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2·2 days agoAhead of a trip to China in March, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne was asked about potential concerns that Chinese EVs could be made using forced labour. Champagne pointed to the CORE as an example of Canada taking the issue of forced labour seriously.
This is somewhat on topic:
A German regional court has ruled that Google is directly liable for false claims in its AI-generated search overviews – (Archived link)
The Regional Court of Munich hit Google with a temporary injunction barring the company from spreading false claims about two Munich-based publishers through its AI-generated search overviews (case no. 26 O 869/26). The court classified Google as a direct infringer because the “AI overview” is its own content, not just a list of search results.
The fund will seek to scale up and attract additional donors once operational.
It’s not the end of the story, and as you say, it’s a a step in the right direction at least. And it’s much better than what the US does, or what Russia and China do in their hemispheres.
I feel it’s not enough, though, Canada and the rest of the democratic world should do much more to support Ukraine …
Probably (at least that’s what I hope), but the case studies give clear guidance how this could be done. It’s very useful imho.
Sounds like you are still consumed by the propaganda machine.
21·6 days agoWell said. There’s a misconception that China gets better because the US gets worse, and that’s not true. China is still much worse than the US I would say.
Yes, but it is not ‘only’ some ‘government tech worker’ but anyone who exploits the vulnerability. I wrote that already in another thread: In 2024, U.S. officials urged U.S. citizens to use encrypted apps after China hacked into the U.S. ISP’s wiretap systems.
As the alert reads,
… we have identified that [China-]affiliated actors have compromised networks at multiple telecommunications companies to enable the theft of customer call records data, the compromise of private communications of a limited number of individuals who are primarily involved in government or political activity, and the copying of certain information that was subject to U.S. law enforcement requests pursuant to court orders. We expect our understanding of these compromises to grow as the investigation continues …
This opens up the road for a lot of malign actors, at home and from abroad.
Xi Jinping rejects social welfare as, according to him, China could “fall into the trap of supporting lazy people."
Seems the Republicans and the Chinese Communist Party are much closer than they admit.
These reflect the labour relations in Brazil and in Hungary, and the fact that they are in these countries will mean that the labour relationship they build there will reflect what the local laws will dictate.
Brazil and Hungary (after Orban lost the election) closed down the factories. China uses integrated supply chains across all industries (meaning they bring their own Chinese migrant workers), not just in the EV sector, and the Chinese Communist Party has been heavily lobbying against supply chain transparency. Why?
Forced labour must be eliminated everywhere. It doesn’t make sense to justify EV imports from China with alleged forced labour in Canada. It must be eliminated. Blocking imports of goods made by slavery is, of course, absolutely necessary.
Republicans have rejected social welfare frequently as, according to them, it’s socialism.
Xi Jinping rejects social welfare as, according to him, China could “fall into the trap of supporting lazy people."
Edit: Seems the Republicans and the Chinese Communist Party are much closer than they admit.
“We don’t want any element of forced labour coming in goods and services, and we want to use our influence to eliminate this practice of forced labour and child labour.”
It would be very interesting to hear how the PM justifies his China EV deal then …
Just in case you missed it: Petition to the House of Commons regarding C-22
This is not only as dangerous as the US Cloud Act. There is a similar law in China that represents the same threat. Adversaries like China and Russia are waiting for this.
As the alert reads,
… we have identified that [China-]affiliated actors have compromised networks at multiple telecommunications companies to enable the theft of customer call records data, the compromise of private communications of a limited number of individuals who are primarily involved in government or political activity, and the copying of certain information that was subject to U.S. law enforcement requests pursuant to court orders. We expect our understanding of these compromises to grow as the investigation continues …
It exposes Canadians to a high risks of surveillance by malign actors, and the threat doesn’t come ‘only’ from the South.
[Bisson] said he fears many Canadians are not fully aware of the potential dangers … “There’s been a bit of an underlying lack of talking about the issues surrounding this technology and how it could be used against Canadian interests,” he said.
China isn’t held to a different standard. Labour rights are much weaker in China than in Western democracies (Xi Jinping has been rejected social welfare frequently as, according to him, it makes people 'lazy), coercive practices are more widespread (the 996 working culture in China is well-known), and particularly supply chain transparency in China is non-existent.
Just look what Chinese carmaker BYD has done in its factories in Brazil and in Hungary.
Forced labour is bad everywhere if it happens, but your argument amounts to whataboutism.
the straw man argument that Chinese EVs come from slave labour
There is ample evidence for forced labour in China, and this includes not just BYD and other Chinese automakers but foreign brands, too.
tell me more on why China is the problem here.
Just read the report, it makes a good and very informative read.
Canada’s central bank (as much as Germany’s and all the others’) would have a seat on the table at the European Central Bank. Canada would be part of the decision making process as all others. If you have partners that play by the rule of law (and I guess we can agree that European states are among these partners), it is a win for everyone imo.
Researchers at the University of Guelph published an article on Canada’s current food system if someone is interested. Their proposals are in large parts in line with the government’s plans, but they provide additional background.