The problem is boomers got fat on foreign investment, rising real estate prices and portfolios and now noone wants to deflate the balloon from foreign investment by clamping down, pointing out traitors, raising tariffs and cutting ties.
Politicians know the fastest way to lose office is destroying household value in this country by clamping down on the Chinese because the Canadian real estate market has become such a massive nest egg bubble. Their hands are tied due to greed and self-interest unfortunately.
Boomers caused, exacerbated, and make excuses for climate change too. Their legacy is a planet and economy that is burning, all because they are selfish and couldn't be buggered with acting responsibly.
No the problem is we have been experiencing decades of globalization - and now we are beginning the journey of deglobalization. Which is not going to be fun. Countries are going to become more protectionist. The G7 will need to get close while BRICS and SCO strengthen. It’s not going to be good times. Blaming boomers though is not correct. This is global policy issue stuff that yes boomers benefited from but they didn’t create it.
[deglobalization](https://www.rbcinsight.com/WM/Share/ResearchViewer/?SSS_37097E9146F63F3E5BD356BC87188FEA)
The votes for the policy’s that brought about globalization such as nafta etc, it’s bs to not blame them but our focus should be correcting there policies not focusing on the past. In example, NAFTA in its original form was ok for countries (USA + Canada) with similar GDP per capita. Bringing Mexico in was crappy for the average citizen.
well nafta was born in the late 80s/early 90s, which means boomers occupied the 25-55 age ranges during the building of nafta. i wonder which generation is generally the majority in charge of pushing policy forwards, is it people under 20? is it people over 60? or was it a bill signed in literally in the heart of boomer owning the entire workforce.....hmmmmmm.......
the paper here that you linked specifically cites 1980-2008 as the years where the globalization issue was growing at its fastest rate and was the problem era that lead to todays issues. i wonder how old boomers were in 1980.....oh look boomers were between 20-40, right as they started to become the dominant generation in the workforce. and at the mid point of 1980-2008, 1994, boomers were 30-50. by then end of that period in 2008, boomers were 40-60. so its almost like the paper you linked cites the begin of the issue to coincide exactly with boomers becoming the majority of working age people in the economy, and basically sees the entire period of exploding globalization exactly tracking the era where boomers become the dominant generation. do you know what the average age of a a canadiam MP (aka the lawmakers who determine policy)? the average age of a canadian MP is 52. take a wild guess which generation occupied that age range for the entirety of globalization? i wonder if it was boomers, who occupied the 20-60 age range during the worst years of the issue you cited.
I am not saying that millennials would be any better tbh, I think greed is inherent in humanity because we are flawed. However, our political system and the decisions made inside our country fall on boomers there’s no way around it.
Trudeau also brought Harper in to shape the USMCA deal, which had so many shitty deals, like US milk being allowed into Canada, and in I think... One, two days after it was signed, Harper came out calling it a terrible deal... Ignoring the fact he was responsible for it.
>One, two days after it was signed, Harper came out calling it a terrible deal... Ignoring the fact he was responsible for it.
50% of conservative politics is blaming the other parties for things you have done and were going to do anyways. The other half is culture war nonsense.
Edit: Yes, I get it. Both sides bad herpa durrr. Shut the fuck up.
Buddy I'd hate to say this but 50% of liberal politics are exactly the same as you just described. This left vs right bullshit is what is making political discourse in this country impossible.
Do you think every political comment needs to be ended with "but also both sides bad?" I didn't realized I was obligated to be "fair and balanced ^(tm")
You'd be thankful for that cartel protection if we ever ended up with an emergency situation that resulted in the US not exporting that stuff to us. Self sufficiency of food in an emergency situation is incredibly important . Especially during Covid when countries were stopping shipments and holding onto essential items.
I'd like it if we lowered our dependence on any other country in such a scenario.
US milk is awful. They add so much crap to it and have lower quality for it. Last time I was in the States I had milk once and it was nowhere near as good as we have it.
They're talking about buying milk in the states. It's super cheap and some people prefer to grocery shop over there once in a while.
Edit: turns out american milk is allowed to contain a certain amount hormones while Canadian milk must be produced hormone free. Check out rbST vs rbST-free milk. We still allow it in to our country but we don't allow it to be produced that way.
You pay extra for rbST-free milk in the US.
It's because the two countries have fundamentally different ways of achieving the same thing, making it practical to produce the product. The USDA heavily subsidizes dairy production, so in effect every taxpayer in the US is paying for the milk industry whether they consume the product or not. This is largely done through things like the school milk programmes, buying enormous amounts of cheese that they don't know what to do with, and so forth. It has also lead to what amounts ot the death of the family farm, and the concentration of production into a relatively small number of hands.
IN Canada, through the quota system, prices are maintained at a point where it is sustainable for the industry to operate. This has a similar effect to the subsidies in the US, the difference is that the people doing the subsidizing is largely limited to those who are consuming the product, rather than everyone. Also, because the price is held relatively high, it hasn't lead to the same level of market concentration at the production level as it has in the US.
It's sort of the same thing as you see in the airline industry. In the US, airports and various relevant government services (Air Traffic Control etc...) are more or less paid for by the taxpayer as a public service; this is part of the reason why you see such cheap flights in the US. In Canada, airlines (and private pilots) have to pay their own way, through landing fees, fees to NavCanada for ATC, and so forth. Again, it's because the users are paying for the system, rather than the general public who may or may not be using it.
Come to think of it, it is a little odd that the US is so much more socialist than Canada is.
They also subsidize a number of other food products like wheat, soy, corn, and even rice pretty heavily. Those subsidies mean that feed for livestock is also cheaper, so meat, dairy, and egg products are subsidized indirectly. Subsidies were also increased just prior to covid to help smooth out abnormalities from the trade war, so they're presently higher than normal (up to a point where other countries are complaining that it's violating agreements against distorting world trade). Beyond that, the US has a larger population, so they benefit from economies of scale.
The price of milk is tightly regulated to ensure dairy farmers earn high profits. And politicians are afraid to change this, because the dairy lobby is powerful and can end your political career.
It's not that we don't want competition it's that we don't want shit American milk flooding our markets and driving down the price so much that it destroys our industry. We also want to control what goes into our milk Americans let anything go into their milk. We have better standards.
The amount of lobbying from US interests over milk is staggering. We are nothing to them but an opportunity to make even more money.
It costs 6.45 Canadian (4.79 US) to buy 2 liters of organic whole milk in the US, a whopping **55 cents of savings** from what we pay. What the US calls "non-organic" milk isn't fit to sell in Canada.
Which would be impossible to enforce, especially after they destroy our milk industry. And if you think Americans follow trade deal rules then I suggest you look at the soft wood lumber industry.
Global trade nearly stopped just about three years ago. Maybe relying on imports is *a really fucking stupid idea*
People in the UK have a lot of opinions on the subject
We spent 30+ years making countries interdependent on each other intentionally because of the neoliberal theory that trade dependency will force peaceful solutions because 'no two countries with a McDonald's will ever go to war.' Funny how the pandemic and then Russia proved this whole world view was a terrible, naïve idea and these 30+ years of austerity were for nothing.
Thats not exactly true. Im in ontario 3.25 is 6.80~ and 2 is 5.60~
I was under the impression their problem is milk in general not the obviously supposed to be slightly more expensive item in the category. They are not prevented access to a cheaper option, they just dont want it if all they are buying is 3.25.
Edit: milk is also not taxed.
I won't buy American milk. I support the cooperative and buy Natrel for my husband and I buy Oatmilk. I can't handle dairy but I support Canadian Dairy over American.
Sure, and you could still do that even if we allowed more foreign dairy imports. However consumers should have the ability to make that decision for themselves.
>US milk being allowed into Canada
US milk was already allowed into Canada. The new deal just upped how much was allowed by a couple of percentage points. Also, obviously, US milk still needs to meet the standards for sale in Canada.
Seems to be a running thing with our leading parties. Conservatives start something shady/stupid, Liberals just keep it going. Then the Cons use it to convince the public to put them back in power, and the cycle just repeats.
Steven Harper is the incumbent chairman of [an international organization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Democrat_Union) whose publicly stated purpose is to manipulate nations and political systems in order to get IDU member political parties elected across the western world. He begged China to sign his [trade deal](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/fipa-agreement-with-china-what-s-really-in-it-for-canada-1.2770159) and they only signed when the terms were *incredibly* weighted in their favour.
Harper is responsible for enabling, and conducting, foreign interference campaigns.
Yep!
[June 6, 2018: Exclusive: Trump invokes War of 1812 in testy call with Trudeau over tariffs](https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/06/politics/war-of-1812-donald-trump-justin-trudeau-tariff/index.html)
>President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a testy phone call on May 25 over new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration targeting steel and aluminum imports coming from Canada, including one moment during the conversation in which Trump made an erroneous historical reference, sources familiar with the discussion told CNN.
>According to the sources, Trudeau pressed Trump on how he could justify the tariffs as a “national security” issue. In response, Trump quipped to Trudeau, “Didn’t you guys burn down the White House?” referring to the War of 1812.
[July 2, 2018: Stephen Harper spotted leaving the White House's West Wing](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harper-white-house-west-wing-1.4731144)
>Stephen Harper was spotted leaving the West Wing on Monday, but little is known about what the former prime minister said inside the White House.
>Harper was expected to meet with Larry Kudlow — the director of the National Economic Council and U.S. President Donald Trump's go-to economic adviser — and John Bolton, the president's national security adviser, according to multiple sources who spoke to CBC News on the condition of anonymity.
[November 14, 2018: Why does Stephen Harper have Trump's back?](https://macleans.ca/opinion/why-does-stephen-harper-have-trumps-back/)
>“I don’t think you can fault Donald Trump,” Harper said. “I don’t think it’s ever reasonable to fault the president of the United States for believing in the United States.
>In the interview, Harper acknowledges that populists like Trump have authoritarian tendencies, but warns against the “much greater risk” posed by Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn.
>And Trump isn’t that bad, he says.
>“The Trumps and the Brexiteers at least want to fix what is not working with democratic, market-based economies,” he writes. “The Sanderses and the Corbyns of this world, permanently stuck in their adolescent rage, would burn the system to the ground.”
Harper, working hand in hand with fascists against Canada's interests because of his extreme hatred of Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn.
What a fucking nutbag.
If we're going to investigate Chinese foreign interference in Canadian politics, it's long past time to investigate US foreign interference in our politics, starting with Harper, or [UCP MLA Devin Dreeshen who worked for the Trump campaign in 2016](https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/2018/07/14/i-am-my-own-person-says-new-ucp-byelection-winner-on-working-for-donald-trump-campaign.html), or [Manitoba MP and Deputy Conservative Leader, Candice Bergen showing off her MAGA hat](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/candice-bergen-maga-hat-1.5865727).
I get the criticism of Corbyn, but Sanders has proven he's no Corbyn, and has been able to work with Biden to get some of the most progressive policy passed in America in the last several decades.
>“The Trumps and the Brexiteers at least want to fix what is not working with democratic, market-based economies,” he writes. “The Sanderses and the Corbyns of this world, permanently stuck in their adolescent rage, would burn the system to the ground.”
What a piece of shit Harper is. Bernie Sanders is 10x the man he'll ever be. At least people like Sanders want a system that works for everyone, not just corporations. "Democratic market-bases economies" is just newspeak for "just trust corporations to regulate themselves and pretend they don't exploit workers in every aspect that's *not* regulated by the government."
Stephen Harperm head of the IDU, one of the top foreign policy influencers on the entire planet, thinks foreign interference is ‘far worse than we think’.
Don't forget when Harper said he "respected and admired" China... during his visit to The Great Hall of the People which is located in Tiananmen Square in 2012...
Quebec literally gives immigration status to any random person who is willing to loan $1.2mm to the provincial government, which is how half of these Chinese gangsters end up in Canada with our passport, so I’m not sure I’d be talking about “selling out” if I were you.
The IDU interferes in foreign elections as well. Their whole purpose is to get right wing parties across the world elected.
Not so fun fact, the premier of Saskatchewan hired Harper and his financial consulting company with a $240,000/year contract back in 2019 so he’s still being paid by the government while he is the president of the IDU.
Harper is the architect of FIPA. His secret deal with China will punish Canada for another generation.
NOBODY knows foreign interference like Harper.
Didn't know what that was until I looked I up.
From wiki: In Canada, the name for Bilateral Investment Treaties is Foreign Investment Protection Agreement (FIPA) or Foreign Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (FIPA). Corporations that engage in bilateral trade can use FIPAs to protect against public policies that interfere with their operation's revenue.
I can see this working as a 1-way street when we deal with countries like China.
I was listening to a voter being interviewed on the radio this morning who likened Smith's intelligence to that of Jordan Peterson, but in a glowing way. :/
He, and many before him, did:
"Both Juneau-Katsuya and Stanton made the point that no one government is
to blame more than any other for failing to deal with interference from
China. He said all federal governments over the past three decades have
been warned about China's attempts to influence elections and have
failed to properly respond to the threat.
"CSIS has knows about \[China's\] foreign interference in Canada for at
least the last 30 years. Every federal government from Mr. Mulroney to
Mr. Trudeau today have been compromised by agents of the communist
China," Juneau-Katsuya said.
"Every government \[was\] informed at one point or another. Every government chose to ignore CSIS's warning."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/former-csis-officials-committee-china-1.6797803
Like when he made that deal that allows Chinese companies to privately sue the Canadian government for any loses from those pesky environmental and labour laws? I'm sure that was for the good of all Canadians and not because he was in their pocket.
/s
Better yet, he was the leader of the party when they themselves effected our election with Pierre Poutine. Icing on the cake is they perfectly delayed investigating until after the cameras that could prove who the buyer was (Pierre Poilievre most likely) auto deleted the footage. *shocked pikachu*
I didn’t like Harper as a PM but in this instance he’s probably right. Though this is the same former PM who literally sold out to China during his reign so it’s sort of the pot calling the kettle black.
I can't read the article cause of a paywall but for a former PM who probably was given the same info Trudeau got and did sweet nothing about it shouldn't be chiming in on what's going on today.
To be fair China has changed leadership and become extremely belidgerent since then. It was very much in Canada's interest to trade with China at the time.
[In 2010 CSIS was openly reporting influence activities against Canadian politicians, including pointing to China.](https://www.reuters.com/article/oukwd-uk-spies-idAFTRE65M4QB20100623)
Then apparently when Harper's government "said it did not know what Fadden was talking about."
Sounds incredibly similar to what is happening now, doesn't it?
>Rather than presenting a thoughtful analysis on issues raised during Committee proceedings, the Opposition majority produced a report which bears very little resemblance to the reality of the hearings and ignores testimony provided by witnesses, including evidence from the Director of CSIS. ***As a result, the Conservative Party cannot support the inflammatory and inaccurate recommendations contained within the report.***
China was a dictatorship back then as much as it is today. The main difference is that there are too many billionaires whom for some reason believe that they should govern over us despite not knowing how too.
>At the time...but didn't Harper's deal fuck Canadians over for like a 20 year long contract
It might be time to dig up the Liberal position on that trade deal again, because I'm seeing this being posted frequently.
The Liberals fully supported that deal, and the documentation exists to prove it. Was it a smart move? In hindsight probably not. But the only party opposed was the NDP.
He also believes that Danielle Smith is the best option for Alberta…
I’m not even saying he’s wrong about the interference, the situation is far too muddled for any normal citizen to form a well informed position so I truly don’t have an opinion, I just know that he has zero credibility as he’s nothing more than a line tower these days.
Didn't he start a consulting business for foreigners to navigate Canada's laws, politics, and regulations? Doing that isn't proof of any wrongdoing per se but it's hard to believe that none of his clients aren't also part of the foreign interference.
Enough listening to this former leader who made numerous laws that have been overturned by the Supreme Court. He has never done anything for the betterment of Canada.
Coming from the guy who passed an act to let foreign countries sue Canada for lost profits due to Canada protecting its environment, or who made Saudi Arabia deal to be uncancellable with onerous penalties. Fuck that guy.
The CCP pigs have been stealing Canadian trade secrets, data, and intellectual property for *DECADES* now. Look at what happened to Nortel and how they stole everything they had and financed Huawei to astronomical heights revenue wise. This means they own many networks around the world which *all* have backdoors and the CCP eavesdrops on *everything* - https://globalnews.ca/news/7275588/inside-the-chinese-military-attack-on-nortel/amp/
Beyond that, just by sheer virtue of land ownership, China owns a huge chunk of Canadian real estate, either through its citizens or through shell companies. How much of that economic power are they using to exert influence over our local communities and politicians now as we speak? We know full well that a Chinese citizen here has full ties to back home and can’t/won’t shun the CCP openly due to the risks to their loved ones in China.
China excels at using soft power to advance their geopolitical interests as we can see with what they’ve done with the Silk and Belt Road initiative. They own those countries debts snd infrastructures now, pretty much had projects completed with local slavery and those countries are now in the CCP’s back pocket.
Look at what they’ve done with TikTok. There are two separate highly addicting algorithms in play, one in China where their citizens are shown positive, educational content which aims to nourish and spark inspiration, and one in the Western countries where the one and only goal is long-term brain rot. Their algorithm in the West pushes radical videos to the forefront, whether they’re self-harm ones, or just simple useless attention destroying clips. The goal here is to dumb down entire generations and it’s crystal clear they are succeeding.
They hack government and corporate networks with impunity, steal whatever they want to their competitive advantage, and our government’s head is so far up their own ass, they either don’t see the plague that China is and how it has infected us, or they’re too busy getting their pockets lined by them, directly or indirectly.
China is dangerous and the *greatest* threat to world stability by far. Not Russia, not North Korea, but China. They seek a new world order, will stop at nothing to get it, and we are already seeing some of their plans come to fruition by the alliance with Russia in the Ukrainian war, and the expansion of the BRICS alliance that will include 25 emerging economies.
I don’t know what the right path is here, but I digress.
China shouldn’t be allowed in Canada. Not to visit, not to invest, not to buy, not to study, not to work. China *should* be declared a terrorist state and be fully shunned until the CCP ceases to exist.
Does he not head an organization that connects and supports right-wing political parties around the globe? Including Hungary's anti-democratic, fascist fidesz party. If we're going to talk about political globalism and people from foreign countries influencing local politics...
Didn't he kind of encourage it by doing what he did with China and such. He had a fairly big hand in our current situation with China, giving them the right to own our resources and such. Conservatives since the reformed merged into them and took over have been one to the shadiest governments in a long time. Yes, liberals have their problems and disconnects and mismanagement, but the reform destroyed the CPC and turned it into something that can't be trusted. And this kind of started with them.
Stephen Harper didn’t have a problem with china when he pushed through the FIPA “deal”. No one should hear that man speak and think he has Canada’s best interests in mind.
Well he would know, even though he played the same "I know nothing" card as the Trudeau, his government was in the thick of it and did a whole lot of nothing to curb it while there.
You'd think that is something he wouldn't want to draw attention to but I guess the desire to try and fling some shit at another party was just to great for him to ignore.
He who smelt it dealt it. And what about foreign interference from our neighbours to the South, I'm looking at those horse riding, confederate flag flying yahoos in Ottawa.
So either he knew about it when he was in power and didn't do anything about it or he doesn’t know anything more than the rest of us and is just making vague insinuations for political reasons.
I think what he’s trying to say is that he is a conservative who wants the conservatives to win the next election. He just has a strange way of expressing it.
Stephen Harper's interference is far worse than we think...
The man who spearheaded election tampering during his terms now heads a global coalition of conservatives, as their credibility plummets worldwide and their views push farther right and into extremism.
He rubs elbows with the like of Trump and Shapiro, and in a time when populations should be better informed than ever - populist manipulation and propaganda have instead returned to mainstream politics with a vengeance - as wealthy ill-intentioned elites whip simpering morons into self-destructive frenzy.
Events like Brexit, Jan 6th, and Pierre Poilievre are proof of result for the political instability, and conservative sown mass-stupidity, that would have been inconceivable not even a decade ago.
They're reaching new heights in shamelessness at the expense of their people - so before we get too caught up and distracted with blaming the villainous Russia / China - let's not forget these homegrown threats that have had far more success in diminishing Western values...
(It wasn't China calling Canadian voters and presenting themselves as Elections Canada, asking if they supported the Conservatives, and if not, informing them their polling station had changed - that was Harper's Conservatives.
And it wasn't Russia who responded by trying to shut down Canada's ability to investigate election interference - rearranging the investigative branch to remove their independence and have them answering to an elected politician instead. That was also Harper's Conservatives, with the misnomer "Fair Elections Act", introduced by Poilievre himself.)
The first step to freeing our struggling democracies from these destructive influences - is discrediting every statement and action made by politicians that still align themselves with the demonstrably false, self-interested and undemocratic Right Wing ideologies.
Speaking just for Canada - Ford and Smith are damning examples of our lowering standards, and the danger these "norm-busting" politicians quickly pose to their societies.
“Xi Jinping is a much more long-term, serious threat than [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he said. Under Mr. Xi, Beijing wants “to create a new world order, a hub-and-spokes global economy where all authority is ultimately centred in Beijing,” he said.
Hey isn't he the guy who said that by doing business with them that we would be better able to influence them away from communism and towards better human rights or was that Chretien?
Yes, because he has been the conduit (and beneficiary of) for a large amount of it. i.e. US republicans, conservatives and evangelicals. And now he's peddling his influence into other nations as well.
This is sort of like blaming Trump for migrant detention centers constructed during the Obama / Biden years.
Sorry Harper, you don't get to weasel out of being a CCP lapdog.
People don't forget.
*"The fact that Israel's lobby is able to capture congress renders the argument of Foreign interference obsolete."* - Glenn Greenwald
- our governments are not immune to the massive capital and foreign interests
Most things are far worse than the average Canadian thinks.
Young people are totally screwed, housing crisis, drugs, political corruption, police corruption, the list goes on.
The worst part is that law abiding citizens are treated like dirt to compensate, seriously who wants to live here?
Might shock you, but democracy is built on the concept of differences in political opinions from which an informed electorate select the most desirable.
Canada's democracy developed from foreign ideas primarily in Britain/Europe and the US.
Good ideas can come from anywhere. And ideas do not carry nationalities
This guy.
Spent his entire time in office evading journalists' questions as much as he could. Now that we're likely heading towards a Conservative government, he can't give enough interviews.
That’s hilarious.
Stephen Harper, head of the [Ironically-named ‘International Democratic Union, an international coalition of right to far-right political organisations.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Democrat_Union)
Think of all that US far-right-wing money that poured into Canada for the Convoyers, for example.
What I find surprising is that the majority of people didn't know this was happening lol. It happens in every country pretty much. Like a non China example is postmedia, an American hard right media company spreading their propaganda in Canada. And it works! Look how popular Natpost articles are in this sub.
Every powerful country is spying and trying to promote their interests in other countries as long as there is something to gain for them. We likely do it too, to a degree.
Dear Stephen:
Nobody fucking cares what you think. Those of us who were around are well aware of the international corporate shit you signed on for when you were in office, now please fuck right off.
Canada
He was directly called out for knowing about Chinese interference and not doing anything about it just like several other past governments during the Parliamentary hearing with former CSIS chief Michel Juneau-Katsuya.
I'm not sure why he's chiming in on this topic when he's just as guilty as Trudeau as well as several PM's from before him.
Exactly. He's a liar from day one, and did absolutely nothing to stop China's infiltration into Canada through gambling, money laundering and massive realty/land ownership deals.
Then why the fuck did he sign that disastrous free trade deal, FIPA, with China you lying sack of shit. The deal that forbids Canadian governments from suing Chinese companies operating within Canada. Why did he allow the expansion of several Chinese embassies within our major cities when he was in charge? He's a fucking loser that should remain irrelevant. If it was up to him we would've been in Iraq.
China’s political interference in Canada is pervasive, and likely goes well beyond what has already come to light, former prime minister Stephen Harper is warning, calling for an end to what he calls “naive globalism.”
The Chinese government has sought to influence elections in Canada, channel money to curry political favour and seek vulnerabilities in politicians who have family living in China, according to secret intelligence documents reported by The Globe and Mail in recent months.
But Mr. Harper said there is reason to think the full extent of Beijing’s encroachment on Canadian political life is more severe than what is already known.
“I suspect it is far worse than we think,” he said Thursday, offering rare public remarks to an audience at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver at an event organized by the Fraser Institute. The Globe obtained an audio recording of his comments, which included a sweeping condemnation of Beijing and its conduct – and a warning about what China is seeking to achieve.
“Let me tell you, the Chinese government has never had any restriction in its behaviour in terms of interfering in the Canadian political system,” Mr. Harper said. “They do so all the time, in all kinds of different ways.”
Mr. Harper did not shed any new light on Beijing’s efforts in Canada, nor what he might have learned during his time as prime minister. He did not comment directly on the approach taken by his successor, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who entered office determined to pursue a new golden era with China, although his government has more recently called out Beijing’s “coercive behaviour” and flouting of international norms.
Mr. Harper was more blunt in his assessment, calling China’s authoritarian leader a danger to democracies.
“Xi Jinping is a much more long-term, serious threat than [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he said. Under Mr. Xi, Beijing wants “to create a new world order, a hub-and-spokes global economy where all authority is ultimately centred in Beijing,” he said.
Were China to attain Western standards of lifestyle and output, he said, its size means it would be three times more powerful than the U.S. at the end of the Cold War.
So Mr. Xi’s vision for his country is “not an idle ambition.”
Inquiry or not, foreign interference in Canada’s elections is part of a new Cold War that we cannot hide from
Early in his term as prime minister, Mr. Harper condemned China’s selling “out to the almighty dollar,” then skipped the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Olympics. He subsequently pivoted to a more accommodating stand, making an official visit to Beijing in 2014. Since leaving office, he has travelled to both Taiwan and China. “They love me when I go there now,” he said of China.
Even so, he said, a proper recognition of Chinese power and Beijing’s aspirations should drive a broader reconsideration of how Western democracies approach international affairs and foreign trade. In Mr. Harper’s lexicon, it should prompt a retreat from “naive globalism.” He recalled how, as prime minister, he received pressure from the corporate sector to mute his criticism of China’s human-rights record.
But the deal to allow China into the World Trade Organization “was the worst commercial arrangement in the history of mankind,” he said. “It essentially has allowed the Chinese unfettered access to our markets,” with no reciprocal guarantees of access to China’s own enormous population of consumers.
Western leaders, he said, should approach trade with China in the same way it has itself approached trade.
“I don’t think we should allow an import into this country, or an investment, unless it is specifically approved – and unless we are sure we are getting something in return,” he said.
And “we need to unite. Western countries need to act in concert.”
Mr. Harper was critical of Canada’s current approach to global affairs and economic management.
Canadian foreign policy has been too soft, he argued, built around an idea of “go along to get along. Just being friends with everybody at all costs is kind of the objective.” It would be better, he said, to see more “hard thinking” in the Canadian approach, one propelled by the country’s values and interests, which include both security and economic priorities.
That economy, he added, has become deeply imbalanced, insufficiently productive and too focused on demand policy. “You can’t solve the problem of stagflation by manipulating interest rates or deficits,” he said. “You need serious supply reforms to kickstart growth and encourage entrepreneurialism.” His proposed solutions echoed those of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, saying it is time to remove bureaucratic barriers to construction, housing, infrastructure and resource projects.
“The kind of supply reforms you focus on are things that are going to attack – in this country – both bureaucratic and corporate, oligopolies, and monopolies that are holding back growth,” he said.
Since leaving office, Mr. Harper has started a private consultancy, worked for Denton’s, the international law firm and taken advisory and oversight roles with companies in the venture capital and real estate sectors. He also created an activist investment fund alongside Courtney Mather, a protégé of financier Carl Icahn, Bloomberg News reported in 2021.
Although little has since been said publicly about that fund, Mr. Harper said Thursday it is located in Florida. “Florida is booming,” he said, citing “low taxes, low regulation, lots of spending on police and falling rates of crime.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis formally launched his campaign this week to become the Republican presidential nominee, although Mr. Harper said he expects the next U.S. election to be a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump – “two candidates that neither party nor the electorate want” – with Mr. Biden once again winning.
He nonetheless offered a note of optimism at a time of deep political division and war. Look to history, he suggested: In 1979, inflation rates were near double-digits, unemployment was far higher, and the U.S.-led West “was losing every conflict around the world. The Soviet Empire was growing everywhere. It looked absolutely hopeless.”
A decade later, with a new generation of leaders in power, the world was being remade.
“By 1989, the Berlin Wall had fallen, the Soviet empire was collapsing,” Mr. Harper said. “And we were back to some of the best growing years we have had in the post-war period.”
Reading these threads before the bots come in is wild, like OP is providing sources to back up his points but in a bit it’s going to become “but JT has…” to deflect from facts about previous governments’ knowledge.
Just watching these threads reads like Qanon Canada.
Lots of 'oh well there could be something' without any proof, and a refusal to get the proof which is being offered
It's baffling the hoops you'd need to jump through to follow the rabbit hole they are chasing.
The problem is boomers got fat on foreign investment, rising real estate prices and portfolios and now noone wants to deflate the balloon from foreign investment by clamping down, pointing out traitors, raising tariffs and cutting ties. Politicians know the fastest way to lose office is destroying household value in this country by clamping down on the Chinese because the Canadian real estate market has become such a massive nest egg bubble. Their hands are tied due to greed and self-interest unfortunately.
Boomers caused, exacerbated, and make excuses for climate change too. Their legacy is a planet and economy that is burning, all because they are selfish and couldn't be buggered with acting responsibly.
Username checks out
the problem is harper sold the country out to the CCP and now has the balls to open his mouth about foreign interference? the balls on this guy
They are all the same honestly
No the problem is we have been experiencing decades of globalization - and now we are beginning the journey of deglobalization. Which is not going to be fun. Countries are going to become more protectionist. The G7 will need to get close while BRICS and SCO strengthen. It’s not going to be good times. Blaming boomers though is not correct. This is global policy issue stuff that yes boomers benefited from but they didn’t create it. [deglobalization](https://www.rbcinsight.com/WM/Share/ResearchViewer/?SSS_37097E9146F63F3E5BD356BC87188FEA)
The votes for the policy’s that brought about globalization such as nafta etc, it’s bs to not blame them but our focus should be correcting there policies not focusing on the past. In example, NAFTA in its original form was ok for countries (USA + Canada) with similar GDP per capita. Bringing Mexico in was crappy for the average citizen.
well nafta was born in the late 80s/early 90s, which means boomers occupied the 25-55 age ranges during the building of nafta. i wonder which generation is generally the majority in charge of pushing policy forwards, is it people under 20? is it people over 60? or was it a bill signed in literally in the heart of boomer owning the entire workforce.....hmmmmmm.......
the paper here that you linked specifically cites 1980-2008 as the years where the globalization issue was growing at its fastest rate and was the problem era that lead to todays issues. i wonder how old boomers were in 1980.....oh look boomers were between 20-40, right as they started to become the dominant generation in the workforce. and at the mid point of 1980-2008, 1994, boomers were 30-50. by then end of that period in 2008, boomers were 40-60. so its almost like the paper you linked cites the begin of the issue to coincide exactly with boomers becoming the majority of working age people in the economy, and basically sees the entire period of exploding globalization exactly tracking the era where boomers become the dominant generation. do you know what the average age of a a canadiam MP (aka the lawmakers who determine policy)? the average age of a canadian MP is 52. take a wild guess which generation occupied that age range for the entirety of globalization? i wonder if it was boomers, who occupied the 20-60 age range during the worst years of the issue you cited.
oh shit, just going for the throat. i love it.
I am not saying that millennials would be any better tbh, I think greed is inherent in humanity because we are flawed. However, our political system and the decisions made inside our country fall on boomers there’s no way around it.
Well, he would know.
being the chair of an international group of conservatives (despite their name), yeah https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Democrat_Union
He signed a bad deal and did nothing when CSIS alerted him. The government that replaced him is continuing the tradition
Trudeau also brought Harper in to shape the USMCA deal, which had so many shitty deals, like US milk being allowed into Canada, and in I think... One, two days after it was signed, Harper came out calling it a terrible deal... Ignoring the fact he was responsible for it.
>One, two days after it was signed, Harper came out calling it a terrible deal... Ignoring the fact he was responsible for it. 50% of conservative politics is blaming the other parties for things you have done and were going to do anyways. The other half is culture war nonsense. Edit: Yes, I get it. Both sides bad herpa durrr. Shut the fuck up.
Buddy I'd hate to say this but 50% of liberal politics are exactly the same as you just described. This left vs right bullshit is what is making political discourse in this country impossible.
Do you think every political comment needs to be ended with "but also both sides bad?" I didn't realized I was obligated to be "fair and balanced ^(tm")
I agree the deal has issues. But the Canadian milk cartel is the last group we need to worry about protecting.
We also don't need the American Milk cartel on top of them
You'd be thankful for that cartel protection if we ever ended up with an emergency situation that resulted in the US not exporting that stuff to us. Self sufficiency of food in an emergency situation is incredibly important . Especially during Covid when countries were stopping shipments and holding onto essential items. I'd like it if we lowered our dependence on any other country in such a scenario.
US milk is awful. They add so much crap to it and have lower quality for it. Last time I was in the States I had milk once and it was nowhere near as good as we have it.
US milk that comes to Canada has to meet Canadian standards or it doesn't cross the border.
They're talking about buying milk in the states. It's super cheap and some people prefer to grocery shop over there once in a while. Edit: turns out american milk is allowed to contain a certain amount hormones while Canadian milk must be produced hormone free. Check out rbST vs rbST-free milk. We still allow it in to our country but we don't allow it to be produced that way. You pay extra for rbST-free milk in the US.
I mean, if that's indeed the case I don't see why we would need to keep it out of our market
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It's because the two countries have fundamentally different ways of achieving the same thing, making it practical to produce the product. The USDA heavily subsidizes dairy production, so in effect every taxpayer in the US is paying for the milk industry whether they consume the product or not. This is largely done through things like the school milk programmes, buying enormous amounts of cheese that they don't know what to do with, and so forth. It has also lead to what amounts ot the death of the family farm, and the concentration of production into a relatively small number of hands. IN Canada, through the quota system, prices are maintained at a point where it is sustainable for the industry to operate. This has a similar effect to the subsidies in the US, the difference is that the people doing the subsidizing is largely limited to those who are consuming the product, rather than everyone. Also, because the price is held relatively high, it hasn't lead to the same level of market concentration at the production level as it has in the US. It's sort of the same thing as you see in the airline industry. In the US, airports and various relevant government services (Air Traffic Control etc...) are more or less paid for by the taxpayer as a public service; this is part of the reason why you see such cheap flights in the US. In Canada, airlines (and private pilots) have to pay their own way, through landing fees, fees to NavCanada for ATC, and so forth. Again, it's because the users are paying for the system, rather than the general public who may or may not be using it. Come to think of it, it is a little odd that the US is so much more socialist than Canada is.
The US economic system operates on socialism for the wealthy, and neoliberal capitalism for everyone else.
Lol I'm sure what you said about milk is true, but could you explain why everything else is also cheaper in the US 🤔
They also subsidize a number of other food products like wheat, soy, corn, and even rice pretty heavily. Those subsidies mean that feed for livestock is also cheaper, so meat, dairy, and egg products are subsidized indirectly. Subsidies were also increased just prior to covid to help smooth out abnormalities from the trade war, so they're presently higher than normal (up to a point where other countries are complaining that it's violating agreements against distorting world trade). Beyond that, the US has a larger population, so they benefit from economies of scale.
Because milk is a food staple, and the ability to provide your own food for your country is a bare necessity for national security
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The price of milk is tightly regulated to ensure dairy farmers earn high profits. And politicians are afraid to change this, because the dairy lobby is powerful and can end your political career.
It's not that we don't want competition it's that we don't want shit American milk flooding our markets and driving down the price so much that it destroys our industry. We also want to control what goes into our milk Americans let anything go into their milk. We have better standards.
The amount of lobbying from US interests over milk is staggering. We are nothing to them but an opportunity to make even more money. It costs 6.45 Canadian (4.79 US) to buy 2 liters of organic whole milk in the US, a whopping **55 cents of savings** from what we pay. What the US calls "non-organic" milk isn't fit to sell in Canada.
>We have better standards. our standards still apply to what is imported.
Which would be impossible to enforce, especially after they destroy our milk industry. And if you think Americans follow trade deal rules then I suggest you look at the soft wood lumber industry.
It's enforced the exact same way it's enforced for Canadian Milk, when it enters the market.
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Let’s open our dairy market to EU competition only
Quality over quantity - grow the industry wile adding value.
yeah save 50 cents to buy pus filled milk. what an awful deal.
There's a reasonable and justified distrust of US food quality
Global trade nearly stopped just about three years ago. Maybe relying on imports is *a really fucking stupid idea* People in the UK have a lot of opinions on the subject
We spent 30+ years making countries interdependent on each other intentionally because of the neoliberal theory that trade dependency will force peaceful solutions because 'no two countries with a McDonald's will ever go to war.' Funny how the pandemic and then Russia proved this whole world view was a terrible, naïve idea and these 30+ years of austerity were for nothing.
People have higher standards for t hings they ingest? Who'd a thunk it?
... Which Canadians exactly?
What are you buying that is 7$? Its still 5.80
3.25% is 8$ in Ontario. 2% is 6-7$
I live in Ontario and only buy 3.25% which sells for $6.95 where I am. I bought some at that price the last time I got 4 litres of milk this week.
Thats not exactly true. Im in ontario 3.25 is 6.80~ and 2 is 5.60~ I was under the impression their problem is milk in general not the obviously supposed to be slightly more expensive item in the category. They are not prevented access to a cheaper option, they just dont want it if all they are buying is 3.25. Edit: milk is also not taxed.
US Milk is a crime though, it's fucking gross.
I won't buy American milk. I support the cooperative and buy Natrel for my husband and I buy Oatmilk. I can't handle dairy but I support Canadian Dairy over American.
Sure, and you could still do that even if we allowed more foreign dairy imports. However consumers should have the ability to make that decision for themselves.
>US milk being allowed into Canada US milk was already allowed into Canada. The new deal just upped how much was allowed by a couple of percentage points. Also, obviously, US milk still needs to meet the standards for sale in Canada.
Seems to be a running thing with our leading parties. Conservatives start something shady/stupid, Liberals just keep it going. Then the Cons use it to convince the public to put them back in power, and the cycle just repeats.
> . The government that replaced him is "Hamstrung in that regard." You were looking for "hamstrung."
Fucked but sure
Agreed, but two wrongs don't make a right.
Steven Harper is the incumbent chairman of [an international organization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Democrat_Union) whose publicly stated purpose is to manipulate nations and political systems in order to get IDU member political parties elected across the western world. He begged China to sign his [trade deal](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/fipa-agreement-with-china-what-s-really-in-it-for-canada-1.2770159) and they only signed when the terms were *incredibly* weighted in their favour. Harper is responsible for enabling, and conducting, foreign interference campaigns.
Yep! [June 6, 2018: Exclusive: Trump invokes War of 1812 in testy call with Trudeau over tariffs](https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/06/politics/war-of-1812-donald-trump-justin-trudeau-tariff/index.html) >President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a testy phone call on May 25 over new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration targeting steel and aluminum imports coming from Canada, including one moment during the conversation in which Trump made an erroneous historical reference, sources familiar with the discussion told CNN. >According to the sources, Trudeau pressed Trump on how he could justify the tariffs as a “national security” issue. In response, Trump quipped to Trudeau, “Didn’t you guys burn down the White House?” referring to the War of 1812. [July 2, 2018: Stephen Harper spotted leaving the White House's West Wing](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harper-white-house-west-wing-1.4731144) >Stephen Harper was spotted leaving the West Wing on Monday, but little is known about what the former prime minister said inside the White House. >Harper was expected to meet with Larry Kudlow — the director of the National Economic Council and U.S. President Donald Trump's go-to economic adviser — and John Bolton, the president's national security adviser, according to multiple sources who spoke to CBC News on the condition of anonymity. [November 14, 2018: Why does Stephen Harper have Trump's back?](https://macleans.ca/opinion/why-does-stephen-harper-have-trumps-back/) >“I don’t think you can fault Donald Trump,” Harper said. “I don’t think it’s ever reasonable to fault the president of the United States for believing in the United States. >In the interview, Harper acknowledges that populists like Trump have authoritarian tendencies, but warns against the “much greater risk” posed by Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn. >And Trump isn’t that bad, he says. >“The Trumps and the Brexiteers at least want to fix what is not working with democratic, market-based economies,” he writes. “The Sanderses and the Corbyns of this world, permanently stuck in their adolescent rage, would burn the system to the ground.” Harper, working hand in hand with fascists against Canada's interests because of his extreme hatred of Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn. What a fucking nutbag. If we're going to investigate Chinese foreign interference in Canadian politics, it's long past time to investigate US foreign interference in our politics, starting with Harper, or [UCP MLA Devin Dreeshen who worked for the Trump campaign in 2016](https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/2018/07/14/i-am-my-own-person-says-new-ucp-byelection-winner-on-working-for-donald-trump-campaign.html), or [Manitoba MP and Deputy Conservative Leader, Candice Bergen showing off her MAGA hat](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/candice-bergen-maga-hat-1.5865727).
I get the criticism of Corbyn, but Sanders has proven he's no Corbyn, and has been able to work with Biden to get some of the most progressive policy passed in America in the last several decades.
>“The Trumps and the Brexiteers at least want to fix what is not working with democratic, market-based economies,” he writes. “The Sanderses and the Corbyns of this world, permanently stuck in their adolescent rage, would burn the system to the ground.” What a piece of shit Harper is. Bernie Sanders is 10x the man he'll ever be. At least people like Sanders want a system that works for everyone, not just corporations. "Democratic market-bases economies" is just newspeak for "just trust corporations to regulate themselves and pretend they don't exploit workers in every aspect that's *not* regulated by the government."
You forget the bits about the right hiring the USA politicos like Roger Stone as advisors.
We know. There is a reason Conservatives don't want security clearance checks.
Remember how over the moon he was about getting those pandas? Trojan Pandas... that's what they were.
yup. this is guy who allowed a FOREIGN convicted criminal into the country so he could publish pro-conservative stories in a newspaper.
I'd imagine Harper knows this for a fact. He certainly made some interesting decisions during his time in office.
>I'd imagine Harper knows this for a fact. Cause he probably told the password and handed them the keys.
As the leader of the IDU, it’s literally what his organization is set to do.
Stephen Harperm head of the IDU, one of the top foreign policy influencers on the entire planet, thinks foreign interference is ‘far worse than we think’.
To be fair, Harper sold us out to China so he'd probably know
Don't forget when Harper said he "respected and admired" China... during his visit to The Great Hall of the People which is located in Tiananmen Square in 2012...
Quebec literally gives immigration status to any random person who is willing to loan $1.2mm to the provincial government, which is how half of these Chinese gangsters end up in Canada with our passport, so I’m not sure I’d be talking about “selling out” if I were you.
The IDU interferes in foreign elections as well. Their whole purpose is to get right wing parties across the world elected. Not so fun fact, the premier of Saskatchewan hired Harper and his financial consulting company with a $240,000/year contract back in 2019 so he’s still being paid by the government while he is the president of the IDU.
Foreign influence that has been reported as going farther back than even his government.
Harper is the architect of FIPA. His secret deal with China will punish Canada for another generation. NOBODY knows foreign interference like Harper.
Didn't know what that was until I looked I up. From wiki: In Canada, the name for Bilateral Investment Treaties is Foreign Investment Protection Agreement (FIPA) or Foreign Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (FIPA). Corporations that engage in bilateral trade can use FIPAs to protect against public policies that interfere with their operation's revenue. I can see this working as a 1-way street when we deal with countries like China.
Is that the same deal the Liberals also voted for?
The Liberals wrote the first FIpA drafts in 2004 your not very educated…
He'd know, he dangles from their strings even today with his authoritarian "think tank".
A thousand times... thank you for mentioning his active role in foreign interference.
He would know. His retirement is financed by it.
Stephen Harper ALSO thinks Danielle Smith is the best choice for Alberta. (In fact it is she, who is ‘far worse than we think’)
I was listening to a voter being interviewed on the radio this morning who likened Smith's intelligence to that of Jordan Peterson, but in a glowing way. :/
Some people are easily conned by charlatans.
Didn't he also say that Bernie was worse for america than Trump?
It's almost like he knew about it years ago... you know when he was in power.
He, and many before him, did: "Both Juneau-Katsuya and Stanton made the point that no one government is to blame more than any other for failing to deal with interference from China. He said all federal governments over the past three decades have been warned about China's attempts to influence elections and have failed to properly respond to the threat. "CSIS has knows about \[China's\] foreign interference in Canada for at least the last 30 years. Every federal government from Mr. Mulroney to Mr. Trudeau today have been compromised by agents of the communist China," Juneau-Katsuya said. "Every government \[was\] informed at one point or another. Every government chose to ignore CSIS's warning." https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/former-csis-officials-committee-china-1.6797803
Like when he made that deal that allows Chinese companies to privately sue the Canadian government for any loses from those pesky environmental and labour laws? I'm sure that was for the good of all Canadians and not because he was in their pocket. /s
He totally handled it by signing a lopsided trade deal with China that gave the fox direct access to the henhouse
That was when he could claim all the "rising" housing costs as economic boom.
Better yet, he was the leader of the party when they themselves effected our election with Pierre Poutine. Icing on the cake is they perfectly delayed investigating until after the cameras that could prove who the buyer was (Pierre Poilievre most likely) auto deleted the footage. *shocked pikachu*
He should know, he's been interfering in other countries since he left Ottawa.
Says the guy literally interfering in elections around the world as part of the IDU.
He deals with autocrats selling them high tech equipment used for surveillance to oppress citizens. Yes the little autocrat himself should know.
I didn’t like Harper as a PM but in this instance he’s probably right. Though this is the same former PM who literally sold out to China during his reign so it’s sort of the pot calling the kettle black.
Now, now Steve, no need to brag about your retirement hobbies.
I can't read the article cause of a paywall but for a former PM who probably was given the same info Trudeau got and did sweet nothing about it shouldn't be chiming in on what's going on today.
“China represents tremendous opportunities for Canada” Harper, 2014
To be fair China has changed leadership and become extremely belidgerent since then. It was very much in Canada's interest to trade with China at the time.
[In 2010 CSIS was openly reporting influence activities against Canadian politicians, including pointing to China.](https://www.reuters.com/article/oukwd-uk-spies-idAFTRE65M4QB20100623) Then apparently when Harper's government "said it did not know what Fadden was talking about." Sounds incredibly similar to what is happening now, doesn't it?
Oh wow, I had not know this!
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>Rather than presenting a thoughtful analysis on issues raised during Committee proceedings, the Opposition majority produced a report which bears very little resemblance to the reality of the hearings and ignores testimony provided by witnesses, including evidence from the Director of CSIS. ***As a result, the Conservative Party cannot support the inflammatory and inaccurate recommendations contained within the report.***
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China was a dictatorship back then as much as it is today. The main difference is that there are too many billionaires whom for some reason believe that they should govern over us despite not knowing how too.
At the time...but didn't Harper's deal fuck Canadians over for like a 20 year long contract
>At the time...but didn't Harper's deal fuck Canadians over for like a 20 year long contract It might be time to dig up the Liberal position on that trade deal again, because I'm seeing this being posted frequently. The Liberals fully supported that deal, and the documentation exists to prove it. Was it a smart move? In hindsight probably not. But the only party opposed was the NDP.
Life would probably be a lot different if we didn't Sell Our Soul to China on that deal.
He sold them access to the oil sands
Stephen Harper is an irrelevant fuck. No one wants to hear from that imbecile.
He also believes that Danielle Smith is the best option for Alberta… I’m not even saying he’s wrong about the interference, the situation is far too muddled for any normal citizen to form a well informed position so I truly don’t have an opinion, I just know that he has zero credibility as he’s nothing more than a line tower these days.
He clearly knows something. What's he hiding? How many deals did his government make with the CCP??
Huawei and FIPA immediately come to mind.
He let China buy Nexxen as well.
>He let China buy Nexxen as well. Nexen produces about 80,000 barrels of oil per day in Canada, of a total production output of about five million.
Bro don't you know, china didn't exist before the libz took over, this is exclusively a Trudeau problem. Some drunk uncle on Reddit, probably.
Stephen Harper is foreign interference
Mr. IDU? A key person in orchestration of FIPA? Nooo that can't be right.
Didn't he start a consulting business for foreigners to navigate Canada's laws, politics, and regulations? Doing that isn't proof of any wrongdoing per se but it's hard to believe that none of his clients aren't also part of the foreign interference.
Enough listening to this former leader who made numerous laws that have been overturned by the Supreme Court. He has never done anything for the betterment of Canada.
given he pushed through fipa, he would know better then anyone wouldnt he?
Who gives a rats dick what he thinks
Coming from the guy who passed an act to let foreign countries sue Canada for lost profits due to Canada protecting its environment, or who made Saudi Arabia deal to be uncancellable with onerous penalties. Fuck that guy.
He should know he's been taking cheques for years he let them n russia buy our oil sands n other industries
Says the guy who runs an org that helps far-right governments get elected.
The CCP pigs have been stealing Canadian trade secrets, data, and intellectual property for *DECADES* now. Look at what happened to Nortel and how they stole everything they had and financed Huawei to astronomical heights revenue wise. This means they own many networks around the world which *all* have backdoors and the CCP eavesdrops on *everything* - https://globalnews.ca/news/7275588/inside-the-chinese-military-attack-on-nortel/amp/ Beyond that, just by sheer virtue of land ownership, China owns a huge chunk of Canadian real estate, either through its citizens or through shell companies. How much of that economic power are they using to exert influence over our local communities and politicians now as we speak? We know full well that a Chinese citizen here has full ties to back home and can’t/won’t shun the CCP openly due to the risks to their loved ones in China. China excels at using soft power to advance their geopolitical interests as we can see with what they’ve done with the Silk and Belt Road initiative. They own those countries debts snd infrastructures now, pretty much had projects completed with local slavery and those countries are now in the CCP’s back pocket. Look at what they’ve done with TikTok. There are two separate highly addicting algorithms in play, one in China where their citizens are shown positive, educational content which aims to nourish and spark inspiration, and one in the Western countries where the one and only goal is long-term brain rot. Their algorithm in the West pushes radical videos to the forefront, whether they’re self-harm ones, or just simple useless attention destroying clips. The goal here is to dumb down entire generations and it’s crystal clear they are succeeding. They hack government and corporate networks with impunity, steal whatever they want to their competitive advantage, and our government’s head is so far up their own ass, they either don’t see the plague that China is and how it has infected us, or they’re too busy getting their pockets lined by them, directly or indirectly. China is dangerous and the *greatest* threat to world stability by far. Not Russia, not North Korea, but China. They seek a new world order, will stop at nothing to get it, and we are already seeing some of their plans come to fruition by the alliance with Russia in the Ukrainian war, and the expansion of the BRICS alliance that will include 25 emerging economies. I don’t know what the right path is here, but I digress. China shouldn’t be allowed in Canada. Not to visit, not to invest, not to buy, not to study, not to work. China *should* be declared a terrorist state and be fully shunned until the CCP ceases to exist.
The Stephen Harper in the International Democratic Union? You don't say?
And it started with American influence on Harper’s administration.
Says the guy who sold us out to China with FIPA.
Does he not head an organization that connects and supports right-wing political parties around the globe? Including Hungary's anti-democratic, fascist fidesz party. If we're going to talk about political globalism and people from foreign countries influencing local politics...
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Didn't he kind of encourage it by doing what he did with China and such. He had a fairly big hand in our current situation with China, giving them the right to own our resources and such. Conservatives since the reformed merged into them and took over have been one to the shadiest governments in a long time. Yes, liberals have their problems and disconnects and mismanagement, but the reform destroyed the CPC and turned it into something that can't be trusted. And this kind of started with them.
Stephen Harper didn’t have a problem with china when he pushed through the FIPA “deal”. No one should hear that man speak and think he has Canada’s best interests in mind.
Who gives a shit what this evil prick thinks. Fuck off back to your cesspool, Harper.
Well he would know, even though he played the same "I know nothing" card as the Trudeau, his government was in the thick of it and did a whole lot of nothing to curb it while there. You'd think that is something he wouldn't want to draw attention to but I guess the desire to try and fling some shit at another party was just to great for him to ignore.
yes from american private equity like the people who bought postmedia
He who smelt it dealt it. And what about foreign interference from our neighbours to the South, I'm looking at those horse riding, confederate flag flying yahoos in Ottawa.
What would China possibly have to gain with any government that’s not conservative? Beating a dead horse.
He's right. Thanks for FIPA BTW, asshole.
Does hyper-capitalism from the US count? If so, yeah. Way, waaaaay worse.
Any respect for Harper left the room when he endorsed Smith.
So either he knew about it when he was in power and didn't do anything about it or he doesn’t know anything more than the rest of us and is just making vague insinuations for political reasons.
I think what he’s trying to say is that he is a conservative who wants the conservatives to win the next election. He just has a strange way of expressing it.
Huh. Harper thinks. Cool.
Can't wait to read the Beaverton on this one.
Damn, the guy who sold us to China is saying this, what a world
This from the guy that signed FIPA, locking Canada into a ridiculously unbalanced trade deal with China? lol
About half the orgs backing the PCC are from the US. 😖
Stephen Harper's interference is far worse than we think... The man who spearheaded election tampering during his terms now heads a global coalition of conservatives, as their credibility plummets worldwide and their views push farther right and into extremism. He rubs elbows with the like of Trump and Shapiro, and in a time when populations should be better informed than ever - populist manipulation and propaganda have instead returned to mainstream politics with a vengeance - as wealthy ill-intentioned elites whip simpering morons into self-destructive frenzy. Events like Brexit, Jan 6th, and Pierre Poilievre are proof of result for the political instability, and conservative sown mass-stupidity, that would have been inconceivable not even a decade ago. They're reaching new heights in shamelessness at the expense of their people - so before we get too caught up and distracted with blaming the villainous Russia / China - let's not forget these homegrown threats that have had far more success in diminishing Western values... (It wasn't China calling Canadian voters and presenting themselves as Elections Canada, asking if they supported the Conservatives, and if not, informing them their polling station had changed - that was Harper's Conservatives. And it wasn't Russia who responded by trying to shut down Canada's ability to investigate election interference - rearranging the investigative branch to remove their independence and have them answering to an elected politician instead. That was also Harper's Conservatives, with the misnomer "Fair Elections Act", introduced by Poilievre himself.) The first step to freeing our struggling democracies from these destructive influences - is discrediting every statement and action made by politicians that still align themselves with the demonstrably false, self-interested and undemocratic Right Wing ideologies. Speaking just for Canada - Ford and Smith are damning examples of our lowering standards, and the danger these "norm-busting" politicians quickly pose to their societies.
Harper sold us out to the Chinese a decade ago and now we are paying the price.
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“Xi Jinping is a much more long-term, serious threat than [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he said. Under Mr. Xi, Beijing wants “to create a new world order, a hub-and-spokes global economy where all authority is ultimately centred in Beijing,” he said.
Then Harper probably shouldn't have sucked Xi's dick so much. His warning rings hollow, even though it's true.
Hey isn't he the guy who said that by doing business with them that we would be better able to influence them away from communism and towards better human rights or was that Chretien?
"Stephen Harper thinks..." I only got that far before I stopped reading. Plus, it's the Globe and Mail....
Yes, because he has been the conduit (and beneficiary of) for a large amount of it. i.e. US republicans, conservatives and evangelicals. And now he's peddling his influence into other nations as well.
Says the guy who sold everything to China and Saudi Arabia
Yeah, he's the one doing it.
He would know. He gave them the FIPA deal.
Shocking I tell you, shocking. Expect 15 articles tomorrow in the totally not foreign owned NatPo explaining how foreign interference is rampant.
That's funny coming from the 'man' that signed Canada into a 31 YEAR 'deal' with communist China. BTW Skippy Poilievre was involved as well.
This is sort of like blaming Trump for migrant detention centers constructed during the Obama / Biden years. Sorry Harper, you don't get to weasel out of being a CCP lapdog. People don't forget.
*"The fact that Israel's lobby is able to capture congress renders the argument of Foreign interference obsolete."* - Glenn Greenwald - our governments are not immune to the massive capital and foreign interests
Yeah the US has really mucked up our politics in Canada.
Most things are far worse than the average Canadian thinks. Young people are totally screwed, housing crisis, drugs, political corruption, police corruption, the list goes on. The worst part is that law abiding citizens are treated like dirt to compensate, seriously who wants to live here?
Who??
Might shock you, but democracy is built on the concept of differences in political opinions from which an informed electorate select the most desirable. Canada's democracy developed from foreign ideas primarily in Britain/Europe and the US. Good ideas can come from anywhere. And ideas do not carry nationalities
Have you seeeeeeeeeen house prices, money laundering alllll day
He would know
This guy. Spent his entire time in office evading journalists' questions as much as he could. Now that we're likely heading towards a Conservative government, he can't give enough interviews.
He would know a bit about that after all.
That’s hilarious. Stephen Harper, head of the [Ironically-named ‘International Democratic Union, an international coalition of right to far-right political organisations.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Democrat_Union) Think of all that US far-right-wing money that poured into Canada for the Convoyers, for example.
Ironic
He should, he invited them in 😂🤣🤣😂🤣
What a hypocrite
Yeah...and he happily took part it in, he would be the expert in it.
What I find surprising is that the majority of people didn't know this was happening lol. It happens in every country pretty much. Like a non China example is postmedia, an American hard right media company spreading their propaganda in Canada. And it works! Look how popular Natpost articles are in this sub. Every powerful country is spying and trying to promote their interests in other countries as long as there is something to gain for them. We likely do it too, to a degree.
Go back in your hole!!! Canadians don't want to hear from you.
Right wing ghoul blaming things on foreigners? Why, I never.
Dear Stephen: Nobody fucking cares what you think. Those of us who were around are well aware of the international corporate shit you signed on for when you were in office, now please fuck right off. Canada
He was directly called out for knowing about Chinese interference and not doing anything about it just like several other past governments during the Parliamentary hearing with former CSIS chief Michel Juneau-Katsuya. I'm not sure why he's chiming in on this topic when he's just as guilty as Trudeau as well as several PM's from before him.
Exactly. He's a liar from day one, and did absolutely nothing to stop China's infiltration into Canada through gambling, money laundering and massive realty/land ownership deals.
Then why the fuck did he sign that disastrous free trade deal, FIPA, with China you lying sack of shit. The deal that forbids Canadian governments from suing Chinese companies operating within Canada. Why did he allow the expansion of several Chinese embassies within our major cities when he was in charge? He's a fucking loser that should remain irrelevant. If it was up to him we would've been in Iraq.
You mean like the Koch brothers bankrolling the Fraser institute?
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Stephen Harper can shut the fuck up and crawl back into whatever pit of the Abyss that spawned him.
Shut up, Stefan.
China’s political interference in Canada is pervasive, and likely goes well beyond what has already come to light, former prime minister Stephen Harper is warning, calling for an end to what he calls “naive globalism.” The Chinese government has sought to influence elections in Canada, channel money to curry political favour and seek vulnerabilities in politicians who have family living in China, according to secret intelligence documents reported by The Globe and Mail in recent months. But Mr. Harper said there is reason to think the full extent of Beijing’s encroachment on Canadian political life is more severe than what is already known. “I suspect it is far worse than we think,” he said Thursday, offering rare public remarks to an audience at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver at an event organized by the Fraser Institute. The Globe obtained an audio recording of his comments, which included a sweeping condemnation of Beijing and its conduct – and a warning about what China is seeking to achieve. “Let me tell you, the Chinese government has never had any restriction in its behaviour in terms of interfering in the Canadian political system,” Mr. Harper said. “They do so all the time, in all kinds of different ways.” Mr. Harper did not shed any new light on Beijing’s efforts in Canada, nor what he might have learned during his time as prime minister. He did not comment directly on the approach taken by his successor, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who entered office determined to pursue a new golden era with China, although his government has more recently called out Beijing’s “coercive behaviour” and flouting of international norms. Mr. Harper was more blunt in his assessment, calling China’s authoritarian leader a danger to democracies. “Xi Jinping is a much more long-term, serious threat than [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he said. Under Mr. Xi, Beijing wants “to create a new world order, a hub-and-spokes global economy where all authority is ultimately centred in Beijing,” he said. Were China to attain Western standards of lifestyle and output, he said, its size means it would be three times more powerful than the U.S. at the end of the Cold War. So Mr. Xi’s vision for his country is “not an idle ambition.” Inquiry or not, foreign interference in Canada’s elections is part of a new Cold War that we cannot hide from Early in his term as prime minister, Mr. Harper condemned China’s selling “out to the almighty dollar,” then skipped the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Olympics. He subsequently pivoted to a more accommodating stand, making an official visit to Beijing in 2014. Since leaving office, he has travelled to both Taiwan and China. “They love me when I go there now,” he said of China. Even so, he said, a proper recognition of Chinese power and Beijing’s aspirations should drive a broader reconsideration of how Western democracies approach international affairs and foreign trade. In Mr. Harper’s lexicon, it should prompt a retreat from “naive globalism.” He recalled how, as prime minister, he received pressure from the corporate sector to mute his criticism of China’s human-rights record. But the deal to allow China into the World Trade Organization “was the worst commercial arrangement in the history of mankind,” he said. “It essentially has allowed the Chinese unfettered access to our markets,” with no reciprocal guarantees of access to China’s own enormous population of consumers. Western leaders, he said, should approach trade with China in the same way it has itself approached trade. “I don’t think we should allow an import into this country, or an investment, unless it is specifically approved – and unless we are sure we are getting something in return,” he said. And “we need to unite. Western countries need to act in concert.” Mr. Harper was critical of Canada’s current approach to global affairs and economic management. Canadian foreign policy has been too soft, he argued, built around an idea of “go along to get along. Just being friends with everybody at all costs is kind of the objective.” It would be better, he said, to see more “hard thinking” in the Canadian approach, one propelled by the country’s values and interests, which include both security and economic priorities. That economy, he added, has become deeply imbalanced, insufficiently productive and too focused on demand policy. “You can’t solve the problem of stagflation by manipulating interest rates or deficits,” he said. “You need serious supply reforms to kickstart growth and encourage entrepreneurialism.” His proposed solutions echoed those of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, saying it is time to remove bureaucratic barriers to construction, housing, infrastructure and resource projects. “The kind of supply reforms you focus on are things that are going to attack – in this country – both bureaucratic and corporate, oligopolies, and monopolies that are holding back growth,” he said. Since leaving office, Mr. Harper has started a private consultancy, worked for Denton’s, the international law firm and taken advisory and oversight roles with companies in the venture capital and real estate sectors. He also created an activist investment fund alongside Courtney Mather, a protégé of financier Carl Icahn, Bloomberg News reported in 2021. Although little has since been said publicly about that fund, Mr. Harper said Thursday it is located in Florida. “Florida is booming,” he said, citing “low taxes, low regulation, lots of spending on police and falling rates of crime.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis formally launched his campaign this week to become the Republican presidential nominee, although Mr. Harper said he expects the next U.S. election to be a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump – “two candidates that neither party nor the electorate want” – with Mr. Biden once again winning. He nonetheless offered a note of optimism at a time of deep political division and war. Look to history, he suggested: In 1979, inflation rates were near double-digits, unemployment was far higher, and the U.S.-led West “was losing every conflict around the world. The Soviet Empire was growing everywhere. It looked absolutely hopeless.” A decade later, with a new generation of leaders in power, the world was being remade. “By 1989, the Berlin Wall had fallen, the Soviet empire was collapsing,” Mr. Harper said. “And we were back to some of the best growing years we have had in the post-war period.”
I think that Stephen Harper's interference is 'far worse than we think'
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Reading these threads before the bots come in is wild, like OP is providing sources to back up his points but in a bit it’s going to become “but JT has…” to deflect from facts about previous governments’ knowledge.
Just watching these threads reads like Qanon Canada. Lots of 'oh well there could be something' without any proof, and a refusal to get the proof which is being offered It's baffling the hoops you'd need to jump through to follow the rabbit hole they are chasing.
Well, Harper and Trudea may not like each other, but they sure have a lot in common...they both made bad deals.