OTTAWA – Federal party leaders took the time on Sunday to express their support for the two Canadians who have been detained in China for 1,000 days now.
During a campaign stop in the Greater Toronto Area, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau admitted that today is a difficult time for those close to Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, opening an announcement on its firearms policy.
He said he spoke to the families of the two men to assure them that the international community and Canadians supported them, and promised his government would not rest until the two men were released.
“I can assure you that over the past 1,000 days this government has used all the different means at our disposal to pressure the Chinese government to release Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor,” Trudeau said. .
He said he was “much more successful than the previous government because we use all the tools at our disposal, generally without shouting it in the public square.”
“Over the past few years, we have seen a lot of success [grâce à] a diplomatic game, the direct pressure in conversations that I had with other leaders ”, even if“ it did not always appear in the headlines ”, he argued.
Chinese authorities arrested the two men in what Canada believes to be reprisals for the arrest by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, in December 2018, as she was at the Vancouver airport.
She was arrested following an extradition request from the United States, where authorities want her to be prosecuted for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions against Iran.
The Liberal government has been criticized by some for its handling of the detentions of MM. Kovrig and Spavor.
The Tories, in particular, have said the Liberals have had overly permissive policies towards a more authoritarian China and have promised to take a tougher approach if they form government on September 20.
In his election platform, Chief Erin O’Toole pledges to negotiate new trade deals with countries in the Indo-Pacific region and Africa so that Canada does not have to depend so much on China, as well. than to work with international allies in the hope of “decoupling” their supply chains from the Chinese regime.
The Conservatives also promise to ban Huawei from Canada’s 5G infrastructure and advise against universities partnering with “state-controlled” Chinese companies.
In the Bloc Québécois, Chief Yves-François Blanchet stressed that “it is the solemn responsibility of a Prime Minister to demonstrate to all of his population that he is going to protect them”. He said he hoped “that for each of the 1,000 days, Mr. Trudeau had a thought for the two Michael’s,” as well as for Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi, locked up for nine years for criticizing the regime’s policies. These are, according to Mr. Blanchet, three individuals whose lot Mr. Trudeau “does not succeed in improving.”
Raïf Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, is a Bloc Québécois candidate in the riding of Sherbrooke.
New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh on Sunday lamented a total of “1,000 days in conditions that have been horrendous, without access to human rights, without access to the same dignity one would expect in a system of criminal justice here in Canada ”at a press conference in Ottawa. He stressed the importance of “continuing to work with our international allies to put pressure on China and allow the release of these Canadians.”
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