LIBERALS' DIRTY PLOY THAT FAILED SPECTACULARLY

   Who then to send to Beijing after the kidnapping of the two Michaels? Sometimes the best way to do business with a gangster is to enlist intermediaries who have done business with the gangster before. Why wouldn’t the same hold true with a gangster regime?
   That was the consensus diplomatic thinking in Ottawa throughout 2019. Former prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Brian Mulroney (who later recanted) advocated sending the powerful Desmarais family to Beijing.
   For decades, the Desmarais family has lobbied for a business-friendly approach to China through the Canada China Business Council (CCBC), which they created in 1978 to bend Canadian foreign policy toward a position that favoured the family and fellow businesses with interests in the People’s Republic.

    Dominic Barton is from that set. Indeed, the controversial speech he gave advocating for increased business ties with China, even while the two Michaels were being sleep-deprived in harsh confinement, was delivered to the CCBC.