Big markets, such as the behemoth that is the Chinese economy, require equivalent or greater time commitments of work, attention, and diplomacy.
Canada’s relationship to China hasn’t been the smoothest in recent memory, to say the least. The arrests of the two Micheals in China and Meng Wanzhou in Canada was a years’-long ordeal that cost men years of their free lives and Canadian farmers millions when canola export licenses of major grain elevators was revoked.
Dealing with China has never been easy, but Canada’s relative size and scale means that we also lean on our large American neighbour for support/backing. Most recently, the Canadian government did just that by aligning our tariffs on EVs, steel and aluminum out of China with the U.S. policy.
As Philippe Rheault says in this interview with Shaun Haney, Canada needs to decide what it wants from the China/Canada relationship. Do we want to remain reactive and always let China lead or do we want to do more homework, put in the work of playing chess, and participate in how China does business?
