BC Liberals sold our province to China and pocketed the proceeds

By Joyce Yip

When we scrutinize BC Liberals’ deals with Beijing, one thing becomes chillingly clear: Christy Clark and co. have sold our province to China. The only people profiting this firesale are the BC Liberals and their cronies.

The litany of treason is long, but let me present you with just five blood-boiling examples.

1. HD Mining scandal

BC Liberal government pushed the federal government on a daily basis to “expedite” work permits for 200 miners to come to China-based HD Mining’s coal mine in northern British Columbia[1]http://bcfed.ca/news/releases/bc-liberal-government-pushed-expedited-hd-mining-temporary-foreign-work-permits-0.

Christy Clark’s assault on Canadian workers didn’t stop there. Her government approved a plan that would allow HD mining to hire Chinese temporary workers exclusively for 4½ years[2]http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-mine-to-hire-only-chinese-temporary-workers-for-years-1.1144647.

Unsurprisingly HD Mining is a BC Liberal donor[3]http://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-australias-foreign-political-donations-storm-cautionary-for-b-c.

Just to make sure they get their way, HD Mining hired Blair Lekstrom, the former energy and mines minister in the BC Liberal government[4]http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/25/blair-lekstrom-hired-hd-mining-bc_n_3991939.html.

2. LNG foreign worker agreement with China

Christy Clark promised a trillion-dollar LNG industry with 100,000 jobs. What she forget to mention was that many of those jobs would be going to temporary foreign workers from China, with the BC Liberal government signing a deal with China allowing temporary foreign workers into Canada to work in the LNG industry[5]http://www.vancouversun.com/China+agree+allow+foreign+workers+help+build+industry/10063770/story.html.

3. Bringing Realtors on “Trade Missions” to China

When Christy Clark went on a “trade mission” to China, she brought along executives from Vancouver’s real estate industry[6]https://www.biv.com/article/2016/5/christy-clark-downplays-real-estate-ties-her-lates/.

While vehemently denying that she was promoting BC real estate after the press broke the story, Premier Clark never explained why Nu Stream Realty’s commercial division president Mercedes Wong and Sutton WestCoast Realty’s real estate team leader Tennyson Wong were part of her entourage.

4. Selling retirement homes to conglomerate linked to Chinese state

BC Liberal government approved the sale of the largest provider of retirement homes to Chinese conglomerate Anbang Insurance, who are under investigation in the US for ties to the Chinese state[7]http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-grants-final-approval-in-sale-of-retirement-homes-to-chinese-conglomerate/article34181624/.

Health advocates are crying foul.

“It’s not just money and business,” Adam Lynes-Ford of the BC Health Coalition said. “It’s about inherent values in the way we provide care, it’s about taking care of the elders of our society, and providing the best possible care for their well-being – not profit. Handing that over to a multinational of which we know very little, with the province unconcerned about learning their ownership and their intentions, raises serious questions.”

5. Sending federal infrastructure dollars to China

What would Christy Clark do when she gets $616 million from the federal government to improve your provinces public transit infrastructure and create jobs in the process?

She would naturally send the money and the jobs to China[8]http://globalnews.ca/news/2770397/future-b-c-transit-buses-to-be-made-in-china/

Never mind the fact that we have great Canadian bus manufacturers like New Flyer or Nova Bus. And Premier Clark defended the decisions saying it’s all about doing what’s best for taxpayers. BC Liberal logic dictates that siphoning off our tax money out of our economy and funnelling it to China is going to help the taxpayers.

References   [ + ]

1. http://bcfed.ca/news/releases/bc-liberal-government-pushed-expedited-hd-mining-temporary-foreign-work-permits-0
2. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-mine-to-hire-only-chinese-temporary-workers-for-years-1.1144647
3. http://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-australias-foreign-political-donations-storm-cautionary-for-b-c
4. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/25/blair-lekstrom-hired-hd-mining-bc_n_3991939.html
5. http://www.vancouversun.com/China+agree+allow+foreign+workers+help+build+industry/10063770/story.html
6. https://www.biv.com/article/2016/5/christy-clark-downplays-real-estate-ties-her-lates/
7. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-grants-final-approval-in-sale-of-retirement-homes-to-chinese-conglomerate/article34181624/
8. http://globalnews.ca/news/2770397/future-b-c-transit-buses-to-be-made-in-china/