Prime Minister Carney has been making quite the name for himself travelling around and signing partnership agreements with some very shady characters…most notably Communist China. His primary motivation seems to be to publicly snub US President Donald Trump and to build a new network of trading partners to replace our reliance on the US. He made this clear in Davos at the WEF, where he spelled out, in no uncertain terms, his disdain for Trump and called for an alliance of “middle power” countries like Canada to “stand up to the bullies.”

Before showing up for his big speech at Davos, Mr. Carney visited Xi Jinping in China and signed a broad and vague agreement that included access to the Canadian auto market (up to 49,000 EVs annually for starters), reducing (temporarily) Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola and seafood and an invitation for China to “invest in” (that means “purchase”) Canadian farmland and businesses.

Canada’s auto sector is already struggling. Part of the reason is the pressure the Liberal government has put on Canadians to purchase electric vehicles (EVs) instead of traditional gas and diesel-powered cars and trucks. Auto manufacturers here have taken on expensive refits to shift their production to EVs that—apparently—nobody wants. And now the PM has the gall to say that Canadians will benefit from being able to purchase lower-priced Chinese EVs.

This posturing makes no sense and is insulting to hard-working Canadians, especially those currently employed in the auto sector. How is China able to produce cars cheaper than Canada? Several reasons….

Canada has strict human rights and worker protections, as well as rigorous environmental standards. China does not. Of note:

• China uses forced labour (slave labour) drawn from Uyghurs and other minorities who won’t toe the government line.
• They use child labour (as young as 7 years old) to mine cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 80% of the cobalt is mined by China and refined in China. That cobalt is used in the batteries for their electric vehicles, etc.
• China continues to build coal-fired power plants, producing cheaper electricity, the kind that Mr. Carney would never allow in Canada’s so-called “green economy.”

Ontario Premier, Doug Ford, is wrong about a lot of things. But he’s right to be outraged at this betrayal of Canadian auto workers. In one fell swoop, PM Carney has set in motion forces that could lead to auto manufacturers now based in Canada to move their operations to the US, robbing Canadians of a significant revenue stream and further alienating our trading partners in the US.

Further, it is naive to think that this “partnership” is only about car sales or tariffs. China is not only a trading partner. China is seeking world domination through its “Belt and Road” initiative and trade is only a part of that plan. The deal PM Carney struck so quickly with Xi Jinping also includes access to the Canadian news media market, another area where China can begin to apply pressure to Canadians and draw off revenue from existing Canadian media outlets. It’s bad enough that we already have taxpayer-subsidized media telling us only what our government wants us to believe. Now, we will have a foreign press that answers to their masters in Beijing, telling us what they want Canadians to believe. Of course, it’s already well known that Chinese nationals sent here by the CCP will be directed by their bosses back home to collect as much information as they can about Canadian politics, industry and military. As official “journalists”, they will have access to Canadian politicians and business leaders. This is not smart geopolitics; this is foolish behaviour towards a country that, last April, Mr. Carney identified as Canada’s “biggest security threat.”

Sad but true: Canada currently has a government without a moral compass, a government that turns a blind eye to human rights violations in China while ranting on the world stage about power politics in the USA. The PM’s remarks at Davos may have gotten smiles from some European leaders, but they were a slap in the face to President Trump and eliminated any likelihood of getting a better trade deal from our largest trading partner and the only recognized military power capable of defending our homeland.

The Christian Heritage Party of Canada (CHP Canada) supports well-thought-out international trade and alliances that make sense. But we insist on “. . . responsible free enterprise and a responsible free market economy . . . to meet the needs of all, including the poor . . . such undertakings must be accompanied by social and moral responsibility….” There is no evidence that our Prime Minister has taken into account the high moral and economic cost of his reckless and untested new “partnership” with China.

CHP Canada also has a strong policy of limiting the purchase of Canadian homes, farmland and businesses to Canadians. Why should China or any foreign power control our agriculture, our industry, our media or our housing market? If you share our concerns and want to help protect our beloved Canada from foreign interference and unfair trade policies, join us CHP Canada.