More from the budding PRC

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Welcome to the Peoples’ Republic of China on Canadian soil

by Judi McLeod & Brian Thompson, Canadafreepress.com

Is China’s ownership interest in Alberta oil sands being financed with Canadian tax dollars?

Officials with Sinopec Corp.-- a company majority owned by the Chinese government has already been in Alberta for their own look-see--an actual tour of the oil sands.

A second Chinese state-owned company, Minmetals Corp. is working on a bid to acquire Toronto-based mine company Noranda Inc.--a deal worth more than $7 billion.

When the fix is in, the Canadian Liberal Government will have managed to sell off our nation’s coveted natural resources–allowing China to buy them with our own money!

This story begins and ends with The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), which provides more development assistance to China than to any other country in the world. That information gem comes from the Canadian Embassy in Beijing.

CIDA’s disbursements for the bilateral program (the core of Canada’s development in China) amounted to $65.45 million in 2002.

Megamillion Canadian economic expenditures in China extend to projects conducted by Canadian non-profit and private sector groups, as well as by the International Development Research Centre. Canada also contributes big time to the work of multilateral agencies in China, such as the United Nations Development Program, UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

Overtaxed Canadian citizens ruled by a Liberal government that claims budget surplus, and still no tax breaks in sight, are paying plenty to Communist China.

Examples of current Canadian-sponsored development projects in the Orient include:

# The Canada China Cooperation Project in Cleaner Production ($10.5 million from 1996 to 2003);

# Sustainable Agriculture Development in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region ($3.5 million, from 2000 to 2005);

# The Public Policy Options Program Phases 1 & 11($10.5 million from 1996 to 2004);

# The China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development Phase 11 & 111 ($14.9 million from 1997 to 2007).

A $10 million joint project between CIDA and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has recently successfully completed stage one testing in China. The project was led in part by the Alberta Research Council.

And that’s just a snapshot of the kind of Canadian tax dollars being poured into China.

CIDA began building relationships with the Chinese government in 1981, with a general cooperation agreement being signed in 1983.

In partnership with federal government departments and Canadian organizations, many of CIDA’s development cooperation projects focus on human rights, good governance and democratic development. They include initiatives on the training of judges, criminal law reform, women’s rights, legal aid and the development of civil society with gender equity as an important underlying theme.

Continued