The new leader of Canada’s Conservative party may be largely unknown even in the Great White North, but he is working hard to make himself known as a clear alternative to the Liberal incumbent, Justin Trudeau.
Erin O’Toole has already positioned himself as the ex-veteran, everyday Canadian alternative to the silver-spooned pretty-boy elitist. Now, he’s mapping out a clear policy alternative, on China especially.
When campaigning to become the prime minister in 2015, Justin Trudeau was asked what country he most admired. The people in attendance at the event looked on in disbelief when he stated that he most admired China. His reason? Trudeau believed China’s “basic dictatorship” allowed its government to move swiftly to implement its agenda.
Trudeau’s admiration for the communist dictatorship should surprise no-one, really. It’s the default attitude of elites around the world.
Trudeau’s obsession with China should not come as a surprise. For decades, many Canadian corporate and financial insiders were espousing deeper and closer ties with China at all costs. They were willing to look past the Chinese government’s numerous human rights abuses, flagrant trade abuses and security issues because the potential to sell into the massive Chinese market was so lucrative.
Beijing knows this and plays on it. And Trudeau was a student of this school of thought, which is why he asked the head of the Canada-China Business Council to lead his transition team into government.
Trudeau’s bromance with the brutal authoritarians in Beijing also does much to explain his extended vacillating with regards to telco Huawei, long suspected of being a complicit arm of China’s overseas spy network.
Erin O’Toole is emphatically not following Trudeau’s lead.
I will soon be asking Canadians to trust me to be their next prime minister. I will say right up front that the country I admire most is the one I have dedicated my life to serving: Canada. But Canadians deserve to know where I stand on China[…]
I want Canadians to know that over the last four years I have been consistently asking for a more serious foreign policy approach to Canada-China relations. I have been asking for Canada to take cybersecurity and other issues seriously and ensure that Huawei is not allowed to contribute to our 5G infrastructure.
I have been raising human rights concerns for the oppressed Uyghur minority in China. I have raised concerns about China manipulating United Nations agencies, from the World Health Organization to the International Civil Aviation Organization. And I have been asking the government to speak up for Hong Kong and Taiwan, which have been targeted by the Communist regime.
O’Toole lists a range of policy prescriptions to counter Beijing’s growing aggressiveness: solidifying alliances with India, Japan and the Five Eyes countries. Holding China to account for its Uighur genocide and its trampling of rights in Hong Kong. Decoupling Canada’s economy, especially manufacturing, from China.
Most importantly, O’Toole argues, Canada cannot allow itself to forget its core principles – the principles of enlightened Western democracy – in a greedy rush for the Yuan.
Every time we refuse to stand up for liberty and our core beliefs and interests as a nation in the face of aggression from the Chinese regime, we legitimize its behaviour and encourage more bad actions. We also show our allies around the world that our commitment to freedom is shallow.
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