Bob Mackin
Canada should deepen support for and engagement with Taiwan, said the former diplomat China held hostage for almost three years in retaliation for Meng Wanzhou’s 2018 arrest.
Michael Kovrig told the House of Commons’ international trade committee on Feb. 26 that Canada should move forward with Taiwan while maintaining “a polite diplomatic stance with China.”
“Canada should also be encouraging like-minded democracies and allies to be strengthening ties with Taiwan,” Kovrig said. “We should not accept a false dichotomy that Beijing would want to force on Canada, that we must choose between relations between China and Taiwan when we are talking about commercial agreements on trade and investment.”
Cannot be trusted
Michael Kovrig testifying to the House of Commons international trade committee on Feb. 26, 2026. (Parlay)
In January, Prime Minister Mark Carney declared China a “strategic partner” during a trade mission to Beijing. Kovrig called the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) an unreliable partner because it has no checks and balances or any transparency or democratic accountability. In the eyes of the CCP, the law “is simply another political tool, an instrument of power.”
It does not respect contracts and international agreements. By detaining him, China violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the Canada-China consular agreement.
“As we’ve seen, particularly with its role in the World Trade Organization, it often creates the useful semblance of being a guardian and supporter of globalization and a rules-based order, while actively undermining and exploiting it from within, and that creates critical problems for it as a potential trading or otherwise partner for Canada,” Kovrig said.
Cell phones on wheels
Kovrig also said he is concerned about Canada’s recent lifting of tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles. If Huawei is not allowed to build Canada’s next generation telecommunications backbone, then why should BYD be allowed to sell cars to Canadians?
“They can gather up enormous amounts of information, both on their drivers and on everyone around them, and there’s ample documentation of this.”
When it comes to Canadian trade with China, he said the cost of security and mitigation measures may outweigh the value of any investments.
Poilievre reboots
On the same day, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre slammed Donald Trump during a pivotal speech at the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto.
Poilievre called Trump’s 51st state talk, whether a joke or not, “unacceptable” and said the president is wrong to ignore Canada’s sacrifices made for the United States.
“Canadians fought and died alongside Americans in Afghanistan, and let’s be clear, we did that exclusively in response to an attack on our American neighbours,” Poilievre said. “We also fought and bled alongside America, not just in the trenches of Western Europe, but in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, defending American territory in the Second World War.
“And of course, we joined rapidly to fight communism in Korea. In countless other ways, our cooperation – whether it’s NORAD or our efforts to secure the Arctic – have been beneficial to both countries.”
During the 2025 federal election, Trump said it is easier to deal with a Liberal. He did not refer to Poilievre by name, but said “the Conservative that’s running is stupidly no friend of mine.”
Mark Carney (left) and Xi Jinping in Beijing on Jan. 16, 2026. (Government of Canada/Facebook)
Biggest threat to Canada
Poilievre also said Canada “should not declare a permanent rupture with our biggest customer and closest neighbour in favour of a strategic partnership for a new world order with Beijing – a regime the Prime Minister himself said was the biggest threat to Canada just a year ago.”
China’s government and its proxies have kidnapped Canadians, stolen Canadian technology, meddled in Canadian elections and pushed fentanyl onto Canadian streets, he said.
“Canada should talk and trade where prudent, but never make the mistake of confusing engagement with dependency. China is not a substitute for the United States of America.”
Team Canada
Poilievre also struck a collaborative, rather than combative, tone.
He quoted Pierre Trudeau’s line comparing life next to the United States to sleeping with an elephant: “No matter how friendly and even-tempered the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.”
Poilievre proposed an all-party committee to fight for Canada’s interests “with the beast next door” during the review of Canada’s free trade agreement with the U.S. and Mexico.
“The best leverage we have, though, is to be united here at home,” Poilievre said. “All political parties love Canada. New Democrats, Conservatives, and Liberals love it a little differently than the Bloc Québécois, but even they want the best for their constituents. The best way for us to become unbreakable in our negotiations and our discussions with other countries is to work to be united here at home.”
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