Sometimes I think that we get so wrapped up in domestic affairs that we fail to see what is happening in the wider world. Perhaps many Canadians think that what goes on beyond our borders doesn’t really affect us, if they do, they had better think again.
Two events occurred in the last week or two that didn’t get a lot of attention but are, in my view, lightning rods.
The first was a visit to Russia’s Vladimir Putin by China’s top diplomat followed up with credible information that China was on the brink of supplying weapons of war to Russia and then a Chinese proposed peace initiative between Ukraine and Russia, heavily loaded in the latter’s favour, effectively, rewarding their aggression.
The second event was within our borders. Information leaked from Canada’s Intelligence Agency (CSIS) revealed hard evidence that China interfered in our 2019 federal election, favouring Liberal candidates. It was further alleged that CSIS warned senior members of the Prime Minister’s Office prior to the 2019 election, that one candidate’s nomination ought to be decertified because of Chinese interference, and no action was taken. That individual is now a member of Parliament.
As this information was recently revealed, the Prime Minister went on the defensive. He downplayed the allegations and refused calls for a public inquiry. He basically told Canadians this was none of their business.
I beg to differ. Canadians have a right to know if foreign powers are disrespecting our sovereignty by interfering in our elections, and if that has occurred, they have the right to know what the government has done about it. Surely we have learned through the centuries that appeasement or self-interest doesn’t work. I am reminded in this instance of a quote from former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker who said, “You can’t stand up for Canada with a banana for a backbone.”
While the two instances mentioned above may seem unrelated, they do have a common thread. They both reveal as other actions by the Chinese Government have, that China is emerging again as an effective superpower and one that is not particularly friendly to genuine democratic countries.
The United States, the global superpower on which Canada relies, (whether we like it or not) is in decline. They have lost significant respect on the international stage and currently, they are a divided nation.
People dismiss knee-jerk cries from nut cases like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who proposes a civil war in the United States, and Fox News’s Tucker Carlson, who not only supports Greene but among other things, has proposed that the United States invade Canada.
We need to remember two things: A significant portion of Americans still believe that Donald Trump won the last election, and these are the same people who support and give credibility to the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Tucker Carlson, and yes, Steve Bannon. There is a movement there that has not been eliminated and indeed, may be growing.
There was also a similar movement, begun by similar minority dissidents, that eventually led to World War ll. That war started because Germany invaded Czechoslovakia.
Now we have an unprovoked war of aggression started by Russia against Ukraine. Russia appears to have a powerful ally in China who themselves are salivating to control much of Asia including Taiwan. The United States has pledged to defend Taiwan.
Russia and China also have close ties to Pakistan and Iran, not to mention trigger-happy North Korea. On top of that, the United Nations is impotent, if not useless, when it comes to stopping Chinese and Russian aggression and they will continue to be as long as Russia and China have a veto there.
Are we on the brink of another World War? I honestly don’t know. I fervently hope not. I do believe we are well into another Cold War. As well, I am concerned that the balance of power that has existed for decades is now shifting away from the West.
I am a believer that without serious due diligence, what goes around comes around. For that reason, if for no other, we should abandon the recent penchant to erase much of our history and instead strive to learn from it.
While different players and different alliances are involved, there are a number of similarities to the state our world is in today compared to the years immediately before World War ll. Propaganda or disinformation was prevalent then and it is now. Territorial gain was the top priority for the aggressors then and it is now. Appeasement and ignoring the realities of what is taking place did not work then and will not work now. The sky may not be falling, but there are clouds on the horizon.
Canada has always punched above its weight in times of trouble. We need to do that again, now. Not duck issues with a major power because the governing Party in Canada may have been the beneficiary of their malfeasance.
Canada, in my view, has an important role to play in maintaining peaceful coexistence worldwide. We have earned over the years an important place on the world stage. We have set examples that other countries have emulated. We are known for our steadfastness and courage. We are known for Lester Pearson-like diplomacy where the carrot and the stick work together to maintain peace and order.
Now more than ever, as we face numerous international challenges and crises, we need that kind of leadership from Canada. We need leaders with backbones of steel.
Bananas won’t cut it.
Hugh Mackenzie
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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I thought there may be someone here on Doppler that had answers to some of my questions, but it has been all quiet. Hugh Mackenzie stated that we Canadians have the right to know if someone is disrespecting our sovereignty. I agree. But we must be aware that, that is and has been done for a long time?
In Dec. ’21 the Washington Post reported that the Chinese “automatically collect and store Facebook and Twitter data in real time on domestic Chinese servers for analysis.” Pretty revealing. How many sources must they have?
Now we will have an inquiry to search out and expose the “hard evidence” of this disrespect.
With the outcry over the certainty of information gathered by TikTok belonging to the Chinese state, we might wonder if our musings here on Doppler might somehow be tapped into.
I read somewhere that every bit of information gathered by the Chinese, everywhere, belongs to the state. “Knowledge is power”. They have a lot of power.
The innocent, the learned, and the foolish alike are submitting everything to social media. For example, the posting of the crash site where a famous basketballer perished. Today’s latest news bite.
Chinese owned, and therefore controlled, corporations are operating worldwide. HSBC (Han sang Bank of China) loans, funds, employs and pays Canadians. CNOOC (Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation) operate in the western oil sands. When I see COSCO on containers freighted by CN, it isn’t the store that pops to mind. It means Chinese Overseas Shipping Corporation. There is a long list of such businesses.
We have long hunkered behind our wall of Democracy. Corporate greed is starting to trump commerce. The Chinese state is coming with bundles of cash and it seems to me that we are selling that wall: one brick at a time.
It will be interesting to hear what CSIS has to tell us. Wonder what the Chinese will make of it all. Or maybe we could have just asked them.
Scary commentary,well written as usual and liked Hugh Holland’s comments.I watched the Chinese balloon being shot down here in Surfside South Carolina.It was huge and very close.How very arrogant of China .I think they were testing Biden!
This was an excellent article that created reflective responses. There are many pieces that could be added that would increase anxiety about China’s intentions such as what transpired during Covid with the vaccinations (lack thereof – and the disappearance of the Chinese researchers from the Level 4 lab). Harper made agreements that cannot be broken regarding China that has had some really serious repercussions for Canadians. It’s time to use the Notwithstanding clause to break those previous agreements and set a better course for Canada.
As much as opposition parties would like to see it happen so they could criticize the government for being foolish, it would be the height of foolishness for Canada to take on China in direct open conflict. That would be the equivalent of PEI taking on Ontario. Much smarter to just let China know that the Canadian people know that their efforts to influence our election were a failure.
Small and midsized populations like Canada derive their economic, political, and military strength by leveraging the collective strength of like-minded countries through the UN’s many agencies and NATO. The collective population of NATO is almost the same as China and military expenditures are 3 times China and 10 times Russia.
Also, our government has taken other measures such as putting a stop on subsidizing research of Chinese students in Canadian universities and putting the brakes on China’s efforts to gain control of strategic minerals in Canada.
The UN is not toothless. There was only 21 years between WW1 and WW2, but thanks to the UN, it has been 78 years since the last global conflict, and it is unlikely there will be one now. China has no interest in becoming embroiled in a global conflict. China lifted 500 million people out of extreme poverty since 1949 and they have no interest in another great conflict. Their goal is to defend themselves while trying to lift another 500 million out of poverty. China voted neutral in the last vote of the UN General Assembly regarding Ukraine. They did not vote with Russia.
Trump’s insults about China stealing US jobs (The US outsourced their own jobs to enhance already high profits) and about starting the pandemic provoked Xi Jinping’s political rivals and just like Trudeau’s rivals they put pressure on him to respond. Easy as it would be, it takes cool heads to not overreact to the pressure of bullies. Both NATO and Trudeau are trying to not overreact. Trudeau has some good advisors and to his credit, he listens to them. That is what a real leader does.
Globe and Mail says CSIS report details Beijing’s plan to support the Liberals by contributing to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation as well as candidates. Here is a little more evidence for all to digest.
The following question has to be put to trudeau (small letters on purpose)
“ since your staff was notified in 2019 about Chinese interference either they told you and you are lying or they did not do their job by withholding this information from you and they should be fired”
Plain and simple
In reference to Chinese interfering in Canadian elections, I’m not convinced one way or the other, most people being far more computer savvy than myself. So how do we know? CSIS says so, I realize; they claim to have ‘hard evidence’. So the thing is cut and dried and beyond question then?
But I have questions.
If China is trying to manipulate our elections, why would they chose only one person? Or have they chosen more? Let’s hear about them all, or has CSIS only detected one?
If they (China) are doing this on the sly, why choose a person with oriental ancestry? Why not an indigenous person or someone with Germany ancestry? Wouldn’t that make more sense than someone the media (and Conservatives) could point out as an obvious target?
Does the person they (the Chinese) chose, know they were being aided? Are they therefore complicit? Would this not be an indictable or treasonable(?) offence?
How do the people that this person represents feel about all this, since it is inferred that they didn’t make the choice of their own volition?
If the candidate had knowledge of Chinese interference in his election, is he guilty of something, even though he never asked for the help? Ignorance is never accepted as an excuse!
If there is an illegal act being perpetrated here, is there not legal recourse for CSIS? Why would they have to have the say so from the PM? Just call the cops and prove the case.
There is that twinge of conscience that makes us feel we need proof before we accuse. Our premier says developers had no heads-up about the opening of the Green Belt for development, and without proof, I will begrudgingly have to wait. I will also wait for the proof against the Chinese.
In both instances we look forward to seeing that ‘hard evidence’.
Hugh, this is a very well written and informative piece. I must say, it’s a hard pill to swallow because you are correct (in my opinion).
You ask, “are we on the brink of another world war?” It appears a definite possibility -not a remote possibility, but a definite possibility. I’m not well versed on politics but I ask, How the heck did we ever get to this scenario? I naively thought we were into a collective world conscience (term?) where many of us recognize and acknowledge and are working towards a sustainable future. To a world where grandchildren have an environment that is greener and more sustainable than is presently. To a world that is full of possibilities.
We do need leaders with backbones of steel and, with an action plan that well serves our country and the world.
I’m thankful I’m not a new parent.
Trudeau is a craven coward, but with the NDP’s Singh adding his voice to those calling for an inquiry into the CCP interference, along with former Liberal advisors doing same, now Trudeau will have no choice but to greenlight it. What a shame and disgrace that he has to constantly be dragged into doing the right thing for Canadians.
Hugh, your concerns are well founded. As stated in my previous article, the risks of war escalation are very real. If the West rejects China’s peace proposal, which looks all but certain, and NATO weapons escalation continues, they will engage militarily to ensure Russia isn’t defeated in this proxy war with the US.
We are witnessing a drift towards a wider war in a new bipolar world order. Note that even in the useless UN, the abstaining/no vote countries on the motion condemning Russia’s invasion represent well over half the world’s population. They are mostly poorer and suffer the most by far from the economic fallout from this terrible war. They distrust the US-led West’s motives. The Russian sanctions and the $125+ billion in Ukraine financial/humanitarian/military aid comes almost entirely from the US and European countries. For context, the US’s $70 billion+ contribution is over 2X their 2023 foreign aid proposed budget (USAID).
China and Russia together have over half the world’s nuclear weapons arsenal. Their combined militaries would be a match to NATO and in an E. Europe or Asian war theatre, they would have superiority.
This is very serious stuff, but the West shrugs it off. It’s all about defeating Russia and taking Putin down, at all costs, while issuing warnings to China to stay out. So dangerous.
The Federal Liberal Party’s tolerance for Chinese Communist interference in Canadian affairs is abysmal. Perhaps if the Chinese had supported a different Party Our fearless leader might have shown more interest!