ANALYSIS: How Public Opinion Has Long Swayed Ottawa’s China Policy

ANALYSIS: How Public Opinion Has Long Swayed Ottawa’s China Policy
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly speaks to reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 27, 2023. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick
Omid Ghoreishi
Updated:
0:00

Given Canadians’ mistrust of China, Ottawa-Beijing relations cannot be “reset,” Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said this week. This follows a historical trend of public concerns restraining leaders from courting Beijing, despite the push from some quarters to do so.

Similar sentiments as those of Ms. Joly’s have been expressed by other Canadian leaders in the past, although less candidly.