Prime Minister Mark Carney defended Canada’s efforts to keep products made with forced labor out of the supply chain as one of his newest MPs continues to face backlash for appearing to cast doubt on the practice in China. Carney’s response to Michael Ma’s performance at committee last week comes during a sensitive moment in both Canada’s attempts to reset ties with Beijing and the ongoing trade war with the Trump administration – which is investigating whether its northern neighbor and dozens of other countries are failing to take action on forced labor. “Canada has the most rigorous set of engagements on the issue,” Carney said Monday during a news conference in Toronto, where he was repeatedly questioned about his MP’s position on forced labor in China. Last week Ma, who crossed the floor from the Conservatives to the government side in December, asked an aggressive set of questions at a parliamentary committee while questioning expert witness Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa who holds a master’s degree in international relations focused on China. The committee is studying the federal government’s electric vehicle policies after it announced it would accept tens of thousands of Chinese EVs at a lower tariff rate in exchange for China slashing tariffs on Canadian canola and seafood products. Ma asked her a series of rapid-fire yes or no questions that appeared to seek to question her credibility and undermine allegations of human rights violations against China. “Mr. Ma has apologized for his comments, as he should have,” said Carney. “He’s recognized the seriousness of the issue in that apology.” He said Ma remains a member of the Liberal caucus and plans to attend a Liberal Party fundraiser co-hosted by Ma and two cabinet ministers Monday night in the Toronto area. Ma later clarified he had been asking about forced labor in Shenzhen, a major Chinese automobile manufacturing hub, not Xinjiang, the province where the Chinese government has been accused of widespread human rights abuses, including forced labor, against the Uyghurs. After the committee meeting, McCuaig-Johnston posted on social media that she had given Ma a copy of the Human Rights Watch report “Asleep at the Wheel.” The report says there’s a risk of Uyghur forced labor being used in carmakers’ aluminum supply chains. McCuaig-Johnston said on Monday that she only saw Ma’s apology to her after she “went and searched for it.”
Finance minister heads to China Carney said his government takes the issue of forced and child labor “incredibly seriously,” rattling off international conventions Canada has signed on, provisions in the country’s free trade agreements and recent funding to the border agency. “We’re continually reviewing both the adequacy of that – it’s amongst the most rigorous, if not the most rigorous – but also compliance and enforcement mechanisms that are in place,” he said. “We’ll continue to fight on that.”
Despite the robust defense, the government’s own website acknowledges “there is a risk that goods entering the Canadian market through global supply chains were produced using forced labor or child labor.” When asked to clarify if he believes there is forced labor in China, Carney said “there are parts of China that are higher risk” and therefore require due diligence. The prime minister also stressed that forced labor is an issue around the world. Carney said supply chain integrity, including forced labor, will be raised when Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne visit…
