Trudeau's rigid stand against China is not what it appears, not at all
Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been languishing in a Chinese prison for a year and a half. Yesterday, Prime Minister Trudeau told them they are likely to be there for several more years, if not the rest of their lives.
The two Michaels have done nothing to deserve their incarceration; they are pawns in a political nightmare orchestrated by the USA, Canada, and China. The nightmare began when the USA requested Canada arrest Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Huawei, and the daughter of its founder. The USA has accused Meng of violating its sanctions against Iran.
Whether that is the real reason for wanting Meng is a good question. The world is moving frantically toward installing 5G systems that are slightly terrifying in their reach. The value of this system probably counts in the trillions of dollars. Having watched the way America does business these days, one has to wonder if the arrest of Meng is more about 5G than about Iran.
At any rate, America’s request for the arrest of Meng, should probably have been rejected immediately by Canada since it had to do with American sanctions. Or does Canada have sanctions against Iran? Do American sanctions effectively mean that Canada has sanctions. I was never so proud of a Canadian Prime Minister as I was of Jean Cretien when he told George Bush that we would not be part of Desert Storm. Desert Storm was launched on fake intel and was a completely unjustified war.
Trudeau should have told President Trump that Canada would not assist him in using sanctions to bully other countries. I believe Chretien would have. It’s unfortunate there has never been any discussion in the Trudeau-friendly Canadian media regarding this. Trudeau owns most of the media in this country by promising them $600m if they write friendly stuff about him.
Who was the highest-level official to approve the arrest of Meng? Did it go to the AG or the PM?
Yesterday, Trudeau said he would not give in to Chinese coercion. But, it appears he gave in to American coercion in the arrest and detention of Meng. This is good policy if you are talking about a terrorist group like ISIS or the Islamic Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines. These are gangs that kidnap people for money. Giving in to them is certainly going to endanger Canadians. Though, I’m fairly certain some ransom was paid to Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, for the return of Canadian Robert Fowler, UN envoy to Niger.
However, China is one of the largest countries in the world, not a band of Muslim radicals. They feel totally justified in their actions for two reasons – the don’t believe Meng’s arrest was justified in the first place, and, in the second, they believe political interference in the judicial system is normal. It is in China, and they believe it is in Canada as well. And why wouldn’t they?
Canada’s extradition laws allow the Minister of Justice to intervene in the process of extradition at any time, and there is history of him doing so, though it is sparce. There is also history of the Prime Minister’s Office interfering with the judicial process, as per the SNC Lavalin affair. This was blatant interference with the Attorney General who refused to give in to the PM and got fired.
What did she refuse to give in to? To the use of an obscure law slipped into the back pages of a huge omnibus bill that was specifically designed to give SNC Lavalin the option of buying their way out of prosecution for their extraordinary corruption. SNC Lavalin headquarters lie next to Trudeau’s riding in Montreal, and many of their top executives live in his riding. Political interference? – a complete end-around the law! New laws written to ease the burden of justice, should never be applicable to cases already before the courts; the temptation toward corruption is just too great.
So, now, why is Trudeau being so rigid with the two Michaels? It is fall-out from the SNC Lavalin affair! It gives him the opportunity to stand in front of his cottage (remember when we had a Parliament?), and pronounce every day that Canada is a nation of laws and the government will not interfere with the judicial process. As unbelievably hypocritical as that is, he seems to think that if he says it every day that eventually Canadians will believe he actually means it. This would require forgetting about one of the most disgraceful moments in Canadian politics.
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