Canadian parliamentarians Erin O'Toole and Luc Berthold during a press conference called for the formation of a special committee to examine Ottawa's relations with Beijing
TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2019) Canadian parliamentarians Erin O'Toole and Luc Berthold during a press conference called for the formation of a special committee to examine Ottawa's relations with Beijing.
"Our motion is an effort to establish a special committee of parliament to deal with the present diplomatic dispute with China and to develop a specialized and multidisciplinary approach to the bilateral challenges in the modern Canada-China relations," O'Toole said on Tuesday.
The announcement comes exactly one year after Beijing detained two Canadian citizens, former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor. The move was widely seen as a retaliatory measure following the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou last year at the request of the United States.
O'Toole and Berthold also said that Canadians have lost confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's ability to adequately represent the country abroad pointing to a series of gaffes during international missions and the perceived promotion of his personal brand.
Since the arrest in December of last year, Beijing has imposed several bans on Canadian meat products and vegetable oil exports, some of which were, however, lifted in October. The strained relations have led Canada's Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) to downgrade the country's economic outlook as these and other trade tensions continue to mount and exports fall.
