John Clearwater, a co-owner of Visa Services Canada, said he was surprised to receive a phone call on Tuesday from an official in Global Affairs Canada’s China bureau. “She wanted us to change our website to soft pedal the warning,” Clearwater said. “She said it was too alarmist and (the government) is trying to calm down the situation.”
Clearwater pointed out to the Global Affairs Canada official that he runs a private company and is under no obligation to change his warning. “I wouldn’t let a family member go right now to China,” said Clearwater, who visited the country several months ago. “Why risk it?”
But a federal government official speaking on background confirmed to Postmedia that a department bureaucrat did phone the company but only to provide “advice” on the government’s current travel warning wording being used for China. The official could not comment on why Global Affairs Canada would contact a private firm that has nothing to do with the federal government.
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