Scheer wants explanation

CABINET MINISTER MUST EXPLAIN HIS TWO CHINESE MORTGAGES, SAYS TORY LEADER

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer called Friday for Foreign Affairs Minister FrancoisPhilippe Champagne to explain how his two mortgages with a Chinese state bank don’t compromise his ability to handle Canada’s tense relations with the People’s Republic.

Those mortgages on two properties in Britain he bought before entering politics were fully disclosed when Champagne was elected in 2015 and have no bearing on his ability to do his job, the minister’s spokesman responded.

In a morning news conference, Scheer said Champagne is Canada’s top diplomat and China’s communist leaders can use the $1.2 million he owes on two London properties to the Bank of China as leverage at a time of strained relations.

“Owing someone over a million dollars — that’s pretty big leverage,” he said.

Champagne’s spokesman Adam Austen said the minister disclosed the two mortgages to the ethics commissioner when he entered politics in 2015 and they were part of the public record.

“When he entered politics, the two mortgages with Bank of China (UK) Ltd. along with all his other liabilities and assets have been fully disclosed to the ethics commissioner and have been placed in the online registry,” Austen said Friday.

“Neither of these mortgages or any of his other liabilities have ever had any bearing on his function as a public office holder.”

The mortgages became a subject of controversy following a report in the Globe and Mail newspaper this week.

On Friday, Scheer pointed to the ongoing dispute that has seen two Canadian men arbitrarily detained by China since December 2018 and the fact Canada is dependent on Chinese supplies of personal protective equipment for COVID-19.

Relations between Canada and China have been severely strained since the RCMP arrested Chinese high-tech scion Meng Wanzhou on an American extradition warrant in December 2018.

China arrested Michael

Kovrig and Michael Spavor nine days later in what is widely viewed as retaliation and has levelled accusations of spying against them.