A Liberal-appointed senator led a taxpayer-funded trip to China last spring that urged closer ties and friendship with Beijing — just weeks before Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that China poses the greatest threat to Canada’s national security.According to a report tabled in the Senate, Sen. Clément Gignac of Quebec travelled to Beijing and Guangzhou in March as part of the Canada-China Legislative Association. The five-day trip, costing taxpayers $42,853, included a series of meetings with Chinese officials who “stressed the need to view each other as partners, not rivals.”Local Canadian diplomats attended all sessions to “promote friendship and normalization,” the report said. Its stated goal was to “promote and maintain a framework for dialogue between Canadian parliamentarians and representatives of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China.”.Gignac, a former Quebec trade minister and National Bank economist, met with Hao Ping, vice chair of the Chinese Congress’ foreign affairs committee. Hao “expressed regret over recent tensions” and urged Canada to “view each other as partners, not rivals.” The report said Gignac responded by highlighting “shared interests” such as aging populations, the environment, and sustainable development, and praised China’s “leadership in clean energy, education and aviation.”The senator also promoted Canada’s child care program as “a model for workforce inclusion” and invited a Chinese delegation to visit Canada. Hao, in turn, said he hoped to meet Prime Minister Carney at the G20..The meeting took place March 17. Barely a month later, on April 17, Carney told a national debate audience that “the biggest threat to Canada is China.” When asked by the moderator to clarify, Carney replied firmly, “Yes.”A day later, he told reporters Canada must “take steps to protect ourselves.” He said China “is one of the largest threats with respect to foreign interference,” and accused Beijing of backing Russia’s war in Ukraine while posing “a threat within broader Asia and to Taiwan.”Records show Liberal-appointed Sen. Pierrette Ringuette and then-Liberal MP Majid Jowhari were initially scheduled to join the trip but did not attend. The Association’s former co-chair, ex-Liberal MP Han Dong, resigned from caucus last year after revelations of his frequent contacts with the Chinese consulate in Toronto. He was later dropped as a Liberal nominee in the April 28 election.
