Government Operations committee  Good morning from Tokyo. It's about three in the morning here, so I apologize if I yawn. First of all, let me just thank you for the invitation to come and share my views on this important committee. It's important for us to be thinking about COVID-19, what its repercussions for

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much for telling me. First, I'd like to begin with what I think are the four eye-openers for Canadians in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic; second, I'd like to talk about lessons for Canada; and third, recommendations for Canada. Let me begin with the four importa

Government Operations committee  All right. Thank you very much. I'll just end with two other points. This middle-power alignment needs to work quickly to engage in WTO reform to ensure that economic coercion and other forms of coercion cannot be deployed against Canada and other middle powers. Lastly, I'm ad

Government Operations committee  We should understand that in the initial days of the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, the decision-making process was frozen due to systemic challenges within the Chinese government associated with the deepening authoritarian rule under Xi Jinping. This should be differentia

Government Operations committee  I think there's a very important saying that we should keep in mind when we're thinking about Canadian participation in the AIIB: “If you're not at the table, you're on the menu.” I think any participation by Canada in an international organization means that Canadian values and

Government Operations committee  You need to distinguish between the AIIB and the memorandums of understanding of the BRI, and these are very different. What we have seen in, for example, the ports in Sri Lanka was the debt trap diplomacy that many scholars and researchers are criticizing China for in the Sri La

Government Operations committee  I think that Canada needs to work with like-minded countries to form a critical mass of diplomacy, economic resources and other resources to ensure that any kind of engagement with China is more symmetrical. A critical aspect of dealing with China is that there are asymmetrical a

Government Operations committee  I think we've moved into a very different period in terms of international affairs in which China is using middle-powers' relationships with the United States and its asymmetrical economic relationships with other middle powers to shape its decisions. I think a very good exampl

Government Operations committee  Well, as we know, the United States has turned in a different direction over the past three years under the current administration in the White House. Our traditional relationship has, in many ways, become much less predictable, but moving forward, I think it's important for Ca

Government Operations committee  I think we should be expecting that China will likely continue to target our agricultural industry, and it will likely target it through questionable enforcement of domestic regulations, such as increasing the number of regulations on imports going into China. China also has a pr

Government Operations committee  When we're thinking about how to manage selective decoupling, there are certain industries that I think we will have to seriously consider reshoring back to Canada. This could be personal protective equipment, other forms of medical equipment and some pharmaceuticals. However, we

Government Operations committee  We need to continue to work with reliable partners who can provide the essential medical equipment and other equipment that Canada needs in the case of COVID-19. We need to be realistic that it's going to be very difficult to replace many aspects of the global production network

Government Operations committee  I think a focus on good governance is crucial in convincing China to move forward on some kind of international investigation to improve its responses to an emerging pandemic, as we've seen with COVID-19. China does not respond well to shaming. Its response when it's shamed inte

Government Operations committee  Although I'm not a legal expert and my understanding of FIPA is probably not as strong as it should be, I think when we're looking at Canadian engagement with China, first and foremost we should understand that the legal environment within China is not rule of law, it's rule by l

Government Operations committee  No, I'm not familiar with these kinds of rumours, but I think we should be aware as Canadians that we've already been victims of economic coercion from the United States in the renegotiation of NAFTA 2.0, with steel tariffs. I think if President Trump is re-elected we should co