Canada denied diplomatic visa for a Chinese political operative last fall: Joly
CBC
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada denied a diplomatic visa application for a Chinese political operative last fall.
Joly made the comment before a parliamentary committee in Ottawa Thursday. The procedure and House affairs committee is studying foreign interference in Canada's elections.
"When China wanted to send a political operative last fall, we decided to deny a visa. Which obviously is the right thing to do," Joly told the committee.
Earlier in the day, the Globe and Mail reported that the Chinese government had applied for a visa for a new position at its embassy in Ottawa, which it called the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party.
A source told the newspaper the Department of Global Affairs concluded that the new position was "transparently not a diplomatic position" and likely was designed to handle covert political and interference activities.
Joly sparred with Conservative MPs about whether Canada has expelled any Chinese diplomats.
"One visa denied, not a single diplomat expelled. Hardly the actions of a government that takes Beijing's interference seriously," said MP Michael Cooper.
Joly argued expulsions come with ramifications for Canadian diplomats as well.
"For any expulsion there is an expulsion afterwards of us in China and right now our biggest challenge is to understand how China operates, how they plan, how they work," she said.
"I believe profoundly in the importance of diplomacy and our diplomats. More than ever we need capacity. We need eyes and ears on the ground."
Joly said the issue has been raised along diplomatic lines and came up in a recent meeting with her counterpart, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, during a G20 meeting in New Delhi earlier this month.
"I was extremely clear. I looked him in the eyes and said to him, first, we will never tolerate any form of foreign interference in our democracy and international affairs," she said.
"You've talked tough with your Beijing counterparts, so you say. You even stared into his eyes," Cooper said later during the meeting.
"I am sure he was very intimidated."
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.