Mayor defends decision to talk about canola, not rights abuses, with Chinese ambassador

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This article was published 08/12/2019 (1847 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman defended his meeting last week with China’s Ambassador to Canada and said his social media post promoting the exchange could have been “worded better.”

Bowman told reporters Monday that his post on Twitter did not reflect the serious nature of the discussions he had with Cong Peiwu, which included topics on human rights and the impact China’s ban on importing Canadian canola is having on local business.

Pleased to visit with Chinese Ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu. Thank you for a productive discussion about our Sister City Chengdu, trade, and Winnipeg’s goal of becoming a leader in the protection and promotion of human rights. pic.twitter.com/xe4hqpHrUI

— Mayor Brian Bowman (@Mayor_Bowman) December 5, 2019

However, when asked to elaborate on those discussions, Bowman admitted he didn’t raise the issues of detained Canadians or the abuses inflicted by the Chinese government on its ethnic minorities, explaining those are issues best left to Ottawa.

“I talk about why human rights matters. I talk about what we’re doing here locally to protect and promote human rights. And I also encourage each of the ambassadors, including the ambassador who was here last week, to visit the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, so they can learn more about the values that we hold dear as Canadians,” Bowman said of his exchange with Cong.

“I think the best communication vehicle I know of, at least locally, is the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and that’s why I suggest all ambassadors that they should visit the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to learn more about them.”

Bowman’s office did not disclose ahead of time that he was meeting with Cong and a delegation of Chinese officials and, aside from Bowman’s post to his Twitter account, there was no public statement from the mayor’s office acknowledging the meeting last Thursday had occurred.

Bowman posted three photos to Twitter from his meeting with Cong and several Chinese officials at 2:04 p.m. Thursday, writing: “Pleased to visit with Chinese Ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu. Thank you for a productive discussion about our Sister City Chengdu, trade and Winnipeg’s goal of becoming a leader in the protection and promotion of human rights.”

The post generated considerable criticism from the Twitterverse, with most commenters assuming correctly that Bowman hadn’t raised the issue of the detained Canadians or China’s human rights violations.

Conservative James Bezan criticized Bowman in his own tweet, saying Winnipeg’s mayor should not have discussed any other issues.

“Too bad @Mayor_Bowman was played,” Bezan wrote. “The only discussions with Chinese officials should be about the release of Michael Kovrig & Michael Spavor, removing Chinese sanctions on our agriculture products, & respecting human rights in China. Until then, everything else is off the table.”

Bowman said Cong and the Chinese delegation also met with Premier Brian Pallister the same day, and questioned if Bezan had levelled the same criticism at provincial officials (he hadn’t).

Bowman said he is not apprised of the situation involving the detained Canadians and didn’t want to meddle on a topic that’s best left for federal officials.

“I’m not privy to where those discussions are and where (Ottawa’s) efforts are at,” he said. “I channel my discussions to matters that are here in the City of Winnipeg — trade as well as human rights and the importance of human rights to us as Winnipeggers.”

Two days after his meeting with Bowman, Cong issued a strong warning to Canadians and the federal government, saying if Parliament imposes tariffs on China in response to its treatment of ethnic minorities and its handling of the pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong, saying there would be “consequences” for foreign meddling in China’s internal affairs.

Bowman said he explained to Cong during their meeting how the ban on Canadian canola is hurting local business.

“We want to see trade and export markets grow for our exporters here locally. But one of the things that negatively affected that objective was the imposition of tariffs and the effects on our canola producers.”

Bowman said the Chinese delegation’s response was to reaffirm China’s stance on the issue.

“There was nothing new. They reinforced the public messaging of their government,” he said. “I wanted them to know that it had a very negative impact on companies locally.”

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca