It is time for Canada to stop being “naive” and see China for what it truly is—an “adversary,” says Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
“It seemed plausible that if you invest in China and help them to become more economically free and have more free enterprise, that would result in more political freedom. Well, it hasn’t turned out that way,” Ms. Smith said in an interview with the host of The Epoch Times’ American Thought Leaders Jan Jekielek.
“What we’re seeing instead is that the Chinese cheap production has hollowed out our manufacturing sector, not just in the United States, but also in Canada. And when COVID hit, we saw the vulnerabilities that were a result of that.”
According to a 2018 study by the Economic Policy Institute, between 2001 and 2017, the United States lost 3.4 million jobs as a result of China’s acceptance into the World Trade Organization in 2001. Between 2001 and 2011, Canada lost 150,000–170,000 jobs due to increased Chinese imports, according to a 2017 report by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
Meanwhile, Canada’s recent foreign interference inquiry report has found that China has been actively interfering in this country.
“I think we now have to make sure that we understand what an adversary China is, and make sure that we’re not playing into our own demise,” Ms. Smith said in the interview.
“That’s a strong message that I think the Americans have been advancing. I think our former prime minister, Stephen Harper, understood that as well. But I think it’s become very, very clear in recent times that that is absolutely the case.”
The trading partner Canada needs to focus on is the United States, not China, Ms. Smith said.
While America is far and away Canada’s largest trading partner, taking in 78 percent of all Canadian exports in 2023 and shipping 50 percent of Canada’s imports, China is in second place, accounting for 12 percent of Canada’s total imports, while only taking in 4 percent of Canada’s exports.
By Jennifer Cowan and Jan Jekielek
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