Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe speaks to delegates at the Global Energy Show in Calgary on June 13, 2023. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh
As Premier Scott Moe prepares to travel to China this weekend to engage with Beijing and pursue expanded trade ties, a Saskatoon-based Hong Kong democracy group is warning against closer relations, saying Canada risks vulnerability by deepening ties with a regime that has used canola as a “political weapon.”
Henry Chan, a spokesperson for pro-democracy group Saskatchewan Stands with Hong Kong, says Moe’s trip to China to advocate for the removal of Beijing’s canola tariffs, along with calls from some Canadian officials to lift Canada’s tariffs on China to reach a deal, gives the impression that Canada is “desperate” to regain access to the Chinese market, while playing into Beijing’s strategy of economic coercion.
