Tim Cheung (@TimCheung)

"#JeanCharest is deeply compromised on the most important foreign policy issue of all – China – having worked as a consultant for Huawei even as the '#twoMichaels' were locked up in a Chinese jail. This is a substantive problem for Charest. It represents a particular way of interacting with the world that appears to accept that, even if might doesn’t actually make right, large authoritarian regimes basically call the shots and countries like Canada must work with them on their terms. It rejects the competing view that threats to #Canadian and Western interests are multi-faceted and include human rights – especially where tyrannies are concerned, no matter how powerful they may be or how lucrative their markets might seem. #Charest’s past with Huawei needs to be convincingly explained...Charest has shown questionable judgement, most importantly his representation of #Huawei, which raises red flags concerning how a Charest government would approach our era’s – and likely the next generation’s – foremost geopolitical challenge...A #Conservative leader need not try to spread democracy where it has no foundation and few prospects. But he or she should encourage Canada to resume its role as a beacon to the world, inspiring and strengthening freedom-loving people in other countries to build their democracies. #Canada comes by this role honestly, being the world’s only successful leading nation that is home to multiple ethnicities, religions and languages without resorting to assimilation." https://c2cjournal.ca/2022/08/canada-in-the-world-the-foreign-and-defence-policy-ideas-of-the-conservative-leadership-candidates/