The Power behind Mélanie Joly's bow to Beijing: Analysis
In April 2018 Joly led a trade junket to China organized by a shadowy People's Liberation Army entity with deep ties to Liberal Party elites
Canada’s foreign minister Mélanie Joly drew heated criticism for her surprise visit to China recently, especially after a stunning damage-control interview in which the Montreal Liberal MP shared that Ottawa doesn’t really have concerns with Beijing’s conduct but “it’s more Canadian perceptions toward China, which are negative right now. And it’s important for China to understand that.”
However, a close analysis of players involved in Joly’s precursor under-the-radar junket to China in 2018, and a similar trip two decades ago by her mentor Prime Minister Jean Chretien, suggests Joly’s comments should come as no surprise.
Indeed, for Canadian analysts knowledgeable on the nation’s ongoing Chinese-interference scandal and the underlying, decades-old business and geopolitical relationships between elites in Montreal and Beijing, Joly’s remarks make perfect sense, and echo statements from her party seniors including Chretien and former ambassadors including John McCallum and Dominic Barton.
To start with, online records from a People’s Liberation Army entity called China Cultural Industry Association show that in 2018, Joly led a delegation to China.
Chinese and Canadian businesses met to “promote the deepening cooperation between Canada and China in the fields of international trade,” CCIA’s website says.
This April 2018 meeting was arranged by a notorious Chinese tycoon named Bin Zhang and the CCIA, the website says.
CCIA and its nominal head, Bin Zhang, are central to the scandal of a massive donation to Pierre and Justin Trudeau’s family foundation in 2016, reportedly part of an effort by Beijing to financially influence Prime Minister Trudeau.
Regarding the meeting between CCIA members and Joly, CCIA’s website says “in April 2018, Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage, led a creative industry and trade delegation of more than 30 companies to visit China. The purpose was to promote China-Canada cultural trade and investment cooperation and strengthen cooperation in practical projects between the two countries by establishing closer ties.”
The Canadian companies traveling with Joly are not named, but CCIA’s website says Joly’s delegation and its “business matching session … [was] jointly hosted by the China Cultural Industry Association and the Canada-China Business Council.”
Canada-China Business Council’s founding members include Montreal’s Power Corporation and Beijing’s CITIC, the council’s website says.
Former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien — one of Joly’s sponsors — worked for Power Corp. before becoming Liberal leader and married into the Montreal Desmarais family behind the sprawling empire, valued around $48-billion U.S. according to the Wall Street Journal.
Pierre Trudeau has also worked with Power Corp., along with a number of elite Liberal Party members.