Motion to Revive Special China Committee Adopted in House Despite Liberal Opposition

Conservative MP Michael Chong rises during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on May 31, 2021. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

A Conservative Party motion to revive the special committee on Canada-China relations was adopted in the House of Commons on Monday despite opposition from the ruling Liberal Party.

“Beijing’s communist government continues to threaten and target pro-democracy and human rights advocates in the Chinese community here in Canada. Beijing’s communist leadership also poses a threat to Canada’s national interest and security, as well as to our values,” says a Conservative Party statement released after the vote.

“Conservatives believe that Canada needs to stand up for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Conservatives believe the Trudeau government needs to take seriously the threat from authoritarian regimes, as recent events have made so starkly clear,” says the statement signed by MPs Michael Chong and Pierre Paul-Hus.

The NDP, which entered a confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberals to keep their minority government in power until 2025, voted in favour of the motion.

The total tally was 168 yeas to 155 nays. Liberal MP John McKay broke with his party and voted in favour. The Green Party’s two MPs voted “Nay” and sided with the government.

The party leadership came under fire from within when it decided to not pursue the China committee after the start of the new Parliament last year, citing a lack of resources due to the creation of a new committee on science and research and a special committee to evaluate the government’s response to the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban.

Some MPs had openly criticized that decision, along with critics of Beijing.

Chong, who presented the motion, said at the time that the party had never abandoned the idea of reviving the committee at a later date.

The motion states that an organizational meeting of the committee will be convened within one week of the Special Committee on Afghanistan presenting its final report, which according to that time frame could be in the upcoming weeks and before the House’s last sitting day on June 23 before the summer break.

Canada has yet to announce a decision on the presence of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei in the country’s 5G, and there’s been little attention paid to determining the origin of the pandemic that started in Wuhan, China.

The committee is likely to also look into human rights violations against minorities and the situation in Hong Kong.

In addition, sanctions against Russia have pushed Moscow toward Beijing, and the latter has been looking intently at the military operation and the international fallout to assess what could occur if it were to attempt to take Taiwan.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article stated that Bloc Québécois MP Maxime Blanchette-Joncas voted against the motion, as this is what was broadcasted during the live House of Commons proceedings. However, the official tally of the vote indicates that Blanchette-Joncas voted in favour.