Millions spent on Chinese contracts since Canadians were arrested

In the nearly two-and-a-half years since the two Michaels were jailed in China, the Liberal government has dished out nearly $6 million worth of business contracts to Chinese companies.

“The Liberal government’s business-as-usual approach to the People’s Republic of China should come to an end, particularly with Canadians held hostage,” said John Williamson, a New Brunswick Conservative MP who sought the information.

The figures, contained in the reports from an inquiry made by Williamson in March and first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, an Ottawa online news outlet, show that federal departments and agencies issued $5.8 million in contracts between 2019 and 2020 for companies that were either based in China or owned by companies based there.

The disclosure comes on the heels of the trials of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who have been detained in China since December 2018. The trial for Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Spavor, a businessman, wrapped up in Beijing in late March.

The trials were held behind closed doors. While no verdicts have been released, the sentences are expected to be announced at a future date. The two men are widely seen to have been seized by China in retribution for Canada’s detention of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, who’s facing extradition to the United States.

There are, additionally, more than 100 Canadian citizens in Chinese jails, four of them on death row.

“Public attitudes toward Communist China are certainly hardening,” Williamson said. “Canadians understand Beijing views other nations as vassal states. The Canadian public has figured this out while our federal leadership, both political and bureaucratic, continues to ignore the problem or is convinced it didn’t matter.”

The details in Williamson’s inquiry show that a handful of government departments, Crown corporations or agencies were responsible for the vast majority of money spent on Chinese contracts. A number of them are quite small. National Defence had contracts worth $305.65, which were for cable and chemical supplies, according to government documents. The Canadian Mint, meanwhile, had contracts worth nearly $1.9 million between October 2019 and March 2021.

About $753,000 worth of contracts were also given out by Global Affairs Canada. “The funding available to satisfy the department’s operational requirements at missions located around the globe, including China, requires that contracts with foreign vendors be issued to acquire goods and services,” says the department’s response to the inquiry.

The Public Health Agency of Canada also contracted China Sinopharm International for $228,614.40, to provide “disposable nitrile gloves.”

The National Research Council spent $330,000 on Chinese contracts.