Evidence of meeting #30 for Canada-China Relations in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was brunswick.
A video is available from Parliament.
7:15 p.m.
Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, As an Individual
Not at all. New Brunswick is a small province. I hope that our actions will inspire other provinces and that the Government of Canada will take action.
I don't think there will be major consequences here.
7:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
Thank you, Mr. Cardy.
Now we'll go to Mr. Harris for two minutes and 30 seconds, please.
7:15 p.m.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Thank you, Chair.
Mr. Cardy, in our province, Newfoundland and Labrador—and I suspect in most provinces—the Department of Education takes a very close scrutiny of and control over curriculum and materials and what's taught, particularly in the public schools of the province. Was that the case in New Brunswick?
Did they miss something, or did they not have any control over what the Confucius Institute program was offering to the students in New Brunswick?
7:15 p.m.
Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, As an Individual
There was a level of control that was supposed to be in place, but the standards weren't lived up to, which is how we ended up having elementary school students being told that Taiwan was just another part of China. I think there was a bit of overconfidence in terms of expecting China to live up to their side of the bargain.
7:15 p.m.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Did this gradually get into the curriculum, or was it something that started off with the curriculum by doing all of the things that you have been complaining about in terms of how they dealt with students and how they disciplined them, for example, for bringing up Tiananmen Square?
7:15 p.m.
Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, As an Individual
Those were only in the context of the classes that the Confucius Institute teachers were offering.
This is a good moment to note something that I didn't say earlier, which is that when the consul general came to visit me, he was accompanied by a translator, and after saying the Confucius Institute had absolutely nothing to do with the Chinese Communist Party or the Government of China, it turned out that the translator who was with him was a Confucius Institute teacher.
Again, never at any point was I made aware of those teachers or any agents of the Government of China acting outside of those classes in those schools.
7:15 p.m.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Did you have any trouble convincing any of your cabinet colleagues to support your decision to rid the province of the Confucius Institute?
7:15 p.m.
Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, As an Individual
I can't speak about what happens in cabinet.
7:15 p.m.
Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, As an Individual
It took a couple of months after my government was elected. We were elected in September 2018, took power in November 2018 and began to prepare this effort later in November of 2018.
7:15 p.m.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Do you have any plans, Mr. Cardy, to ensure there is some Chinese language programming available in the province of New Brunswick at either the high school or the university level to provide the kinds of alternatives that have been urged upon us—by several witnesses, by the way—particularly to protect the Chinese people in Canada?
7:15 p.m.
Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, As an Individual
Absolutely. We've been working with the representatives from the Republic of China, Taiwan, who have an astonishingly high-quality educational exchange program that I'd encourage everyone to look into.
7:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Harris.
Now we go to Mr. Genuis for five minutes, please.
June 21st, 2021 / 7:15 p.m.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
On a point of order before I start my questions, it looks like the House is about to start bells. Can we maybe pass a motion to give us 15 minutes here so that we don't have to be interrupted?
7:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
I think what I would need is unanimous consent for that.
I am seeking unanimous consent for us to continue for 15 more minutes. I'm assuming it will be a 30-minute bell when the bells start ringing. Is there unanimous consent?
7:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
Okay. Thank you.
It is only with unanimous consent, Mr. Genuis.
Please begin.
7:15 p.m.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
The bells are ringing now. Can I seek unanimous consent for 10 minutes?
7:15 p.m.
Liberal
7:15 p.m.
Conservative
7:15 p.m.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Don't you want to hear from the minister? Do you need half an hour? Come on, Rob. This is incredibly rude to the minister.
7:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
Order.
Mr. Genuis, I'm sorry. The rules compel me to suspend the meeting.
7:20 p.m.
Conservative
