A majority of Canadians no longer see China in a favourable light after the coronavirus outbreak.
An Angus Reid Institute poll found that only 14% of Canadians hold a “favourable” view of the communist regime.
Polling data shows that Canadian sentiment towards China has been on a steady downward decline since 2005, with a couple of brief rallies of support in 2009 and 2017.
However, since 2017, when 48% of Canadians had a favourable view towards the country, opinion among Canadians has plummetted to its new low.
“As nations have responded to the pandemic, Canadian views towards China are in apparent free-fall, as favourability of the nation hits a new low, dropping to 14% – half of where it was in late 2019, and representing just a quarter of where favourability towards China stood in 2017,” claimed the Angus Reid Institute.
When the results are broken down regionally, BC and Atlantic Canada had the most favourable views towards China, with 22% and 16% respectively seeing the country favourably.
Among party lines, Liberal supporters scored the highest in terms of favourability with 17% of respondents holding a “mostly favourable view.”
Conservative voters had the most negative outlook on China with 63% of people polled saying they look upon China with a “very unfavourable” view.
When Canadians were asked whether they agree or disagree that the “Chinese government has been transparent and honest about the COVID-19 situation in that country,” a wide majority either disagreed or disagreed strongly.
“There have been several recent accusations against China and its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, including a proposed international inquiry on this issue. U.S. officials reported in early May that they believed the Chinese government had deliberately played down the severity of the outbreak in the early days in order to preserve its image and stockpile medical supplies,” claimed the Angus Reid Institute.
“It would appear that most Canadians share these concerns. The vast majority (85%) disagree with the statement “the Chinese government has been transparent and honest about the COVID-19 situation in that country”. Half (53%) strongly disagree.”
A CBC pundit who praised Prime Minister Trudeau and his cabinet on multiple occasions has been paid nearly $25,000 in legal fees by the Trudeau government.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, a recently released document shows that University of Ottawa law professor Carissima Mathen was paid $24,750 for “advisory services” for the privy council.
Mathen was also paid $24,860 in 2017 for other legal work she did for the federal government.
When asked by Blacklock’s, Mathen did not go into detail about her advisory services.
“My work in 2017 is subject to a duty of confidentiality that I am not at liberty to waive,” she said.
“I have not engaged in any related discussion with media or otherwise.”
On Twitter, Mathen praised the Trudeau government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, claiming she was “feeling emotional” after seeing parliament vote to give the Liberal government wartime spending powers.
CBC’s policies say that the network is supposed to disclose potential conflicts of interest.
“It is important to mention any association, affiliation or specific interest a guest or commentator may have so that the public can fully understand that person’s perspective,” reads CBC’s Journalistic Standards And Practices guidelines.
CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson said that state broadcaster will try to do better in the future.
“If we book her again, any potential conflicts will be determined at the time as we endeavor to do with all our guests,” he told Blacklock’s.
In January it was revealed that another CBC pundit, Amanda Alvaro, was paid over $22,000 to provide public relations training to a Liberal cabinet minister.
Alvaro is a regular commentator on CBC’s Power and Politics.
Many of Alvaro’s tweets are dedicated to attacking Conservative political figures. Alvaro also calls Trudeau’s Chief of Staff Katie Telford a “friend.”
Neither CBC or Alvaro ever disclosed that she was getting paid by the Liberal government while commenting on federal politics.
Former prime minister Stephen Harper is predicting that governments around the world will have to shrink and become more fiscally responsible after the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Harper took aim at leftists who predict that a big government will be sustainable moving into the future.
“As a conservative, I’m going to argue the opposite. What has happened in this crisis so far is not an indicator of the future. A new era of big government in the economy is unlikely, undesirable and far from inevitable,” Harper wrote.
Harper argues that the impending recessions caused by governments shutting down their economies will deprive many countries of the power to spend recklessly.
According to Harper, governments have spent a total of $3.3 trillion globally since the coronavirus pandemic began — 50% more than was spent on recovering from the 2008 financial crisis.
In Canada, the non-partisan Parliamentary Budget Officer recently predicted that the Trudeau government will run a deficit higher than $252 billion in 2020-2021.
In March the Trudeau government attempted to introduce a bill that would have given them unlimited power to tax and spend until December 2021. The Liberals only walked back from the bill after the opposition parties indicated they would never support it.
Harper also criticized those who believe debt and constant government stimulus can continue unabated, as real-world evidence shows countries can, and do, go broke.
“‘Modern monetary theorists’ will prattle on about how with low interest rates and monetary expansion [debt] does not matter. Their core belief — that governments can never really run out of money — is nonsensical,” he wrote.
“Mexico faced default in the 1990s, and Canada came close. The global financial crisis resulted in multiple sovereign debt crises a decade ago.”
As Conservative Party leader, Harper campaigned on fiscal responsibility. Despite running a deficit of $55.6 billion to keep Canada afloat during the 2008 financial crisis Harper delivered a budget surplus by 2015.
Harper ended by saying that acting responsibly after the coronavirus pandemic ends is critical to ensuring countries survive financially.
“Governments that resist restoring free enterprise and fiscal responsibility will experience recession and stagnation. Those that do the right things will lead their countries to a far more prosperous future.”
A human rights group has called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s response to China exerting its influence in Canada weak and “piecemeal.”
The Canadian Coalition on Human Rights in China, which is spearheaded by Amnesty International Canada, called on the Canadian government to act to counter “threats, bullying and harassment” of ethnic and religious minorities by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) within Canada.
A report titled “Harassment & Intimidation of Individuals in Canada” accuses the CCP of interfering in Canadian institutions including schools and universities.
“Consequently, academic freedom and freedom of expression of university students in Canada speaking out on China has been increasingly stifled, as many individuals fear that Chinese government or consular agents are monitoring their speech or their activities,” said the report.
According to the group, the Liberal government has responded with an “inadequate response” to the CCP’s activities.
“Chinese state actors have almost certainly become emboldened by the inadequate responses of Canadian officials,” the coalition writes.
The report also calls for an inquiry into the harassment faced by the Chinese diaspora and for the government to expel Chinese diplomats involved. It also calls on Trudeau to enact sanctions on the Chinese regime if necessary.
“The Canadian government must treat this issue with increased urgency, as it has resulted in insecurity and fear for human rights defenders in Canada working on Chinese human rights issues,” claims the document.
During Tuesday’s daily coronavirus briefing, Trudeau avoided directly answering a question posed to him on what his government is doing to stop Chinese interference in Canada.
“The Canadian government has always highlighted concerns about human rights and respect for basic human democracies and liberties with every country that we engage with around the world, including China,” said Trudeau.
“We are strong supporters and defenders of free speech and the right to protest.”
This is not the first time that Trudeau has avoided answering questions regarding whether his government was standing up to China.
When asked by Globe and Mail Marieke Walsh on whether his government was “standing up to China” or “backing away” from the communist regime during another coronavirus briefing, Trudeau avoided answering the question and then walked away.
The Chinese ambassador to Canada recently praised Trudeau’s “cool-headed” approach to China in contrast to the US’ aggressive strategy in blaming the CCP for the virus.
“I believe that Canada has adopted a cool-headed approach. We appreciate that. The most important task, currently, is to focus our energy on fighting the pandemic,” said Chinese ambassador Cong Peiwu.
The Nova Scotia gunman who killed 22 people in a multi-community killing spree last month was in possession of two handguns and two rifles – three of which investigators believe came from the United States.
Investigators are working with the Canada Border Services Agency to trace the origins of the three guns sourced from outside the country.
Police are still not revealing the specific models or calibres of firearms used by Gabriel Wortman.
“The calibre of the weapons is not being released, because determining where and how the gunman obtained the firearms is a central part of the investigation, and we use this detailed information to verify the credibility of some of the information we receive,” said a statement from the RCMP.
Nova Scotia RCMP superintendent Chris Leather confirmed in April Wortman did not have a Canadian firearms license. In 2002, Wortman was temporarily banned from owning firearms as part of a conditional discharge of an assault charge.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently cited the horrific incident while announcing a recent ban on 1,500 different “assault-style” rifles.
While police aren’t identifying the killer’s firearms, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said at least one of them was on the prohibition list the government just implemented.
“These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only — only to kill the largest amount of people in the shortest amount of time,” Trudeau said.
“You don’t need an AR-15 to bring down a deer.”
The Liberal government has refused to define “assault-style weapons” or “military-grade weapons.”
Meanwhile, gun rights activists have blamed the Liberals of unfairly targeting law-abiding citizens while ignoring the larger issue of criminal gun violence and policing.
Calgary Member of Parliament Michelle Rempel Garner joins True North’s Candice Malcolm on the latest episode of the True North Speaker Series.
Michelle has become one of the strongest voices for Alberta in the House of Commons and one of the most important critics of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Canada.
In this exclusive interview, Candice and Michelle discuss the future of Alberta, the state of Canadian media, what it means to be a conservative and much more.
We’re interviewing more big names in the coming weeks, including Barbara Kay and Spencer Fernando. Interested in asking them a question? Join the Heritage Club today: https://tnc.news/clubs/
Dr. Chen Shih-chung is the Minister of Health and Welfare of Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
BY: DR. CHEN SHIH-CHUNG
The threat of emerging infectious diseases to global health and the economy, trade, and tourism has never abated. Pandemics can spread rapidly around the world because of the ease of international transportation. Among the most salient examples are the Spanish flu of 1918, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2003, and the H1N1 influenza of 2009. Intermittently, serious regional epidemics, such as Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012, Ebola in West Africa in 2014, and the Zika virus in Central and South America in 2016, have also reared their heads. Today, a novel form of pneumonia that first emerged in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 and has since been classified as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a global pandemic. As of April 8, 2020, World Health Organization data shows that 1.35 million people had been confirmed as having the disease, with 79,235 deaths in 211 countries/areas/territories. Taiwan has not been spared.
In the 17 years since it was hit hard by the SARS outbreak, Taiwan has been in a state of constant readiness to the threat of emerging infectious disease. As a result, when information concerning a novel pneumonia outbreak was first confirmed on December 31, 2019, Taiwan began implementing onboard quarantine of direct flights from Wuhan that same day. On January 2, 2020, Taiwan established a response team for the disease and activated the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on January 20 as a level 3 government entity, upgrading it to level 2 and level 1 on January 23 and February 27, respectively. The CECC is able to effectively integrate resources from various ministries and invest itself fully in the containment of the epidemic. As of April 9, Taiwan had tested a total of 42,315 persons showing 380 confirmed cases, of which 54 have been indigenous, 326 imported and five deaths; 80 people had been released from hospital after testing negative. Despite its proximity to China, Taiwan ranked 123rd among 183 countries in terms of confirmed cases per million people. This has shown that Taiwan’s aggressive efforts to control the epidemic are working.
Disease knows no borders. In response to the threat of the COVID-19 epidemic, Taiwan has implemented dynamic plans concerning border quarantine measures, including onboard quarantine, fever screening, health declarations, and a 14-day home quarantine for passengers arriving from nations it has listed under Level 3 Warning. Moreover, Taiwan has established an electronic system for entry quarantine, which allows passengers with a local mobile phone number to fill in health information via mobile phone. A health declaration pass will then be sent to them via a text message. This is connected to the community care support management system, which allows government agencies to provide care services and medical assistance. Individuals’ travel history is now stored on the National Health Insurance (NHI) card to alert physicians to possible cases and prevent community transmission. For those undergoing home quarantine or isolation, the government is working with telecom operators to allow GPS tracking of their locations. Quarantine offenders are subject to fines or mandatory placement according to relevant laws and regulations, so as to prevent transmission.
Taiwan has also increased laboratory testing capacity, expanded the scope of its surveillance and inspections based on trends of the COVID-19 epidemic, and retested people with higher risk who had already tested negative, including patients with symptoms of severe influenza, community cases with upper respiratory tract infections who were already being monitored, and cluster cases of upper respiratory tract infections, to identify suspected cases and perform treatment in isolation wards. Meanwhile, Taiwan has designated 50 regional hospitals and medical centers and 167 community hospitals and clinics to create a tiered system for testing. These hospitals and clinics are required to set up special wards or areas; in principle, COVID-19 patients are isolated and treated individually in these wards and areas to prevent nosocomial infections. Moreover, Taiwan has banned the export of surgical masks since January 24, requisitioned masks, and expanded domestic mask production to more effectively allocate masks. On February 6, Taiwan launched a name-based rationing system for mask purchases at NHI-contracted pharmacies and local public health agencies. It added an ordering system for masks on March 12. This allows people to order online and pick up masks at convenience stores. These measures have helped us achieve effective allocation of limited resources and meet healthcare, epidemic prevention, household, and industrial needs.
A crisis anywhere readily becomes a problem everywhere. Global health security requires the efforts of every person to ensure an optimal response to public health threats and challenges. Taiwan, though not a member of WHO, cannot stand alone and must be included in the fight against such threats and challenges. Taiwan has fulfilled its responsibilities as a global citizen and abided by the International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR 2005) in notifying WHO of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Moreover, Taiwan has communicated with other countries such as Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, the United States, Canada, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the Netherlands, as well as the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, to share information on confirmed cases, travel and contact histories of patients, and border control measures. Taiwan has uploaded the genetic sequence of COVID-19 to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID). Taiwan has worked with global partners to respond to the threat of COVID-19 to ensure that global health is not imperiled by a lack of communication and transparency.
If it is indeed WHO’s mission to ensure the highest attainable standard of health for every human being, then WHO needs Taiwan just as Taiwan needs WHO. Yet Taiwan has long been excluded from WHO due to political considerations. This has been regrettable given all that Taiwan could share with the world thanks to its renowned public health experience, health system, NHI, and ability to perform rapid testing as well as research and manufacture vaccines and drugs against COVID-19. We can also share our methods for analyzing the virus. We hope that after this pandemic abates, WHO will truly understand that infectious diseases know no borders, and that no country should be excluded, lest it become a major gap in global health security. WHO should not neglect the contribution to global health security of any nation.
We urge WHO and related parties to acknowledge Taiwan’s longstanding contributions to the international community in the areas of public health, disease prevention, and the human right to health, and to include Taiwan in WHO and its meetings, mechanisms, and activities. Taiwan will continue to work with the rest of the world to ensure that all enjoy the fundamental human right to health as stipulated in the WHO Constitution. Echoing the mantra of the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, no one should be left behind.
A Chinese corporation recently bought out a Canadian gold mining company operating in northern Nunavut.
On May 8, Reuters revealed that Chinese mining giant Shandong Gold Mining acquired all of TMAC Resource’s shares for $149 million in cash.
TMAC has been running the Hope Bay gold mining operation which produced 3.45 million ounces of gold by the end of 2019.
Shandong Gold is paying $1.75 CDN per share to TMAC in the transaction.
TMAC is not the first Canadian gold mining company acquired by China in recent years.
In March, Zijin Mining bought Canada’s Continental Gold for $1.3 billion CDN.
Canadian mining operations have recently faced a lack of investor confidence. Earlier this year Teck Resources abandoned a multibillion-dollar mining project citing a clash between environmental regulation and resource development.
The $20.6 billion Frontier mine would have employed 7,000 people during the construction phase and another 2,500 while operating. It could have also produced upwards of $70 billion in tax revenue for Canada.
According to the Fraser Institute, Canada fell below the top 10 rankings for “investment attractiveness” in the mining industry.
“For the first time in 10 years, no Canadian jurisdiction ranks in the top 10 for ‘investment attractiveness’ according to mining executives and investors,” the Fraser Institute said in a news release.
The report cites industry “uncertainty” as the main reason for Canada’s lacklustre performance and investment appeal.
“Policy and regulatory uncertainty is escalating across the country. This should be a serious concern for policymakers,” said senior policy analyst Ashley Stedman.
It’s crunch time for Conservative leadership candidates, with just three days left to sign up new members to get their votes. As a result, all but one of the leadership campaigns have been eager to put their candidates before audiences of potential conservative voters.
Yes, all but one.
Despite doing several interviews with mainstream media outlets, Peter MacKay has had no time for independent media, including True North.
MacKay is the only Conservative leadership candidate to not sit down with True North. In fact, his team has ignored our interview requests.
While the invitations still stand, MacKay is, at this point, not among his opponents who have participated in my series of candid, cordial and wide-ranging conversations about their campaigns to lead the Conservative party and the country.
If the implicit goal of the series is to tell the audience who the candidates really are, perhaps MacKay’s non-response is more revealing than the interview would have been.
Candidates Leslyn Lewis, Erin O’Toole and Derek Sloan were all too happy to sit down with a conservative broadcaster, knowing it’s the Conservative membership and not the general electorate that will choose the next leader.
While it’s possible MacKay doesn’t even know we’ve been trying to get a hold of him, he must bear responsibility for his campaign team’s decision to ignore requests, just as he’s had to for previous missteps-turned-flip-flops in his social media and email messaging.
The non-response suggests a team so disorganized it can’t manage to find the “reply” button (if even to decline the request) or one that is deliberately avoiding the independent media that conservative candidates should be embracing rather than fleeing.
Handlers swiftly got between MacKay and David Menzies from Rebel News when Menzies attempted to snag an unplanned interview at a February event.
On at least one occasion, a True North reporter sent a request for comment – not even an interview request – to MacKay’s campaign team and was ignored.
Interviewing leadership candidates has been a long-time project of mine. I recorded five interviews with this year’s Conservative leadership candidates (the other two, Rudy Husny and Marilyn Gladu, did not make the final ballot). I also spoke with the candidates in 2018’s Ontario PC leadership race, as well as nearly all 14 people vying for the federal Conservative leadership in 2017.
This isn’t an exercise in vanity on my part, I assure you. It’s that conservative-minded journalists are a rarity in Canada, and the things the mainstream media wants to talk to Conservative leadership candidates about are not the things the people voting in these leadership races care about.
The mainstream media would be content to make whole interviews about social issues, when these are just one facet of the conservative movement and the Conservative base.
It’s not even like MacKay can claim his interviews with mainstream media outlets have been going all that swimmingly, notably walking out on one after fielding questions about one of the several tweets he’s backtracked on.
MacKay’s avoidance of the conservatives engaged in Canada’s cultural battles demonstrates his unwillingness to advance a genuine conservative agenda should he succeed in acquiring the Conservative leadership.
If MacKay were going to do something for conservatives, he would want to tell conservatives about it. This hasn’t happened, and if my empty inbox is any indication, it won’t happen.
The Conservative Leadership Series aims to meet with every leadership candidate in the race to hear about their plans for the country.
In a series of in-depth interviews conducted by True North’s Andrew Lawton, Conservative Party members have an opportunity to learn more about the candidates and what their stances are on important issues facing Canada today.
