South China Morning Post: China offers Lunar New Year olive branch to Canada, saying it wants to get relations back on track amid fallout from arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou. One diplomat said China wanted to build a relationship based on mutual respect, but some nations did not give Beijing a chance, China News Service reported on Tuesday. “We hope to strengthen communication with the Canadian side in the new year, remove obstacles, and work hard to push China-Canada bilateral relations back to the correct development track,” Heng Xiaojun, the deputy chief of mission, told the Chinese embassy’s Spring Festival Reception in Ottawa. Meanwhile, China’s consul-general in Vancouver Tong Xiaoling told a separate reception that she hopes to make a fresh contribution towards the relationship between the two sides.

BBC: Trudeau fires Canada’s ambassador to China amid Huawei controversy. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has fired Canada’s ambassador to China, John McCallum. It follows controversial comments Mr McCallum made about an extradition case involving a senior executive from the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. Mr Trudeau said in a statement he had asked John McCallum to step down, but did not offer a reason. The detention of Meng Wanzhou, at the request of the US, angered China and soured Canada’s relations with Beijing.

CNN: Canada’s relations with China were already bad. Then Trudeau fired his ambassador. Canada’s diplomatic rift with China looks set to deepen following the dismissal of the country’s top diplomat in Beijing. The forced departure of John McCallum, announced by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday, is the latest unintended consequence stemming from the high-profile arrest of Chinese telecoms executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver last year. The resignation comes just days after the former ambassador appeared to provide comments in support of China’s assessment that Meng’s arrest could be construed as politically motivated.

Radio Poland: Canada bans Russian media from Lima Group meeting: report. Canada’s foreign ministry has refused to provide credentials to Russian news agencies to cover a meeting of the so-called Lima Group focusing on Venezuela, according to a report. The decision affected “Russian propagandists” from the Sputnik, Ria Novosti and TASS news agencies, the Ukrainian-based pravda.com.ua website has reported. Apart from the Russian news agencies, Venezuelan broadcaster Telesur was refused credentials as a “state propaganda outlet,” the pravda.com.ua website said. The Lima Group meeting, which ended in the Canadian capital Ottawa on Monday afternoon local time, supported Venezuela’s self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaidó and called on the Venezuelan military to come to his side, pravda.com.ua reported.

Detroit News: Canadian union airs Super Bowl ad despite GM lawsuit threats. Canada’s automaker union took its General Motors boycott campaign to the masses, broadcasting an ad Sunday during the Super Bowl in Canada and ignoring lawsuit threats if it went to air. Canadian union Unifor created the ad calling for a boycott of Mexican-built General Motors Co. vehicles in an effort to save the Oshawa Assembly Plant, set to close at the end of this year.  On Friday, General Motors’ lawyers wrote to demand that Unifor “cease and desist from any further communication of the advertisement.”

Guardian: Canadian music store mogul Doug Putman joins battle for HMV. A Canadian music store mogul has emerged as a leading contender to take over HMV, which is also being circled by Mike Ashley. Doug Putman, who runs the Canadian record retailer Sunrise Records and uses Fleetwood Mac albums to explain his business model, has entered the race to buy the UK music and film retailer, which collapsed into administration just after Christmas. Sunrise Records previously took over about 70 HMV store sites in Canada after the chain went bust there in early 2017 and now boasts more than 80 outlets.

Khaleej Times: Canada to welcome over 1 million new immigrants. Canada’s Parliament has announced plans to add more than one million new permanent residents in the next three years, which is nearly 1 per cent of the country’s population each year. Canada welcomed more than 286,000 permanent residents in 2017 and projects that number could reach 350,000 this year, CNN reported.

Al Watan News – Bahrain: Canada honors UNRWA students in Jordan. The Canadian Embassy through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), together with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Jordan, honored UNRWA school students who participated in the “I am a Young Female Leader” program at the Irbid Camp Middle School for Girls. The initiative, funded by CFLI and implemented by the Try Centre for Training and Education (Try Center), aims to empower young girls by promoting them to positions of leadership, in addition to increasing public awareness among parents and teachers on how to protect girls from discrimination and violence.

Ammon News – Jordan: Jordan’s investment climate is favorable: Governor of Aqaba. The Governor met with the Ambassador of Canada to Jordan, Peter MacDougall, and discussed the Jordan-Canada relations, particularly those pertaining to investments. He noted the strong and trending cooperation between the two countries, and presented the state of affairs of Aqaba’s economy, tourism, and security, touting it as favorable for investments.

Masrawy – Egypt: Canada’s foreign minister meets officials on sidelines of Davos. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, Chrystia Freeland, has concluded her participation in the World Economic Forum at Davos where she discussed Canada’s priorities, including her government’s commitment toward women facing rights violations, and focus on measures aimed at supporting the middle class. Freeland met with her counterparts of Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Jordan, as well as the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore and the European Commissioner for Trade.

Rue20 – Morocco: More than 600 Moroccan engineers leave for Canada and the US annually: Minister of Education. The Moroccan Minister of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research, said in parliament that more than 600 engineers leave Morocco annually for Canada, the US, and Europe. He added that the brain drain, enabled by a systematic policy framework, costs billions in training in Moroccan institutions. The Minister affirmed that the phenomenon is an international one, not specific to Morocco, which comes as a result of the workforce’s search for conditions that support career development and innovation, rather than financial incentives only.

Al Ittihad – United Arab Emirates: Canada confirms participation in Expo 2020 Dubai. The confirmation came on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at Davos, where the Canadian Minister of International Trade Diversification, Jim Carr, stated that Canada’s participation reflects its strong and excellent relations with the UAE, and offers the opportunity to showcase Canada’s innovation, products, and services. Carr also noted that Canada has allocated $1.1 billion in its trade diversification strategy for the next six years to help Canadian companies venture in new markets.

Al Rai – Jordan: Radiation monitoring systems installed at Aqaba Airport. The detection systems, installed by The Aqaba Airports Company in cooperation with the Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission (EMRC), were funded by a $3 million grant from the Government of Canada as part of the collaborative efforts between the Jordanian and Canadian governments on strengthening nuclear security and preventing illicit trafficking of radioactive materials. The Ambassador of Canada to Jordan, Peter MacDougall, stated that Canada and Jordan have recently signed a development agreement which shall reinforce the security of Jordan’s borders. The agreement is considered to be one of its kind with an Arab state in nuclear security.

Maan News – Palestine: Canada, United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) agree to support Palestinian Public Prosecution. The support includes the establishment of seven ‘Safe Spaces’ for children and women in seven different Public Prosecution offices across the West Bank. The facilities aim to provide a secure shelter for children, women, witnesses, and victims of violence or abuse, in an attempt to reinforce principles of privacy and preservation of human dignity for their clients. The facilities were established and furnished entirely by the UNOPS with a budget of CAD$ 405,526 – a surplus from an original budget of CAD $12 million allocated to the “Sharaka Project” which succeeded at improving operational and administrative effectiveness and sustainability of the Office of the Attorney General.

Al Watan Voice – Palestine: Arab and Islamic communities’ representatives in Canada meet high-ranking NDP officials. President of the Canadian Arab Federation, Nour El Kadri, made the opening speech and demanded Canada, through an NDP government, to implement fully the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, and recognize the State of Palestine through promoting official Palestinian representation in Canada like many Western European countries. He also demanded Canada to increase its support to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, and confirmed the necessity to deem products of settlements illegal through issuing place of origin certificates. He finally noted the necessity to support the two-state option as an ideal solution to the conflict in the Middle East. The meeting was inaugurated by the Alexandre Boulerice, M.P., Chair of the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group, and attended by Hélène Laverdière, M.P., shadow critic of foreign affairs.

Al Ahram – Egypt: Canadian investments in Egypt witness boom in recent years: Chairman of the Canada Egypt Business Council (CEBC). The Chairman said that the CEBC has put immense effort over the past seven years in boosting Canadian investments in Egypt, which only scored $400 million between 2002 and 2012. Big trade missions helped attract $1.5 billion worth of trade, followed by investment hiatus in reaction to volatility in the aftermath of the revolution. The CEBC managed to attract additional Canadian investments into Egypt after President Sisi has reached power, currently amounting to $2 billion with 90% in petroleum industries and 10% in service sector and engineering consulting.

Youm 7 – Egypt: Egypt’s Ambassador to Canada meets Conference Board of Canada’s representatives. The Ambassador met with each of the head of the Board office in Ottawa, and leader of the Middle East studies group in the Board. The Ambassador discussed the current major phase of transition that Egypt is undergoing in various economic, social, and political arenas, and Egypt’s pivotal role in several regional affairs. He discussed possible ways for cooperation between the Embassy and the Board, particularly in organizing events that aim to shed light on the developments witnessed by the Middle East and North Africa region in general, and by Egypt in specific.

 

 

 

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