not an amoral and authoritarian

prisonstatethatisentirelydetachedfromtheruleoflaw.The

UnitedStateslargelyfollowstherules,andithasindependent

courts where complaints can be heard.

China, on the other hand, has no limits ongovernment

power, no law and no compunction about hurting smaller

countries that displease it. As an opponent, it outmatches

Canadaineverycategory.Itisagrizzlybeartoourfieldmouse.

ItmaybethatOttawahaschosennottopokethebearwhile

itnegotiatesinthebackground.Indoingso,theTrudeaugov-

ernment has correctly stuck to its guns about arresting Ms.

Meng,andhasnotgivenintocallstosummarilyoverturnthe

rule of law and let her leave Canada.

But in the absence of any outward signs of progress, that

policy is under fire from those experienced in Chinese rela-

tions,whothinkmorecanbedone,andfromCanadianswho

don’t like seeing their fellow citizens being held hostage.

It would be useful to knowwhether the Trudeau govern-

ment is playing its hand well, or simply playing dead.

DoesTrudeau

haveaChina

gameplan?

CHINA’SNOT-WELCOMEMAT

Re Liberals Shut Down Opposi-

tion’s Effort To Hold Hearings In-

to Foreign Ministry’s Contact

With Former Diplomats (July 31):

It is patently absurd for the gov-

ernment to disagree with former

ambassador David Mulroney’s

advice to avoid all non-essential

travel to China.

In view of Beijing’s treatment

of Michael Kovrig and Michael

Spavor, it is common sense to

stay away. China abducted the

two Canadians, one a former dip-

lomat and one a business person,

and continues to imprison them

underharshconditions.Why?For

no reason other than to use them

as pawns in the Huawei dispute.

Senior Liberal Rob Oliphant

says these were “targeted abduc-

tions.” Of course they were target-

ed! In China, it’s clear any target

will do. The sensible strategy is to

stay away and avoid becoming

the next “target.”

How can any Canadian feel

safe entering China now?

SarahCampbell

Edmonton

Former ambassadors’ opinions

naturally carry more weight than

those of an ordinary citizen, or

even other commentators, and

may even be seen as might-have-

been government policies.

Retired diplomats who can’t

understand that they should take

great care with their public

speech perhaps shouldn’t have

been diplomats in the first place.

JohnMcLeod

Toronto

Re Ottawa Unlikely To Decide On

Huawei Until After Election,

Goodale Says (July 31): Public

Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s

nothing-burger announcement

thatthefedswon’tdecideonban-

ning Huawei’s technology from

Canada’s 5G networks can’t come

as a surprise to anyone. The last

thing thegovernment wants to

do is upset the Chinese, so it

mightkeepkickingthisballdown

the road until the two Michaels

are repatriated to Canada.

MartyCutler

Toronto

PIPELINETORECONCILIATION

Re Indigenous Ownership Of

TMX: Too Important To Get

Wrong (July 26): Project Recon-

ciliation is a proposal by First Na-

tions and Métis to buy a majority

stakeintheTransMountainpipe-

line. Indigenous communities in

Western Canada are no strangers

to resource development, and

many have a great deal of experi-

ence in the sector.

We’re committed to working

with governments and Indige-

nous groups to advance this his-

toric project to benefit almost

half the Indigenous people in

Canada – and Canada itself. Some

critics present this as an imma-

ture idea not ready for prime

time,butProjectReconciliationis

more than a year in the making,

steered by seasoned Indigenous

leaders and supported by a team

of energy-sector veterans, as well

as regulatory, investment, devel-

opment and environmental ex-

perts and professionals.

Recently, I gave a presentation

to the 43rd Annual Elders Gather-

ing in Vancouver, the country’s

largest Indigenous gathering. I

asked for guidance and counsel.

While pipelines are a highly tech-

nicaltopic,ProjectReconciliation

canonlybenefitfromthewisdom

of our elders and their deep un-

derstanding of their lands and

waterways.

From financial expertise to

purchasing the project – at no ad-

ditionalcosttotaxpayersbecause

loans can be taken out using ex-

isting shipping agreements as

collateral – to technical capacity

for partnerships and manage-

ment, we’re committed to suc-

cess. It’s a critical step in redefin-

ing the relationship between In-

digenous people and natural-re-

source development. There is a

pipeline to reconciliation. We’re

ready when Canada is.

DelbertWapass

Executivechairandfounder,Project

Reconciliation;formerchief,

ThunderchildFirstNation;vice-chair,

IndianResourceCouncil

DEMOCRACY’SBASKET

Re Trump Is In Full Bigot Mode

(July 31): Hillary Clinton was ex-

coriated for her 2016 campaign

comment that half of Donald

Trump’s supporters were in a

“basket of deplorables.”

Several years later, we are re-

minded again of the outrageous

inaccuracy of the characteriza-

tion. It is far more than half.

AndrewMatthews

Toronto

Re Trump Has Beaten The Late-

Night Comics Into Baffled Resig-

nation (July 30): John Doyle says

late-night comedians are stymied

by Donald Trump’s obtuseness:

He’s unstoppable, and they’ve

collapsed into hapless gesturing.

But they have a much more

powerful weapon: Stop mention-

ing the windbag at all. He is run-

ning a reality show that sustains

ratingsbytoyingwithdeath-defy-

ing outrageousness, and they

have fed those ratings.

From Day One, he’s ratcheted

up the tension to 10, but has no-

where to go once the fizz fizzles.

He won’t escalate into war: The

Donald Show is meant to be fam-

ily fare. A tedious, predictable un-

predictability will defeat Mr.

Trump. At a dinner party the oth-

er night, no one mentioned him;

his followers are retweeting him

less frequently.

The uneducated voters he has

led won’t go anywhere. He has

helpedassuretheywill,fromhere

on in, have an unignorable voice

that they rarely had before – and

that’s good for democracy.

SimonHearn

Vancouver

OUTOFTHEDEBATEGATE

Re The July Democratic Debates:

Five Key Takeaways From Night

One (July 31): Democrats seeking

the presidential nomination talk

a good game on health care, edu-

cation funding, the environment

and labour standards, but in

watchingthedebatesitstrikesme

that the cart is travelling before

the horse.

Until the United States sees

fundamental campaign-financ-

ing reform which limits the im-

pact of big money, powerful vest-

ed interests will continue to

thwart meaningful progress on

progressive issues, and America

will lag behind Canada and other

Western democracies.

Moreover, with the U.S. Su-

preme Court having held that

third-party spending on political

communication amounts to con-

stitutionally protected speech,

thepathtosuchchangewilllikely

first require a few judicial nomi-

nationsbyaDemocraticadminis-

tration to reconfigure America’s

highest court.

EricLeGresley

Ottawa

CORPORATEBONMOTS

Re Reimagining RBC: How Cana-

da’s Biggest Bank Plans To Face

The Threat Of Disruption (July

27): RBC’s chief executive officer,

Dave McKay, says eventually

more customers may ask home

voice assistants to scour the mar-

ket and help them find the best

mortgage rate.

He calls that “terrifying.” As a

consumer, I call it “magnificent.”

If RBC’s top executives really

want to “reimagine RBC,” they

should start by putting consumer

wants and needs at the centre of

what they do.

PeterShier

Toronto

Re Capital One Stock Tumbles Af-

ter Disclosure Of Massive Data

Breach (July 31): In the aftermath

of what’s happened to millions of

its customers, Capital One may

havetochangeits“What’sinyour

wallet?” to “Who’s in your wal-

let?”

BarryCorbin

Toronto

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