Deutsche Welle: Justin Trudeau scandal prompts further minister to quit. Treasury Board President Jane Philpott quit Canada’s Cabinet on Monday. She’s the third high-profile figure to leave her post over what’s becoming an escalating political crisis. In a resignation letter addressed to the prime minister, Philpott said she was seriously concerned by efforts by politicians and officials to pressure former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to intervene in a criminal case against Canadian engineering giant SNC-Lavalin and could no longer defend the government.
Reuters: Second Canadian cabinet minister resigns over SNC-Lavalin scandal. Canada’s President of the Treasury Board resigned from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet on Monday, the second minister to leave in the wake of a political scandal that has roiled Trudeau’s tenure months before an October election. Jane Philpott’s resignation follows the departure of former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, who testified last week that government officials inappropriately pressured her to help construction firm SNC-Lavalin avoid a corruption trial.
The Washington Post: The SNC-Lavalin scandal demonstrates Quebec’s outsize influence on Canadian politics. Near as I can tell, Justin Trudeau’s reelection pitch goes something like this: I will obstruct justice to protect crooked Quebec corporate interests, but at least the attorney general I fire along the way will be a woman of color. The prime minister has charmed the world as a different sort of leader ruling a different sort of country. The “Lavscam” scandal reminds us that he is actually an ordinary politician running an old-fashioned government captive to deeply conventional special interests. By J.J. McCullough.
BBC: Ex-senior aide Gerald Butts defends Trudeau amid political crisis. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau did not inappropriately pressure a former justice minister to grant a legal favour to a firm facing a criminal trial, a former senior aide has said. Gerald Butts said the prime minister simply wanted Jody Wilson-Raybould to seek outside legal advice on a matter that placed jobs at risk. She claims there were attempts at political meddling in matter. The controversy has become a major political crisis for Mr Trudeau.
Sputnik News: Analyst: Trudeau’s office potentially damaged brand of Liberal party. Sputnik discussed the SNC-Lavalin scandal with Tim Powers, Conservative strategist and vice-chair of Summa Strategies, a leading Canadian public affairs consulting firm, and the Managing Director of Abacus Data, an opinion research company, both headquartered in Ottawa. Read the interview here.
CNN: China reveals case against two Canadians detained in wake of Huawei arrest. The case against the two Canadians detained in the wake of the controversial arrest of a Huawei executive was revealed by China’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission on Monday. In a statement, former diplomat Michael Kovrig was accused of spying by the Chinese government, including gathering and stealing “sensitive information and other intelligence” since 2017. Businessman Michael Spavor is accused of providing intelligence to Kovrig and is described as an “important contact” for the former diplomat.
Bloomberg: Telus warns of potential cost fallout if Canada bans Huawei. Telus Corp. came out in defense of Huawei Technologies Co., saying the Chinese equipment maker has been good for Canada and that a ban on its 5G wireless network could potentially add to costs and delay its rollout. The Vancouver-based telecom provider, the biggest user of Huawei equipment among Canadian carriers, said a 5G ban without compensation or other accommodations could lead to a “material” increase in the cost of Telus’s 5G deployment.
The Washington Post: Next hearing in Huawei executive’s extradition case set for May 8. Chinese technology executive Meng Wanzhou appeared in a Vancouver courtroom Wednesday for the first hearing in an extradition process that will put Canada squarely in the middle of a standoff between the United States and China. Wednesday’s proceedings were short and focused primarily on scheduling. The hearing that will determine whether Meng, the chief financial officer for Huawei Technologies, will be extradited to the United States to face charges related to alleged violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran will start May 8, the court ruled. But Meng’s lawyer, Richard Peck, hinted at her defense team’s strategy, saying comments by President Trump show her case is politically motivated.
South China Morning Post: Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case will go ahead, Canada says after ‘thorough review of evidence’. Canada said on Friday it would launch proceedings to extradite a top executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei to the United States – setting the stage for a lengthy diplomatic dust-up among the three countries and threatening to throw a wrench into US-China trade talks. The Justice Department has accused Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, of violating US sanctions against Iran by deliberately misleading banks about the company’s business dealings there. Meng is the daughter of Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei.
Channel News Asia: China says Canadian stole secrets; Huawei to sue US. China’s government and its leading smartphone maker, Huawei Technologies Ltd, stepped up pressure on Monday on the U.S. and Canadian governments in a dispute over trade and telecoms technology that has ensnared Huawei’s CFO, who faces U.S. criminal charges. China on Monday accused detained Canadian citizen Michael Kovrig of stealing state secrets passed on to him from another detained Canadian, businessman Michael Spavor, in a move likely to increase tension between Ottawa and Beijing. The telecom gear maker is also preparing a lawsuit against the U.S. government over a law that restricts its market access.
France 24: Huawei steps up legal action against US, Canada. Huawei is stepping up its legal offensive against both the US and Canada. The Chinese tech giant is fighting back against the ongoing detention of its CFO, and the efforts to ban its products.
Deutsche Welle: Huawei CFO suing Canada and border agency over arrest. Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou is suing the Canadian government, the border agency and the federal police over her arrest, her lawyers said on Sunday. In a civil lawsuit filed in the British Columbia Supreme Court, Meng’s lawyers alleged that her constitutional rights were violated when she was detained, searched and interrogated for three hours. Meng’s lawyers argue that Canadian authorities interrogated her “under the guise of a routine customs” check and that they seized and searched her electronic devices after obtaining her passwords. The suit alleges that she was only told that she was arrested after she was questioned.
National News Agency – Lebanon: Canadian ambassador visits Morning Star Cooperative in Mhaydthe. Ambassador Emmanuelle Lamoureux, accompanied by a delegation from the embassy, visited the town in Rashaya district and was received by the Director of Fair Trade Lebanon and the town’s Mayor, Council members, and Municipal Director. The Municipal Director expressed his great appreciation of the Ambassador’s visit which reflects her care to promote the town’s natural, pollution-free foods products that are compliant with global health standards. He also lauded the Ambassador’s efforts in supporting women in towns and the countryside, as well as in developing and improving cooperative work.
Al Rai Media – Kuwait: Canada’s embassy in Kuwait hosts forum for business women. The Kuwaiti Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development noted in the forum that the Council supports a gender study research center in Kuwait University, an award of excellence for women launched by the Emir of Kuwait, several programs for women’s political and economic empowerment, and working towards raising women’s employment in government sector from 12% to more than a third, as well as pushing the private sector to appoint women in boards of directors and decision making positions. The Ambassador of Canada, Louis-Pierre Emond, stated on the margin of the forum that gender equality and women and girls empowerment are core priorities to Canada internally and globally. He also noted that, despite being on the job in Kuwait for only five months, he nevertheless noticed the great interest in women’s rights and the wide reach of Kuwaiti women to high-ranking positions of leadership.
Al-Masry Al-Youm – Egypt: Ambassador to Canada discusses cooperation with house of commons. The Ambassador of Egypt to Canada has met with Omar Alghabra MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and discussed the many initiatives that aim to promote economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries. The Ambassador had recently met with the Vice-Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development in the Canadian House of Commons, Erin O’Toole, who expressed desire for more cooperation and coordination on several files over the next period. The Ambassador has also met last week with the Canadian Minister of International Development, Marie-Claude Bibeau, on the margin of a round table discussion on women and girls in humanitarian emergency situations.
Hespress – Morocco: Morocco-Canada initiative opens doors for employment of youth in Quebec. The Moroccan Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Canada, in coordination with the Consulate General of Morocco in Montreal and Desjardin financial institution, has put an initiative that aims to provide work opportunities for qualified, Canada or Quebec graduates, or new arrival Moroccans in banking and finance. President of the Chamber, Abderrahim Khouibaba, said that the initiative enables the youth to work in a leading financial institution that soon will open an office in Africa. The Vice President of the Chamber, Faissel Lazaar, said that representatives of the institution and Canadian business people will be visiting Morocco from 9 to 15 March to conduct meetings in Marrakech, Casablanca and Rabat, which will be later followed by a Moroccan business delegation visit to Canada to seek investment opportunities.
