Mr. Speaker, business leaders often talk about environmental, social and corporate governance goals and about corporate social responsibility. It is now time for them to show leadership.
Last week, leaders of the Canada China Business Council loudly applauded when a Chinese official demanded the release of Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, and when he blamed Canada for problems in Canada-China relations, but they remained silent when our government asked for the same treatment for Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor and clemency for Robert Schellenberg, who is on death row.
Business leaders should know that nothing is inevitable about China's rise. They should also know that Canadians are increasingly fed up with Beijing's belligerence, and so too are our allies. We are a nation slow to anger, but once pushed beyond our limit, history demonstrates that we, with our democratic allies, will push back and win.