Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The following is a “Bottom Line” commentary from Rick Peterson , who is currently seeking the Conservative Party of Canada nomination for the federal riding of Edmonton – Strathcona.   This is currently the only seat, held by the NDP, in the province of Alberta. Last week we all heard about a letter signed by 19 “heavyweight” Canadian foreign policy thinkers asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to cave into China’s demands for a prisoner swap. Send Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou back to China from detention in Vancouver, was their message, where she’s waiting to see if she’ll be extradited to the US to face fraud charges. In return, they say, we’d get back Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who’ve spent more than 500 days in Chinese prison hellholes and are now facing trumped up espionage charges in clear political retaliation for Canada holding Meng. Kudos to the Prime Minister for quickly trashing the letter, which you can read here and see the list of signatories....

Justin Trudeau and China's Xi Jinping Trudeau says he’s ‘disappointed’ by China’s charges against Michael Kovrig, Michael Spavor By Katie Dangerfield ~~ Global News   ~~ June 19, 2020 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday said he is “disappointed” in China’s decision to formally lay charges against Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians who have been detained for well over a year on allegations of espionage. Speaking to the media, Trudeau said he is continuing to work with the Chinese government to send the “two Michaels home.” ... Trudeau was asked whether or not Canada has been “too soft” on China and should take a stronger negotiation tactic. The prime minister replied that Canada is using the “appropriate tactics and actions” in order to bring the two men back. “... we are using a wide range of public and private measures to ensure that everything is being done to get these Michaels home,” Trudeau said. He added that “we do expect both Micha...