While George W. Bush was dedicating his new term yesterday to "ending tyranny in our world," Paul Martin was defending the Communist police state of China's sorry record of human rights infractions.

And that's the blunt difference between the American president as he enters his second four-year term and Canada's Liberal prime minister as he shakily clings to power.

[. . . . ] So why is Martin so gutlessly quiet about China's crimes?

[. . . . ] So, while President Bush is out to spread freedom and democracy in the world, Martin is out to boost trade and pick up some votes.

And to hell with this human rights stuff.

European-based BNP Paribas bank
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's own son
Swiss firm
European-based BNP Paribas bank
French bank
Power Corporation
familial relationship
Middle East, in China
Pargesa Holding
Canadian Desmarais family
TotalFina Elf
Andre Desmarais
former Prime Minister Jean Chretien
Current Canadian PM Paul Martin
Maurice Strong
Sudanese regime

Earlier this week, we criticized the federal government's indefensible reluctance to place the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- better known as the Tamil Tigers -- on its list of prohibited terrorist groups. As we noted, the group has cast Sri Lanka into a lengthy civil war that has killed 60,000 people, many by suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks. Since much of the Tigers' funding comes from Tamils living in Canada, the move to outlaw the LTTE would be more than mere symbolism: It would save lives.

So when federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler met with this editorial board on Wednesday, the topic was at the top of our agenda. Our meeting began in promising fashion: Mr. Cotler spoke in high-flown terms about a "principled" approach to fighting terrorism, explaining the importance of "stat[ing] clearly, unequivocally that terrorism constitutes an assault on the security of a democracy and on the fundamental rights of its inhabitants."

[. . . . ] But the Justice Minister has been forced to accommodate the crass reality of electoral politics -- in particular, the Liberals' need to pander to ethnic constituencies, even when the values espoused by their most militant leaders clash head-on with hallowed Canadian "principles."

Mr. Cotler must do all in his power to convince his colleagues that this is one instance in which there are bigger issues at play than a few ethnic votes. If they don't agree, perhaps he should rethink whether this is a Cabinet he belongs in.

"At our meeting with Prime Minister Paul Martin, we together explored new areas for China/Canada co-operation in this new century, particularly in such areas as energy and mining," Mr. Wen told the business delegation, which will unveil hundreds of millions of dollars worth of contracts today.

[. . . . ] Emerson said natural resources are a "part of the Canadian trust, and we need to think about those things over time. That's less to do with the Investment Canada Act and more to do with thinking through some of the big strategic issues about Canada's natural resources in a world where we could be into a sustained period of shortage, and that could be one of Canada's strongest assets in terms of giving ourselves more clout in the international community."

He said the current law has teeth when it comes to takeovers by private sector companies, but is "softer" when it comes to state-owned companies looking to buy controlling interests in resource firms.

[. . . . FIRA] was replaced by Investment Canada in 1984 with a revised mandate to promote foreign investment with the notable exception of the cultural sector.

Martin told reporters later that "we do have the Canada Investment Act, which allows us to sit down with anybody who sought to acquire a major Canadian company or even a medium-sized company in order to ensure that whatever was going to be done was done to the benefit of Canadians, and that would be the case." [. . . . ]

BEIJING - Prime Minister Paul Martin praised China for making "considerable progress" in improving human rights yesterday, even as Chinese authorities threatened to arrest a Canadian TV crew for filming the home of the late communist party boss Zhao Ziyang, who was fired for opposing the Tiananmen Square massacre.

While Mr. Martin was meeting Chinese Premier Wen Jiaboa to promote closer economic ties, a TV pool crew travelling with the Prime Minister's tour was stopped at Mr. Zhao's home in downtown Beijing. Mr. Zhao died on Monday.

China has imposed a news blackout and posted additional soldiers and security forces in the city to restrict political dissidents who might use Mr. Zhao's death to revive the pro-democracy movement.

"We were interrogated for 20 minutes. They asked us a lot of questions, including how we found out where Zhao lived," producer Peter Harris said. "We got off easy because we had badges showing we were with the Prime Minister's trip." [. . . . ]

BEIJING—In a week in which Chinese authorities denied visas to two Chinese-Canadian journalists, banned mourning for a former leader sympathetic to Tiananmen Square protesters and harassed a Canadian television crew, Prime Minister Paul Martin said China has made "considerable progress" on human rights.

Martin said he had "candid" talks with China's top leaders about the need for human rights reform that would have been impossible 10 years ago.

He said he even sat next to an "opposition member" of the People's Congress during an official dinner. Plus, Ottawa's ambassador formally complained about the handling of 10 cases of concern to international rights groups, Martin said. [. . . . ]

Conservative MP Jason Kenney. Kenney, one of eight MPs on the trip, said Canada should speak out on such policies in China as forced labour camps, forced abortions and sterilizations in rural areas and suppression of religious groups.

Even as Martin and Wen shook hands over the signing of 10 agreements to increase economic and cultural cooperation, a Canadian television crew filming outside Zhao's house was ordered to stop and leave.

Zhao [Zhao Ziyang, the former reform-minded Communist party leader] had lived under house arrest for 15 years, ever since he tearfully tried to warn the 1989 Tiananmen Square protesters of their impending fate. The peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations were crushed on June 4, 1989, and hundreds, if not thousands, were killed. Asked about the blackout on Zhao's death, Martin said how a government handles such things is "a matter of its own dictate."

"China Putian will own 51 percent of the joint venture; Nortel, the remaining 49 percent." -- wireless

BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 20, 2005--China Putian Corporation and Nortel (NYSE:NT - News; TSX:NT - News) today signed a Joint Venture Framework Agreement (JVFA) to establish a joint venture for research and development (R&D), manufacture and sale of third generation (3G) mobile telecommunications equipment and products to customers in China. China's Premier Wen Jiabao and Canada's Prime Minister Paul Martin, currently on an official visit to China, witnessed the signing ceremony.

Under the JVFA, China Putian and Nortel agree to prepare and negotiate with each other on a definitive joint venture agreement by June 30, 2005.

When established, the new company - named Putian-Nortel Networks Telecommunications Equipment Co., Ltd. - will likely be headquartered in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, and will focus on TD-SCDMA (Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) and WCDMA (Wideband CDMA) products and solutions, as well as related network engineering and optimization services. China Putian will own 51 percent of the joint venture; Nortel, the remaining 49 percent.

[. . . . ] About China Putian

A State-owned enterprise directly under the State Capital Supervision Management Committee of the State Council, China Putian is one of the largest telecommunication equipment manufacturers in China

BEIJING (CP) - Prime Minister Paul Martin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao did some mutual economic back-scratching Thursday after a meeting at the Great Hall of the People.

But the subject of China's human rights record was never mentioned in several public statements by the two leaders as the focus appeared to tilt heavily toward trade.

"Throughout most of our lives, we have talked about the day that would come in the far future when China would begin to realize its economic potential and when China would become a global power," Martin said in an address to more than 300 Canadian entrepreneurs visiting as part of a separate trade mission. [. . . . ]

China and Canada had more than $23 billion Cdn in bilateral trade in 2003, which is expected to have grown by another 30 per cent when the final figures come in for 2004. Canadian exports to China at the end of 2003 stood at $4.7 billion.

[. . . . ] On a trade mission to China yesterday, Mr. Peterson made it clear that he disagrees strongly with the U.S. and Canadian lobbyists who have blamed China and India for the massive job losses in North America's manufacturing sector in recent years.

[. . . . ] In an interview later, Mr. Peterson defended Canadian companies that outsource their production to cheap Chinese suppliers. [If this is Canada's International Trade Minister, we wouldn't want him to be pushing trade for Canadians, would we? "Business partnerships" is the buzz word. He should be working for China.]

"Our companies have to be plugged into the best value chains globally. If they're not globally competitive, they will not be around very long. They'll soon be out of business. We will lose jobs the moment we become second-rate producers."

With 376 business executives from 281 Canadian companies accompanying him to Shanghai and Beijing this week, Mr. Peterson's mission is the biggest to date led by a Canadian trade minister (although it is not as large as the "Team Canada" missions led by former prime minister Jean Chrétien in the 1990s with provincial premiers involved). [. . . . ]

[. . . . ] He also vowed that Canada would not bow to economic pressure from China on the case of alleged smuggling kingpin Lai Changxing, the most wanted fugitive in China, who fled to Canada in 1999 when he was accused of evading customs duties on billions of dollars of smuggled goods.

China has delayed a tourism agreement with Canada for the past five years because of the Lai case, according to sources. But Mr. Peterson said the federal government will not interfere in Mr. Lai's effort to use the Canadian courts to block his deportation to China.

Nain, Nfld. — Federal and provincial politicians were to travel to northern Labrador on Friday to sign a final agreement with the Inuit to create Nunatsiavut, a vast area of self-government that was 30 years in the making.
The ceremony in Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador's most northerly community, will clear the way for the federal government to ratify the deal and introduce legislation.

[. . . . ] Under the agreement, the Inuit will own 15,800 square kilometres of land in northeast Labrador.

The Inuit will also have limited resource and management rights in another 56,700 square kilometres of land known as the settlement area.

The deal provides federal funding for education, health and other services as well as a cash payout and a portion of provincial revenues on future resource developments within the territory. [. . . . ]

The group recently received $145,000 from the federal government to pay for day-to-day activities and hire a communications officer.

Ottawa — Ottawa took in $10.7-billion more than it spent in the first eight months of this fiscal year — and more than double its surplus reported in the same period last year.

From April through November, the federal surplus swelled far beyond the $4.1 billion reported during the same time last year, the federal Finance department said Thursday. [. . . . ]

Six Mexican prison guards have been found shot dead outside one of the country's maximum security jails.

Their bodies were discovered outside the Matamoros Penitentiary, on Mexico's northern border with Texas.

This comes after a government crackdown on prisons over fears that drug gangs wield too much power inside jails.

The corpses of the six prison guards were found inside a vehicle riddled with bullet holes just 1km from the prison watchtower.

Some of the officers had been blindfolded before they were murdered.

Using helicopters, dozens of troops arrived to seal of the penitentiary, which is just across the border from Brownsville, Texas.

. . . It is only a week since more than 750 federal soldiers and police were called into take control of another high security prison, at La Palma near Mexico City.

This came after a spate of murders and rumours that two powerful drugs lords, Osiel Cardenas and Benjamin Arellano Felix, were joining forces inside the prison.

Some inmates had been transferred from La Palma north to Matamoros to try to break up the group. [. . . . ]

[. . . . ] Many of the inmates at La Palma belong to one of 11 drug gangs that operate inside the prison, Mexican authorities said.

The BBC's Claire Marshall in Mexico City says the country's prisons are known as a breeding ground for corruption. [. . . . ]

TORONTO - [. . . . ] At the heart of the case is whether Mr. Singh, a native of India, attended a scheduled monthly meeting with immigration officials on Dec. 6, a condition of his bail from a 2001 arrest.

As he has for the past four years, Mr. Singh says he showed up that day, pointing to a sign-in sheet that bears the signature of Elaine McPherson-Porter, an enforcement assistant who works at the Mississauga, Ont., facility.

[. . . . ] When Mr. Lewis went to the bond centre later that evening, Ms. McPherson-Porter admitted that she inadvertently signed the man in as Mr. Singh, and that the real Mr. Singh had not shown up for his scheduled meeting.

A federal government representative said video surveillance, which has not yet been released, should help uncover the truth about what happened.

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Polygamy among consenting adults is less damaging to families, and less harmful to children, than secret extra-marital affairs, one of Canada's most prominent Muslims said yesterday.

Canadian Islamic Congress president Mohamed Elmasry dismissed fears that federal same-sex marriage legislation due to be introduced next month will "open a Pandora's Box to others who want multi-wives or multi-husbands."

According to Mr. Elmasry, polygamy, as practised in Muslim countries and by "a few" Canadian Muslims, can be a positive family force -- "a husband having a mistress is legal and socially acceptable in Canada," he said, "and it's irrelevant if the wife knows or not."

He said polygamy can be more moral than a secret affair because the first wife accepts the second wife, and the second wife, and all children of the marriages, are treated equally in one family unit. [. . . . ]

[. . . . ] Mr. Harper told reporters in Quebec on Thursday that if the Liberals don't enshrine the traditional definition of marriage in law, "radical" groups may begin launching constitutional battles arguing that it is legal for a man to marry more than one woman, as occurs in a polygamous marriage.

"I think that's where we should draw the line," he said after a speech in Montreal where he endorsed tax incentives for members of agricultural co-operatives.

The Tory Leader made the comments a day after
the Liberals decided to launch a study into the social and legal impacts of polygamy.

MONTREAL -- A man who married a girl when she was 10 said yesterday he did nothing illegal because, he argues, Canadian law allows people of any age to wed. The law has been kept secret from the public, the man told his preliminary hearing on five sex-abuse charges.

Quebec court has ordered the man's name cannot be published to protect the identity of the girl, now 15. A court order has kept him away from his bride, stating their relationship compromised her safety.

The man, now 52, said outside court current laws make it possible to marry anyone -- "even a baby" -- because there is no minimum age. [. . . . ]

And Ouellet warned that Canada Post, which has to compete against massive international courier companies, would wind up in financial trouble if it is forced to operate with the strict bureaucratic controls of a government department

[. . . . ] At issue was a $275,000 grant obtained from the federal government for Canada Post by Jean Lafleur, who ran one of the advertising agencies that figured prominently in the sponsorship affair. The money was for the launch of a stamp commemorating the 1972 Canada-USSR hockey series.

But former Canada Post chairman André Ouellet testified Wednesday that he didn't think the funds were ever delivered and representatives of Canada Post agreed to search their records.

"We didn't find anything," Holland reported to Justice John Gomery. [. . . . ]

[. . . . ] For two days, the former Cabinet minister in both the Chretien and Trudeau governments fended off questions about his close-knit relationships with firms and key players at the centre of the sponsorship scandal while trying to distance himself from the tangled web of business dealings. Mr. Ouellet earlier acknowledged a close friendship with Jean Lafleur, the Montreal businessman who headed Lafleur Communications, but the inquiry learned yesterday that his son, Eric Lafleur, accompanied Mr. Ouellet to Hong Kong to launch a stamp to mark the Chinese New Year. On his resume, the younger Mr. Lafleur describes himself as Mr. Ouellet's "strategic advisor" for the stamp launch -- a title he described as exaggerated and somewhat "pompous." [. . . . ]

Ottawa — Former Canada Post president André Ouellet fended off more charges of favouritism Thursday, insisting that a friend's public-relations company [Tremblay Guittet ] earned every penny of the $2-million it received for work done for the post office.

Testifying for a second day at the federal sponsorship inquiry, Mr. Ouellet defended his dealings with Michèle Tremblay, founder of Tremblay Guittet Communications.

[. . . . ] Ms. Tremblay, a former journalist, is a longtime friend of Mr. Ouellet and is also close to Alfonso Gagliano, the former public works minister who at one time was politically responsible for Canada Post. [. . . . ]