Category: Canada

Canada "will commit assets to help monitor North Korean sanctions enforcement, providing maritime patrol craft to combined efforts to monitor the DPRK’s smuggling operations."https://t.co/jHNGZgpcLX

— The Korea Society (@koreasociety) June 4, 2019

It will be interesting to see if Canada decides to give in to Chinese intimidation and threats:

China warned Canada that it needs to be aware of the consequences of aiding the U.S. in an extradition case involving Chinese tech giant Huawei that is believed to have sparked the detentions of two Canadians in China.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang’s comments came after Vice President Mike Pence and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
Both were arrested on Dec. 10 after Canada detained a Huawei executive wanted by the U.S. on fraud charges. While China has denied they were taken in retaliation, it has implied repeatedly that there is a strong connection between the cases.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the bullying tactics from Beijing is having results against Canada:

 Canada is leaning on the United States to help settle a dispute with China, which has started to block imports of vital Canadian commodities amid a dispute over a detained Huawei executive.
In a sign of increasing frustration at what it sees as a lackluster U.S. response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is signaling it could withhold cooperation on major issues.
China has upped the pressure on Canada in recent weeks over the arrest of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, arrested last December on a U.S. warrant. It halted Canadian canola imports and last week suspended the permits of two major pork producers.
After Meng’s Vancouver arrest, Chinese police also detained two Canadian citizens.
Beijing is refusing to allow a Canadian trade delegation to visit, forcing officials to use video conference calls as they try to negate a major threat to commodity exports.
With no cards to play against China without risking significant economic damage, Canada has launched a full-court press in Washington, which is negotiating its own trade deal with Beijing.
The results have been meager. 
“It’s a very challenging situation. When we raise it with the Americans they just say, ‘Dealing with the Chinese is tough’,” said a Canadian government source.

Reuters

You can read more at the link.

All North Americans in #China should consider leaving immediately. https://t.co/at7EKfnwqO

— Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) December 11, 2018

It will be interesting to see if Canada gives into the thug like threats being directed at them by China.  We saw these same type of threats thrown at South Korea when they did not give in over China’s demands to not deploy the THAAD battery.  China responded by stopping tour groups from going to South Korea and putting unofficial sanctions on Korean companies.  They will likely do the same to Canada to try and bully them to release Meng:

China warned Canada on Saturday that there would be severe consequences if it did not immediately release Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s [HWT.UL] chief financial officer, calling the case “extremely nasty”.
Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s global chief financial officer, was arrested in Canada on Dec. 1 and faces extradition to the United States, which alleges that she covered up her company’s links to a firm that tried to sell equipment to Iran despite sanctions.
The executive is the daughter of the founder of Huawei.
If extradited to the United States, Meng would face charges of conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions, a Canadian court heard on Friday, with a maximum sentence of 30 years for each charge.
No decision was reached at the extradition hearing after nearly six hours of arguments and counter-arguments, and the hearing was adjourned until Monday.
In a short statement, China’s Foreign Ministry said that Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng had issued the warning to release Meng to Canada’s ambassador in Beijing, summoning him to lodge a “strong protest”.

Reuters

You can read the rest at the link.

I am just trying to understand why the Canadians would have this program in the first place where they give free schooling to the kids of foreign students?:

A crammer in Seoul’s affluent Gangnam area that specializes in preparing students for schools overseas recently held a well-attended seminar devoted to Canadian universities. But the smartly dressed audience had not come to find out how their kids can gain admission but how to apply themselves.

The draw is Canada’s study permit program, which guarantees free schooling for the children of foreign students at public universities.

Word first spread among Gangnam’s ambitious mothers three or four years ago, and now the weakening Canadian dollar has made the program even more attractive.

Mothers are rediscovering their thirst for knowledge because college tuition there is cheaper than the cost of their kids to school overseas. They can save W10-20 million (US$1=W1,133) a year per child.

According to Canadian government figures, a foreign university student spends on average 22,753 Canadian dollars a year.

One woman with three children explained the math. “If I sent the kids to a Canadian public school it would cost me W13-17 million per child, so I save anywhere between W20 million and W30 million if I enroll in a public university myself.”
[Chosun Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link, but the Canadian government is now trying to take measures to crackdown on abuse of this program.

Of course this a brand ripoff which is nothing new in South Korea:

With its red, cursive font, the sign on the outside of the café looks eerily familiar.

While there is no Tim Hortons franchise in South Korea, that hasn’t stopped people from wondering about the story behind “Tim House,” a soon-to-open coffee house in Daerim, a neighbourhood in Seoul.

Earlier this week, a photo of Tim House attracted international attention. The picture was taken by A.J. Specht, a Canadian English teacher who was biking by and noticed the familiar-looking sign.

She posted a snapshot on Facebook, and it began to attract attention from Canadians in South Korea and at home.

But the Tim House logo is where the resemblance ends, at least for now. Tim House has yet to open, and its owner isn’t talking.  [CBC News]

You can read more at the link, but there is much bigger brand ripoffs than this coffee shop in a little known district of Seoul.

For anyone that has ever wondered how the Australian Defence Force recruits soldiers here is a television ad for you to ponder:

It is not bad, but it makes the ADF seem too much like the Peace Corps instead of being soldiers.  I think the ADF could learn something from the Canadian military where ads like this one have increased recruitment by 25%.  The Canadians were able to do this because instead of pandering to people who aren’t going to join the military anyway with the peacekeeping military nonsense, the Canadian military is actually targeting the demographic you want to join the military, people looking to fight. 

Is it any wonder why Canada recruitment numbers have increased while the ADF continues to face recruiting shortages?

If the authorities send the low quality foreign English Teachers to prison shouldn’t they also send the people that are employing them to jail as well?