by Harvey Oberfeld
June 16, 2025
India isn’t even a member of the G-7 …. but Prime Minister Narinder Modi was personally invited to attend by Prime Minister Mark Carney.
That invite came even though the Canadian government has accused Modi’s government of violating Canada’s sovereignty and assassinating Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, BC in June, 2023.
Canada had also been highly critical of India’s brutal handling of farmers’ protests in 2020; Modi himself has been widely condemned for his government’s attacks on the free press.
“With each successive term, Modi’s administration has faced criticism for tightening control over the media and curbing dissenting voices, with instances of journalists and activists facing harassment, intimidation, and even legal action for criticizing the government or expressing views contrary to the official narrative,” according to the Index on Censorship.
“In 2023, both countries expelled members of each other’s diplomatic staff and advised their citizens against traveling to the other; Canada closed three consulates in India. In October 2024, Canada expelled Sanjay Kumar Verma, the Indian High Commissioner to Canada, along with five other diplomats. India retaliated with six expulsions of its own,” Wikipedia has noted.
Things did not get better.
“Canadian police accused the Indian diplomats of working with a criminal network led by a notorious imprisoned gangster to target Sikh dissidents in the country. India has rejected the allegations as “ludicrous”, The Guardian reported last October.
The Canadian government stood up for our principles!
Until it realized India will soon become the world’s fourth largest economic power.
“IMF data, however, projects India’s economy to reach $4.187 trillion in 2025, marginally surpassing Japan’s $4.186 trillion,” revealed CNBC in May.
Behind only the US, China and Germany.
So …. “Welcome to Kananaskis, Mr. Modi!!!”
China kidnapped and imprisoned two Canadian businessmen in deplorable prison conditions. for almost three years; China has been found to have repeatedly carried out espionage in Canada; China has targeted and interfered in Canadian elections at every level; and, China has a human rights record that Canadian politicians have lined up in front of the cameras to condemn publicly.
But apparently, to hell with the Uighurs, all the imprisoned journalists, the jailed students, the build up of China’s huge military and mega navy, the building of islands and attempted seizure of parts of the East China Sea, the threats to Taiwan, the punishing bans/tariffs on Canadian goods, including a “100% tariff on Canadian canola oil, canola meal, and peas, as well as a 25% tariff on certain pork, fish, and seafood products.”
BC Ferries has selected China Merchants Industry (CMI) Weihai — a Chinese state-owned shipyard — to build four new hybrid-electric passenger ferries.
“Back in 2021, the NDP government unveiled a “Made-in-B.C.” shipbuilding strategy with great fanfare. They formed a Shipbuilding Advisory Committee, posed for cameras, and promised to rebuild a long-neglected industry. It was supposed to be a turning point, a real investment in local jobs and industrial capacity,” The Georgia Straight reported Saturday.
“Now, many of those same politicians have turned their backs on everything they claimed to support. Not only did they ship the contracts overseas, but, according to Eric McNeely, president of the BC Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union, they didn’t even give B.C. shipyards a fair shot. The procurement process was so rushed and restrictive that no local yard could realistically compete. They didn’t lose the bid—they were boxed out.” (You can read the full story here: https://www.straight.com/city-culture/they-promised-shipbuilding-in-bc-then-gave-contract-to-china#.)
Previous BC Ferries have been built in Poland, Germany and Romania … all European allies of Canada, NATO members … and countries with which Canada has said it wants to expand economic ties.
The state-owned Chinese shipyard chosen by BC Ferries builds Chinese military naval vessels … so BC (and Canadian) taxpayers will be funding/subsidizing the construction of warships for President Xi Jinping that could be used to attack Taiwan … and even, one day, British Columbia!
BC’s NDP politicians defend their hypocrisy, saying BC Ferries are a totally independent corporation.
Hogwash!
The BC government owns ALL of BC Ferrie’s “preferred” shares; the Ferries board is stacked with NDP-connected members, appointed by the NDP government; and you can bet your Ferries reservation that when the new vessels are delivered, BC politicians (including the Premier) will be front and center on camera at the christening of the ships, cutting the ribbons across the loading ramps and welcoming the first travellers on board.
So much for principles!
British Columbia and Canada are not Third World nations. We do not need to kow-tow to unprincipled, autocratic, human-relations-busting dictators and autocratic regimes.
But apparently, Xi and Modi know our politicians better than we do … how money talks, and how easily our politicians’ lip service to principles can be bought off.
Actually we are a third world nation right now.