Playing with the Dragon: Who is looking after Canadian interests while China outwits our governments?

Posted on by Laila

” We cannot enter into alliances until we know the designs of our neighbours.” ~ Sun Tzu

It should come as no surprise to anyone, that the script of a 6th century general and military strategist has even been converted into a business bible of sorts. Yes, Sun Tzu 孫子, author of The Art of War, was indeed a brilliant strategist and in this day when war is a  business and business is war, his words are referred to by many for guidance.

Perhaps Canadians would do well to take heed, and find a copy to read. Not only will it offer you a deeper understanding of the strategies used by many corporations, it might also help you to understand why the Chinese government might be so interested in investing in Canada, if not just for our natural resources but for strategic purposes as well.

Indeed, as many news reports show, China seems to have decided – after several years of little to no investment – that Canada is again, a good place to invest. Therein lies the heart of this post.

 Are Chinese corporate investments and ownership good for Canada ? Or has China simply played the part of the sleeping dragon for another reason, waiting for our government to become willing again to allow such open and easy access to our resources, our technology and our proximity to the United States? What is the real motive for China’s increasing interest in Canada ?

Although I have followed foreign investment and interest in British Columbia for some time, via the Macquarie group in particular, it was Richard Fadden’s remarks last year that really sparked my interest in the potential for foreign influence over domestic governments.

Fadden took an incredible amount of flack from – and this was telling to me – our premier, MLA’s and municipal politicians after remarking that in B.C., CSIS was investigating foreign influence over several politicians/ government employees. Oddly enough, it was considered a swipe at the entire Asian community as if all were tarred suddenly by the actions of a corrupt few. In fact Fadden did not single out China as the only foreign country of influence… This is the full Fadden interview, with reference to his now infamous speech. Please watch in its’ entirety, for a pre-cursor to what comes next.

Fadden was forced to quickly ‘clarify’ his explosive statements  and that was the end of it. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/csis-director-backtracks-on-comments-that-governments-infiltrated-by-spies/article4322753/ , which isn’t a surprise and perhaps indicates political pressure on the agency.
If anything, I think Fadden was trying to warn Canadians, British Columbians, to wake up and smell the coffee.. and let those know who may be doing the influencing know, they were watching. And of course, he became the object of many B.C. politicians wrath and ire for his statements, had to do some damage control, but again, most assumed he was referring specifically to Chinese state influence, and perhaps he was, but the interview does not reflect that completely.

You have to have some background understanding of espionage threats in Canada, but I think he wanted to let those know who might be too friendly with foreign governments, that CSIS was watching.

 Others have looked at the American influence on BC politicians, and while I do agree that is occurring, there has been much discussion and attention in the past to China.

That is why, it was with great interest this article popped up on my alerts recently: China trying to politically infiltrate NZ and Australia.

Not because it involved China, but because the article details an alleged leaked intelligence briefing for Australian law enforcement agencies that boldly refers to the Sidewinder Report… a report many assert was killed,debunked and shredded directly because of political pressure.

In fact, in the comments section below this very brief preview of the article online, someone tries very hard to negate the reference and again, debunk Sidewinder as conspiracy, even over ten years after the fact. And when you consider that an ex-envoy who defected from the Chinese consulate in Australia came to Canada with evidence of a Chinese spying program in Australia, stating the Chinese used the same methods in western countries to exert political influence over sensitive issues… this alleged leaked intelligence brief takes on a new significance for Canadians.

   Here is that brief preview, the full article is available only with a subscription:

“A leaked intelligence briefing for Australian law enforcement agencies suggests China may have already deeply penetrated Australian and New Zealand political and business circles for espionage purposes.

The document, reprinted in the new Investigate magazine out this week, says the pattern of Chinese “investment” in Australia and New Zealand is following exactly the same lines as it did in Canada, where intelligence agencies discovered Chinese government agents posing as rich investment migrants had bribed and corrupted Canadian politicians and officials.

“Few of you will have heard about the “Sidewinder Report”,” states the briefing paper published in Investigate.

“Allowing it was tabled over a decade ago, after which money, influence and corruption were all brought to bear to have copies shredded, that isn’t surprising. Fortunately a single digital copy survived, so we can still analyze/learn from this in-depth and rather alarming study, which is a very good example of Asian/Triad/Organized crime/long term planning.

“I personally believe a similar scenario exists/is being established in the likes of NZ and Australia, where similar immigration policies are in force. For this reason, I want to give you a detailed breakdown of the report, and you can perhaps reach your own conclusions.

“The report was commissioned in the mid 1990′s codenamed “Sidewinder” and was a joint effort prepared by Canada’s Secret Intelligence Service and the National Security Division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Its mandate was to look at Chinese Triad involvement and integration into Canadian Financial and Governmental sectors.

“The report clearly found that over a period of time many Chinese triads, agents of the Chinese Secret Intelligence Service, and Hong Kong tycoons, had firmly established themselves in Canada and had acquired Canadian nationality.”

The document states that Western governments have relied on official Chinese agencies to “vet” prospective immigrants to Canada, the US, Australia, UK and New Zealand, because local law enforcement has no way of independently verifying the identity or history of migrants.

That’s allowed China to slip its own agents into Western nations under the guise of immigration vetting.

“Canadian and Chinese consular staff were selling visas to members of the Chinese mafia and China’s intelligence service, prices were as high as $100,000 per visa,” says the leaked report.

In return for being approved to live and do business in the West, the migrants were given orders on how they could repay the favour to Chinese intelligence.

“They were instructed to make donations and get involved with political parties. Children studied hard and were directed at Government positions, many becoming well established in the ranks of the Immigration dept.  [Name withheld] was Minister of [Portfolio withheld] during the 90′s. He forged close links which China. “Somehow” he and his cronies are now all millionaires.

“By the year 2000, Chinese people affiliated to Triads owned one-third of downtown Vancouver. China invested over one billion dollars in 2001 to buy Canadian businesses in strategic areas and is also a large stockholder in Canada’s Imperial Bank.  It controls 15 corporations in the country’s technology sector.   By 2002, over 200 Canadian Companies were under the direct control of China’s International Trust & Investment Corporation (CITIC).

“CITIC (Pacific) has many links to major Australian and NZ businesses. The Pengxin Group currently bidding to buy Crafar farms in New Zealand are linked to CITIC. CITIC operates directly under the general staff of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). It is also the world’s largest private operator of container terminals, having lucrative stakes in 17 ports in Europe alone.”

The full report is in the latest Investigate magazine, but its publication coincides with reports this week that Australian intelligence has vetoed the involvement of communications giant Huawei in Australia’s broadband network, for fears it will help China spy on Australia.

Huawei has already been given approval to take part in New Zealand’s broadband rollout.

The chairman of Huawei was formerly a senior official in the Chinese state intelligence agency, and its founder was formerly a solder in the People’s Liberation Army.

Huawei denies any involvement in espionage, but this week its links with US corporates were also cut over similar fears.”

How interesting, that an intelligence document alleged to have been leaked from an overseas source trusted enough to publish it, would mention Sidewinder after all these years.

Sidewinder, for those of you who may have not have heard of the scandal, was a controversial report worked on and put together by a group of RCMP and CSIS officials in the late 1990’s, that was ultimately suppressed, denied as conjecture and theory rather than fact by the SIRC – the Security Intelligence Review Committe – the government agency that oversees CSIS.

All copies and supporting materials were ordered destroyed, however several copies were leaked to various media outlets, as well as  several writers across Canada. A full accounting of the scandal can be found here http://www.primetimecrime.com/Articles/Media%20Articles/2000110Sidewider.htm

From Operation Sidewinder – there are many,many other media reports, this is the most concise, comprehensive article:

“It was Sidewinder that sounded the first alarm bells that China is one of the greatest ongoing threats to Canada’s national security and Canadian industry.

But even after Sidewinder was side swiped by former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, intelligence proves that there is no doubt that an active Chinese Intelligence Service has been able to gain influence on vital sectors of the Canadian economy, including real estate, high technology and security. The bottom line is that this unprecedented influence gave China ongoing access to economic, political and some military intelligence in Canada.

Operation Sidewinder met with a fate that silenced ringing alarm bells. Officially entitled Chinese Intelligence Services and Triads Financial Links in Canada, it was buried. Following orders from persons unknown, CSIS watered down Sidewinder’s worrisome conclusions and replaced it with a revised document called, Echo.

CSIS officials maintain that they buried Sidewinder because it relied on nothing more than conspiracy theories—even though http://www.asianpacificpost.com heralded the news in August 2003 that some 3,500 Chinese spy companies had been identified operating in Canada and the United States.

While CSIS claimed that conspiracy caused them to go mum, other intelligence sources are saying that political pressure forced CSIS to abandon the Sidewinder report.

Prominent among Sidewinder’s case studies was The Chinese, state-owned China International Trust Investment Company (CITIC), which already has a subsidiary up and running in Canada. CITIC has spent about $500 million to buy a Canadian pulp mill, a petrochemical company, vast real estate and hotels. At the time of the Sidewinder report. CITIC already had connections with one large Canadian corporation.

Add to that portfolio, the Alberta oil sands, ownership of which is currently being contemplated by a state-owned Chinese company and a Toronto-based mine company, Noranda Mines–a deal worth more than $7 billion.

~snip~

Conspiracy theories were tossed out the window when U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher revealed that the U.S. Bureau of Export Affairs, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the Rand Corporation had identified Li Ka-Shing and Hutchison Whampoa (Li’s primary business) as financing or serving as a conduit for Communist China’s military in order for them to acquire sensitive technologies and other equipment.”

To read what remains of the SideWinder report, you can access it in PDF format here:  http://www.primetimecrime.com/Articles/RobertRead/sidewinder.pdf

At this point, I will mention that two men were, with calculated dedication, targeted with respect to their careers and reputations because of what they knew about Sidewinderm and because they would not drop it.

Cpl Robert Read, was fired from the RCMP for a ” lack of loyalty to the government”, after a long legal battle. You can read about his battles, here: http://fairwhistleblower.ca/links/canadian_wbs_links.html#Robert_Read

Brian McAdam, a former Canadian diplomat, had his career toppled after discovering the sale of Canadian Visas and government connections to organized crime. You can read his story here: http://fairwhistleblower.ca/news/articles/2008-08-25_one_mans_china_crusade.html

Read all those links and you can see why I find it so interesting that an alleged leaked intelligence briefing, reported overseas, would candidly refer Sidewinder with clear respect for the information. In my opinion, it bears re-examination of the past to learn for our future. And yet our government still denies all as conspiracy theory, even after ex-CSIS head Jim Judd had declared China the number one concern for espionage in Canada and that the agency spent half its counter espionage budget on dealing with China.

Here is a telling(cached version only accessible)  2011 report from Embassy Magazine, Canada’s foreign policy newspaper, titled : Are Chinese spies getting an easy ride?    It is an absolute eye-opener,  and I recommend you read the entire story, however here is an excerpt:

“Since 2008, there have been at least 57 defendants in US federal prosecutions involving Chinese espionage or efforts to pass classified information, technology or trade secrets to operatives in China, according to a May 7 Associated Press report.

Armed with legal tools, and a sense of urgency fuelled by reports to US Congress citing a paramount risk to American technological superiority, the FBI enthusiastically goes after spies in their midst. One US judge, in the 2010 case of a former B-2 bomber engineer convicted of sending cruise missile technology to the Chinese, said he wanted to send a signal to China to “stop sending your spies here.”

But in Canada, several individuals with expertise in the field argue that a mix of federal agency infighting, insufficient legal frameworks, difficulties with prosecuting espionage cases, and fear of upsetting ongoing investigations has resulted in Canadabeing unable to bring any spies to court in the last few years.

They also say Canada’s “new era” of business-friendly relations with China, recently highlighted by Foreign Minister John Baird’s trip, has led to a hesitation by government to pursue legal action against spies.

Historic warnings

The lack of Chinese espionage prosecutions presents an odd situation for a Conservative government that burst into power carrying ominous messages about Chinese espionage in Canada, and that has recently been hit by a major hacking incident that was traced back to the Chinese embassy.

In 2006, then-foreign minister Peter MacKay told CTV the government was “concerned” that Chinese spies were stealing industrial trade secrets, and said it was something he would raise with the Chinese government.

For years, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service have assessed the threat posed by Chinese organized crime and intelligence services on Canadians. There were reports in 2005 suggesting that there were as many as 1,000 Chinese economic spies operating in Canada, for example.

And despite earlier efforts to downplay the threat, CSIS has been trying in the last few years to alert the public. In 2007, CSIS director Jim Judd told a Senate committee that China “pretty much” ranked as the top country sending agents to Canada, with “close” to 50 per cent of all agents in the country.

Most memorably, in June 2010, CSIS director Richard Fadden told the CBC that municipal officials and provincial Cabinet ministers from two provinces were under the influence of foreign governments, and hinted that the Chinese government was one of the culprits.

Chinese-Canadian groups criticized him for inciting needless widespread suspicion, and he subsequently backed off his comments. Yet in another speech, he said that the recent explosion of Canadian technological prowess in the areas of agriculture, aerospace, biotechnology, mining and other sectors makes it a prime target for economic espionage from countries like China. And CSIS’s report to Parliament in June made some similar comments.

This year, the Treasury Board, Department of Finance and Defence Research and Development Canada computers, as well as the computer system of the House of Commons, were hacked and sensitive government information was stolen. Reports said the attack was traceable to the Chinese Embassy as well as computers in Beijing, but the Chinese government denied involvement. “

It brings me back to my headline: Exactly who is looking after Canadian interests while China seemingly outwits our governments?  Is anyone? Who is watching the watchers?

Considering the past and current BC Liberal agenda seems nearly at times entirely dependent on investment and trade with China and other asian countries, who is making sure the political decisions being made are right for British Columbia, and Canada as a whole? Yes, we as a country, and here in B.C. as a province, are banking on trade with China as an economic force to keep the economy strong, but is this happening with our eyes wide shut? I’m not saying bring it all to a grinding halt, I’m saying we as Canadians need to be asking our politicians some serious questions here.

I’m not the only person questioning our politicians motives and agendas, by far.

In this recent Edmonton Journal article, the direct link is made to a large majority of Chinese state control of the Enbridge Pipeline project:

“More recently, the Chinese have turned their attention to securing control of the pipeline infrastructure that would take Canadian bitumen to refineries in China.

Perhaps you thought the Northern Gateway pipeline was solely a project of Canadian pipe-line company Enbridge Inc. Think again.

Enbridge offered a limited group of investors the right to equity ownership in the project in return for financing the National Energy Board regulatory approval process and predevelopment of the project. For $10 million each, these funding participants receive preferred access and toll rates as shippers on the pipeline.

Only six of the funding participants have identified themselves. This means there might be four others, or, perhaps some of the six participants hold more than one partnership right. The six companies are Sinopec, MEG Energy Corp., Nexen Inc., Cenovus Energy, Suncor Energy Marketing Inc., and Total E&P Canada.

With these funding partners, almost all roads lead to Chinese state control.”

~snip~

All of this raises serious questions about the Harper government’s decision to champion a “rip-it-and-ship-it” export strategy over a value-added strategy for Canadian resources.

It’s not a surprise, nor is it inappropriate, for the Chinese to look after Chinese national interests. That’s why they want the Northern Gateway pipeline.

But the resources in question are not owned by the Chinese or the Americans. They’re not owned by oil companies. They’re owned by the citizens of Canada.

Who, we ask, is looking after the Canadian interest?”

Terry Glavin, goes even further in his recent column in the Ottawa Citizen, examining the seeming about-face Harper has taken with respect to policies, regulations and the Northern Gateway project.

His column is an absolute must read from beginning to end, to understand the flips and flops the Conservatives have taken on this, but here is an excerpt:

“Sinopec had barely settled into its director’s chair at Syncrude’s board table when it revealed that it was partnering on Enbridge Inc.’s proposed $6-billion pipeline from the oilsands to awaiting supertankers at Kitimat on the B.C. coast.

Checkmate. Well, that’s odd, you might say. Isn’t this the same pipeline that Harper and Industry Minister Oliver are now calling a project that is vital to Canada’s national interests? Anyone can see how it’s in Beijing’s interests. But Canada’s?

It all depends on what you mean when you talk like that.

Way back in the 1980s, the Security Intelligence Review Committee was urging amendments to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act to spell out what Canadians mean when we talk about foreign-power connivings that are “detrimental” to Canada’s national interests. “It is almost wholly subjective: no criteria are provided to offer any standard for determining what is ‘detrimental’,” a SIRC report once pointed out.

The definitions in the CSIS Act still don’t clearly define what “detrimental” means, but unlike Investment Canada, CSIS has muddled through and is properly content to couple Canada’s “national security” with “the security and economic welfare of Canada.” Until late last year, Harper himself was happy to use language just like that whenever he returned to his solemn vow to keep Alberta’s oilsands jobs and investment opportunities in Canada, and not ship bitumen offshore to countries with haywire environmental rules like China. It was a Conservative party pledge in 2006 and 2008 and 2010.

But the rules had got hollowed out, and after Sinopec’s checkmate at the Syncrude table, everything went sideways.

Now, Harper is insisting it’s Enbridge’s Sinopec-backed bitumen-export project that is in Canada’s national interests. It’s positively vital to Canada’s interests and furthermore, it’s something we must all rally around because Canada’s very future depends on it…”

Glavin ends his column with this passage:

“Sinopec has managed to get away with being Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s most reliable sanctions busting ally. It succeeded as the protector of the genocidaire Omar al-Bashir’s regime in Khartoum. It’s still getting away with being the guarantor of the mass murderer Bashar al-Assad’s bottomless bank account in Damascus.

And Sinopec is Canada’s new best friend. We are all sitting ducks.”

Defenceless indeed, when Harper seems to be more than eager to push this pipeline though, gut regulations and allow transactions and buyouts that give the Chinese government tremendous leverage over our land, resources and yes, our governments.

And to be honest, I still don’t know who exactly is looking after Canadians interests – if anyone – while China continues to make strategic acquisitions and takeovers. Our governments seem to be only giving constant applause as they do.

59 thoughts on “Playing with the Dragon: Who is looking after Canadian interests while China outwits our governments?”

  1. Excellent post Laila! I find it disgusting that Treason Steven, Joe “Clueless” Oliver and that useless excuse for a Minister of Environment – Peter(less) Kent, can carp and complain about the so-called influence of “foreign money” supporting evironmental groups fighting the dreams of Harper and the rest of the PetroSheiks of Saudi Alberta focused Canada.

    Maybe Harper and his useful idiot Peter MacKay want the F-35, regardless the cost, precisely because it will be so useless against the Chinese, if the rest of Canadians come to realize that they aren’t our friend, in spite of the fact our Reformatory Government is dedicated to serving their needs!

    The world has truly turned upside down when a so-called “free-enterprise” government serves the interests of the Communist State of China – or maybe it would be more accurate to say that Fascist Governments stick together to scratch each others’ backs!

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    1. Hi koot, China is a trade partner, not a ” friend” and with the record of their government, a trade partner to be very wary of, imo. Certainly one wonders why the government doesn’t listen to their own agencies and seemingly muzzles them instead. You make an excellent point about how hypocritical it is for the government to be criticizing foreign money funding environmental groups – which are now akin to terrorists in the fedcon’s eyes – while they themselves are encouraging foreign investments in Canada’s vast resources and in companies that control those resources. With the exception of the BHP bid that was rejected by the government to takeover Potashcorp – which really does hold the market on potash- there has been little to no effort to stem the tide of incoming Chinese corporate ownership in many of our resources.

      A recent report says there is no threat to national security with these Chinese takeovers, http://www.mining.com/2012/03/27/report-rejects-chinese-takeovers-as-threat-to-canada/ I would argue that the criteria for judging that is, as pointed out in many resources in my post, faulty at best when law enforcement agencies have dis-similar requirements for judging that. Seems akin to saying a project meets environmental guidelines… after those guidelines have been stripped down to nothing… if the criteria to judging a national threat is minimal,or doesn’t cover our interests as Canadians in these resources…same thing. Government can claim everything is ok, because it meets the guidelines that suck.

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  2. Brilliance in bringing the entire picture together.CSIS would do well with you on board,that is, if the current government would give them any freedom.This is an important compilation.

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    1. Well you know, if Julia Child was a spy..lol.. thank you and good point about CSIS and the government. I personally don’t think Sidewinder was bunk, and this new reference to it from overseas is certainly interesting. I’ll be watching to see where that goes.

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  3. Great column! A must read for Canadians. Harper’s proposed changes to immigration & skilled workers’ visas all will enable China to send its own workers into Canada.

    Canada needs to take a serious look at who “owns” what in this country. As it is currently going, we will simply be an extension of China. A place to mine, obtain resources, send workers, etc. I expect when Harper is turfed out following the next election we will see him & others receive “directorships” in some interesting companies at lovely high salaries. Harper & his crew are selling Canada down the river. He is gutting our enviornmental review system, just to accomodate China.

    Harper signed agreements with China which leaves Canada holding the financial bag if Chinese interests are “attacked” in Canada. Very interesting. Maybe they already anticipate civil unrest if the pipeline were to be built. This way they could send in their own troops to protect their interests.

    We can’t afford to live in our own province. Young people are moving east to afford a home. We need to curtail foreign ownership of Canadian land & resources. In India you can’t own land unless you are a citizen. If India can do it, so can we.

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    1. Thank you e.a.f., always great to have your thoughts on the board and yes, please share with friends and colleagues.

      It would appear that we as Canadians, have little rights to the land we stand on, crown land or that we hold title to. Many people are not aware that even if you own a house, and the land it is on, you do not hold title to the mineral rights below that land. While I can’t think of an example off the top of my head, I do recall hearing about a case where a landowner had a dispute with someone who held the mineral rights to the land he ” owned” and wanted to put a small oil rig up.

      Yes, the timing of the gutted environmental regulations is not coincidence. And although I am reading several articles stating that it is not possible to put this pipeline through with the first nations land treaty issues, we have seen this government make things happen already. And when they feel the heat, they shut down for a couple weeks and hope things die down. This is not a democracy in action, it is a mockery of what democracy is.

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  4. Kind’a leaves one speechless doesn’t it. Thanks for connecting all the dots and putting this story together.
    Who’s interests are being served by the present day governments – both federal and provincial?

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    1. I still don’t know the answer to who is protecting our interests, work, and to be honest, I think we all need to be paying a lot more attention to this issue, and holding our governments to account , at all levels. In particular when we have new trade missions coming up to drum up business. I would ask who is paying for what on these trips? I think Blog Borg Collective had a story that touched on this…

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  6. Well written, well researched, and alarming but not really a surprise. I appreciate the work that went into putting this together and your ability to tell a complicated story in an uncomplicated way.

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    1. Thank you David, and yes, alarming but not really a surprise if you are well read and follow politics. And I appreciate your kind words with regards to this post. It does take a fair amount of work to weed through all the nonsense out there and get to the facts of the matter.

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  7. It’s too damned late now for people to wake up. This was being set up, for absolute years. This country is gone. Industries moved over to China, to exploit the cheap labor and the even more cheap child laborers, who only earn pennies a day. Seems those Canadian company’s are having
    trouble with the corruption over there. I have no sympathy for their disgusting greed, and turning their backs on Canadians.

    Campbell shipped our mills to BC, along with our raw logs. That put hundreds of BC mill people out of jobs. China also owns BC mines. They are bringing their own people to work those jobs too. If any of the seven mines going into Northern BC, are owned by China, their own people will also, be working those jobs. Boessenkool and Christy are building roads, all for China’s convenience to take our vast resources back to China for processing. Christy is giving some millions towards the Enbridge pipeline, which China is building, with thousands and thousands of, Christy’s imported foreign workers, all Chinese of course. China pays starvation wages to their people…won’t Enbridge just love that. The port of Prince Rupert was expanded, to take in the massive Chinese freighters. The Chinese freight, is loaded onto the CN. The CN rail yard in Ashcroft BC, was expanded as the storage for China’s junk. The through trains bypass Ashcroft, until the yard needs to be switched, to send the Chinese goods to whatever destination, even into the U.S. The CN rail yard has been expanded in Prince George, to move the metals and the coal of the mines owned by China, to Rupert and then on to China. They also want to log the rain forests for China’s benefit.

    Harper has permitted China, to buy up the tar sands. China refuses to pay Canadian wages. Harper is allowing China to bring their own people to work, their huge tar sands projects. Same as China refuses to have the dirty oil refined in Canada. They can pay their people crap wages, to refine in their own country. Seems contractors at the oil sands, are having a problem collecting from the Chinese. Alberta oil patch workers, haven’t seemed to catch on…There are no thousands of jobs for Canadians, in the oil patch, nor the Enbridge pipeline.

    All of this going on, and no-one saw the danger. China also bought the old Britannia mine, very, very cheaply. They are going to build, 4,000 residences on that land. This was on, The Straight Goods web site, very well explained.

    China has hacked into secret documents of, India, Germany, South Korea, and I believe England. China is also trying to take, the oil and gas riches from the Philippines coasts. They also caught China, taking banned fish out of the sea, again.

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    1. Funny you should mention hacking. I have received several emails containing viral links since this was posted as well as nonstop spam again from overseas, all containing links to webpages designated as known hack sites and/or IP’s documented for malicious activity. If a spam link does appear in the comments, please do not click on anything.

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  8. Hi Laila, as usual, you have done a stellar job presenting your case…

    ( Hi Olga, sorry but your cut and paste from Wikipedia totally screwed up the comments into something three miles long, had to delete to simply post this!)

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  9. I have been worried for a long time about our governments selling us off. Some day we won’t be a sovereigh nation…..if they keep selling us off.

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    1. Some day? … I wonder how sovereign we are now, with the agreements made with the US that allow a lot more than ease of trade across the border… look to joint environmental reviews and streamlined regulations with the US on issues of food safety and other things we as Canadians might not want to get in line with the US on. More on that next week.

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  11. Laila, I do believe that , indeed, as McFadden states, many of our representatives, are taking direction from other countries. I believe, that one of them is, the USA, and supporters of the Republican Party.

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      1. Haha.. I love it… McFadden!! lol.. That says so much about our society, I think without you meaning to, Irene!! laughing with you, not at you! This made my day!! Why not? We have a McHarper, a McKay..lol all fast food politicans..lol..

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  12. Sorry about that 😦 what I was trying to get across in sharing the wikipedia page was the information pertaining to how many times China participated at the festivle of lights (in Vancouver not Toronto) it’s clear they have much to celebrate; pay attention to their themes:
    2011: China Storm,
    2010: China/Canada participated together–Tribute to China/The Butterfly Lovers;
    2009: Through the Looking Glass;
    2008: Power of the Dream;
    2007: Xu Delong;
    2006: Yellow River Odyssey;
    2005: Voix de feu,feu de voix;
    2004: On ne dort pas ce soir;
    2003: From January to December;
    2001: Odyssee;
    1988-1995: no theme.

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      1. China’s participation in the Celebration of Lights is a subtle way of publicly celebrating her ownership of Canadian land and resources, “Be so subtle that you are invisible, Be so mysterious that you are intangible. Then you will control your rival’s fate.” Sun Tzu, The Art of War. c.509BC

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  14. This is a stunning piece and encapsulates much of what is wrong with the way the World is unfolding. For perspective, it is interesting to consider that much of the richly-endowed material life that some, indeed many, of us were able to lead in decades past was based on extraction of resources and wealth from other parts of the World while we remained simultaneously the benefactors of a considerable portion of our own regional and national wealth. When the North American directorate ceased to be able to plunder other regions, they turned to the interior wealth, in effect beginning to eat their own young. This would clearly be the case with the Campbell Liberals and the Harper Conservatives, and clearly, governments of this ilk have never pretended, outside of the mainstream press, to govern in the interests of their legal constituents. The perspective part comes in with the consideration of who is protecting the interests of, say, the general population of China? Or who looked after the East Timorese, or the Indonesians, Brazilians, or pretty much any spot in Africa? No one, of course, because these populations have been subject for the longest time to the same kind of larceny that we face.

    As an additional note, it’s been some time that it’s seemed clear that governments fight organized crime more along the lines of turf war rather than as an ethical stand, more like a family feud than anything having to do with right and wrong, or with serving the community with whose care they’ve been entrusted.

    Again, thank you.

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    1. Very humbling words, thank you Dan! This is a must read comment for all, and a very pointed perspective. Definately food for thought when you look at the bigger picture. I was speaking with a woman I know who is a recent immigrant to Canada from Egypt, highly educated and politically savvy, and in speaking of their government and ours, it struck me as ironic that she said: ” It’s funny that people think Canada is so free, but when you look at what is really going on here, it’s not so different in many ways from Egypt.”

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  15. An excellent report Laila! And really damn scary too.

    Isn’t it our so-called government’s job to PROTECT our country rather than selling us out in the name of the “Almighty Profit”?
    Why is it there is such a huge push in the last couple years to get China setup with their “needed resources”?
    More importantly, when did China become our “ally”?

    I mean no disrespect to individual Chinese people who want nothing more than to live side by side with all other citizens of the world in relative harmony, but the Chinese government is illegal (hence an enemy by any other definition, it IS a communist country is it not?) in it’s actions by Canadian Law.

    So, why are we dealing with political terrorists and exploiters of women/children?
    Why all the concern for what the Chinese “government” needs?
    Why the sudden drive to “do it now”?
    Oil holds pretty good in the ground, so I don’t think it will cause any harm to leave it where it is. And, it’s not like we “NEED” to have that type of income/profit/GDP whatever you want to call it, sold at this very moment in time, nor should selling of Canadian Citizen owned properties/mineral rights/food-water sources/land be allowed to countries of such ill-repute (or the rights to the above given to any country for that matter), other than in humanitarian aid, especially without consulting the CITIZENS who actually OWN the resources. Has government forgotten that they work for us, and not the other way around??

    Sell them the oil, but CANADA maintains FULL CONTROL to oversee any and all production, employment, and the Chinese (and other country’s that we have trade relations with) abide by obligatory Canadian Rules on Canadian Soil.
    Another country should NOT be allowed to buy up land in this country. Period.

    We’ve been sold out in the name of prophet and His name is GREED.

    I, as a Canadian Citizen, will defend Canada from ALL assaults and attempts on undermining the fabric of what is suppose to be a Democratic and Free Canada.
    I will fight for it, count on it.
    I DARE one person to stand up for their home country AGAINST Canada while living here under the auspices of Canadian Citizenship.
    I have a plane ticket for them back to their own country, and a size 10 boot to assist with the procedure.

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      1. no apologies, I don’t impose word limits here. I think it is important too,as you kind of touch on, not to make this a race issue, which it is not. This is an issue of government agendas, and in some cases military agendas, not a chinese citizen agenda.Many Chinese suffer greatly at the hands of their own government, in fact I was reading today of a poet who has been jailed for 7 years for a poem. As Dan stated above, who is looking out for the chinese population, or the population of any country who lives under a government like this?

        I think it is important to look at the total picture, which was what drove this post. As far as strategies go,investing and setting up camp in a foreign country is the best guise for any other activity that government might want to take part in.

        On another angle, when one looks at how much LNG China has already contracted to have supplied or contracted to buy more shares in – see this feed for Sinopec – http://www.lngworldnews.com/tag/sinopec/ – in addition to purchase contracts from Russia and other countries, makes you wonder how wise investing so much in LNG plants is for BC. My research shows that australia is worried about China taking the LNG from western Canada ” because it will be below cost of what other countries sell at.”

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  16. I’ve now read this twice,once last night and this morning,and again now. Astounding. Simply astounding to see the big picture like this.This is important because we regular people out here usually see one article,or another later on,but never linking all this together like this.I had no idea about what has been going on in Canada, with our government and agencies like this.Thank you for your stalwartness on behalf of all Canadians.

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  17. Harper has no problem with stripping defence and encouraging Chinese state owned corps to buy out our resource sector because he follows the old Chinese adage: “It is easy to be tolerant of the principles of other people if you have none of your own.”

    Knowledge is power and you Laila Yuile are a warrior.

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    1. Wow, great quote!! Love that Tim! So fitting…

      Thank you, very kind words. I too believe knowledge is power, in particular in the hands of the people.

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  18. One word. Unbelievable. Very very important. Surprised David Emerson did not come into this post somewhere. A very powerful man presently.

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    1. I think that anon may have meant Ron Emerson, the developer who has been exposed as the agent for corporations secretly buying up options on ALR land in Delta. The intention is to turn this productive land into a huge industrial park.

      Global TV reporter Darlene Heidemann has brought into sharp focus Mr. Emerson and the scheme that was revealed this past week by South Delta MLA Vicki Huntington. Yes,according to Ron Emerson and his cohorts at the Port corporation, agricultural land used to grow food locally and in healthy soil, is a real waste of land. Instead, Mr Emerson feels fertile soil is better paved over and used as a place to import and distribute cheap widgets from China.

      So, kudos to Global for having the courage to reveal this travesty and the tenacity to pursue what is taking place in the shadows. This reporting went far beyond the usual 30 second sound bite trotted out by the usual well paid corporate spin meisters. Last nights Global news was actually a throw back to the good old days of hard hitting journalism. After ignoring continued requests for comments, Ms. Heidemann ingeniously caught Emerson at a commercial real estate conference and held his feet to the fire. I especially enjoyed the part where Ron Emerson told the reporter to turn off the camera and they didn’t.

      In fact, Global did 3 stories in one newscast that were akin to the 60 Minutes of old. They exposed Clark”s sketchy appointment of a Liberal insider to the Vancouver Police Board, chased down the story behind a rash of thefts of metal gates that were sold for scrap to a local scrap yard and the optioning of ALR land by yet another big Liberal supporter (that of course means thousands of dollars donated into Provincial Liberal coffers). I will give credit where credit is due and last evenings newscast was the kind of reporting that has been sadly lacking in the mainstream media and I hope this is a turning point. We must support reporters like this who go the extra mile to get to the truth. Unfortunately this is no longer a given and the hunt for the deeper story has fallen by the wayside and now needs to be searched out and revealed by dedicated truth tellers like yourself Laila.

      Thank you Laila for putting together this very comprehensive and revealing report in a way that makes sense. It’s a long and winding road that has been purposely paved in a manner fashioned by those who need to keep the truth hidden. The path to that truth is confusing and obtus and it takes a particularly keen mind to unravel it. I kept reading and reading and shaking my head in disgust at how we Canadians are being sold to a Communist and corrupt government by a select few of self professed democratic, free market conservatives.

      I take my hat my hat off to you for being a champion of what is honest and digging for
      the truth and doing so because it’s just the right thing to do. You are a true warrior.

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      1. Debbie, thank you for the kind words, I feel the same about you! However, it is definately not Ron Emerson the other commenter is referring to, but definately David Emerson. Global is doing an excellent job on the Delta ALR issues, via Darlene. Glad to see her picking up on your hard work and research and that of Guys and Vicki’s!! Keep at it Debbie!

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  20. yes, the Chinese are very interested in resources – from anywhere! 1.2 billion people who are told that neo-liberal capitalism/globalisation is a good thing (let’s not forget that the ‘West’ pushed China to become capitalist and a ‘global player’) and that they are all entitled to drive a car and have a refrigerator and all the other electronic gadgets the ‘western civilization’ deems absolutely necessary, to the point of having ruined many countries’ environments, economies and social lives. Just talk to people in South and Central America that live close to a Canadian mine.

    Furthermore, Canada has always welcomed foreign direct investment vs establishing its own industry (think: car industry, forest industry, mining, etc …), these multinational companies do offer some jobs, but due to the extremely low taxation Canada looses tremendously (and i am not even talking about the damage to the environment!) … as we all know, the highest paying jobs are in the country’s headquarters: research & development.

    and yes, Canada is selling its respurces off to the higest bidder, just like any other neoliberal capitalist state – and it is definetly NOT a matter of ‘do not trust China’ but ‘neoliberal capitalism MUST BE STOPPED’.

    To single out China smells of ethnocentrism – why not take a close look at e.g. Shell? Why point the finger at China who is doing the same thing western states have been doing for the last centuries? And to say, Canadians are so much more human rights oriented i would like to remind you about the First Nations who e.g. in BC still are ‘subjects’ of the Queen, live on reserves where they are not allowed to own the land of their anchestors (remember the definition debate of genocide in the 1950s?

    Canada, the USA, Australia etc were ademant to NOT include the mass-killings of First Nations in the definition and historical account. They were instrumental in stalling the definition for a couple of years until it was to their liking!)
    Canada just railroaded the Kyoto (climate change) protocol, it is in the process of deregulating environmental policies (especially the assessment process around the pielines), it has labelled concerned individuals who are campagning against the pipeline projects ‘terrorists’, it slowly but surely is revoking all workers’ rights such as strikes, it has been pushing DOWN wages and benefits (while China’s wages and benefits are going up), and BC has about 150, 000 children living in dire poverty (e.g. children not having socks in winter, no breakfast, no heat at home …), and the wealth gap is getting bigger and bigger, outpacing the USA.

    The unfortunate thing is that people (the elite really) in Canada are very greedy and have realized that selling off primary resources requires the least work with the higest quick cash.

    That elite is not interested in ‘community’, the social fabric, or social support systems for the lesser fortunate – they want their cash and hide in the Cayman Islands.

    argh, sorry for taking so much space …

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    1. Hi b, sorry for the delay, I generally keep away from the computer as much as I can on weekends!

      Great comment and points that merit examination and further dicussion – in another or different post. One thing I would like to comment on in your post is this statement:

      ” To single out China smells of ethnocentrism..” Absolutely not, and I caution you to go there. There is nothing about my post that suggests that I, or any other auther or journalist I have linked too,has singled out China because of an ethnocentric perspective. Read the post again, and read between the lines. CSIS along with other law enforcement agencies has singled out China as one of, if not the greatest threat with regards to espionage. Our federal government has gone from a hesitancy to deal with China,to changing environmental regulations to enable questionable projects ease of passage. China is encouraged to do business here with little red tape or regulations, whereas China does not reciprocate in kind and makes it extremely difficult for other countries to invest or do business in China. ( more on that in the upcoming post) Our provincial government is increasingly moving towards putting all our economic eggs in one Chinese basket, which considering the chinese economy and other factors, seems to be more than a bit risky and questionable – both items I am working on now.

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  21. The unlimited resources behind the Chinese Government along with their propensity & ability to bribe and/or blackmail politicians & bureaucrats it’s now pretty much common knowledge that this kind of espionage is done regularly. When politicians suddenly reverse their beliefs and promises one has to wonder which one was it that made them change their views. Was it a bribe or was it blackmail? I believe in the case of Harper it was both. It is easy to understand how and why a bribe would be accepted. He needs the money to win the election at any cost. My limited but always compelling inside info on Harper, and even more importantly my intuition about these things, tells me Harper has a dark secret that anyone with a pair of eyes and a fondness for Cher and The Village People can see very clearly. And it’s worthy of blackmail. God help us all because my friends ~ other than hardworking, independent journalists like Laila, there is no one watching out for Canadians these days with an iota of integrity.

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    1. Hi Jean, Thank you for the kind words as well. I am working on a post that examines the connections and talking heads behind Harper and our provincial government with respect to the Chinese connection. Should be up this week, a lot to go through.

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  22. Anon meant David Emerson alright. Check him on wiki, originally elected to Paul Martin’s liberals, he crossed the floor when Harper offered him a position in Cabinet. That was very controversial, but later, he was the guy who signed the Softwood lumber agreement that proved so disasterous for British Columbians. But wait, It gets better! Since retiring from politics, Mr. Emerson is a member on the advisory council to the China Investment Corporation. His name has been bandied about after Mr. Fadden’s startling revelations came to light.

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  23. Laila, you should be cloned. Or at least given an Honorary Doctorate! I don’t know how you manage to put this all together, along with your other exposes about PPP’s, SNC etc.

    Speaking of give-aways (we are, aren’t we?) I find it troubling that the construction cost of the 1500 km Endridge Pipeline is said to be $6 Billion, the cost to twin the 1000 km Kinder Morgan Pipeline is estimated at $5 Billion, yet the 2500 km BCRail (c/w rolling stock, engines & personel) only brought us $0.5 Billion (Yes, one tenth the price for twice the length).

    And anyone familiar with construction cost know railroads, that are constructed to a fixed grade, are way more expensive to build than pipelines that are free to range over hill and dale according to the cheapest route.

    Wasn’t this deal brokered by the same Gordon Campbell that managed to sell the $500 million Fast Cats for $20 million – 4 cents on the dollar?

    No wonder we don’t have any money to spend on doctors, nurses, teachers and seniors. Pity!

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    1. John, a lot of hard work, late nights and very early mornings.Kind of a niche interest I guess, but remember who started this all..lol..

      Yes, we are speaking of giveaways.. and great point. Remember that a good part of the proceeds from the sale of BC rail went to build the very first “test” portion of the Sea to SKy highway, the non P3 portion that most people are still not aware of. This post details it all, again the info was brought to light by a foreign finance journalist who I confirmed was given the information by the BC government themselves. https://lailayuile.com/2010/10/31/shadow-tolls-on-sea-to-sly-highway-the-william-r-bennett-bridgeand-the-bc-rail-connection/
      And here. https://lailayuile.com/2009/06/29/the-key-to-the-bc-rail-sale-lays-in-premier-gordon-campbells-beginnings-in-real-estate-and-land-development/

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  25. Harper isn’t being outwitted, he is happily going along. Harper has no allegiance to Canada as a sovereign nation, he is beholden to big corporate interests. He is also himself a neofascist and would like nothing better than to model Canada after a totalitarian capitalist state. No regulation, no unions, no rights.

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    1. You are not far off, not amused. Harper has definately fallen to the same influence other PM’s have deferred to. Power Corporation’s name spells it all out.

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  33. Very relevant to this post today, is this excellent piece by Jeremy Nuttall of the Tyee – read his excellent piece, then come back and read this post again. Might have you shaking your head. http://thetyee.ca/News/2016/07/25/Taiwan-Group-MPs-MLAs/

    “the case shows Canadian politicians and governments haven’t grasped the need for vigilance in dealing with foreign lobby organizations.

    “A common practice with politicians is not to pay attention to who they are talking to if they seem to be representing a certain group of the population, a certain segment that they are trying to seduce,” said Juneau-Katsuya, a former CSIS officer who is now CEO of the NorthGate Group, which helps companies guard against espionage activities.

    “Unfortunately, the Canadian public and the Canadian politicians in general are extremely naive about those things,” he said.”

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  34. […] It also reminded me the this older story that garnered extensive attention across Canada at the time,because of the concern of influence of Chinese state ownership in Canadian resource companies and tech firms and the debate over how Canada should handle that.https://lailayuile.com/2012/04/12/playing-with-the-dragon-who-is-looking-after-canadian-interests-wh… […]

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  35. Thanks for a very timely reminder Laila. I’d almost forgotten about this issue – so intent on the LNG foible and Site C that I can’t think straight! It takes a lot of sunshine to blow away the dreary perspective that these blogs conjure up. I dread the winter when the sun don’t shine and the problems multiply. I stopped reading blogs in the morning because they ruined the rest of the day, but if I read them at night I can’t go to sleep. Lucky me – I’m too old to be part of the solution. I just whine and rant away to hear myself talk!

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