Candidates discuss relations with China and cybersecurity

It was standing room only at Wednesday’s Candidates Forum held at UNBC’s Canfor Theatre.

With many topics being raised by moderator Gary Wilson, a discussion regarding cybersecurity was brought forth in conjunction with trading with China, particularly due to the cyber-attacks made against Canadian businesses.

Here’s what either candidate from the Cariboo Prince George riding had to say:

Conservative: Todd Doherty

“I think the best way forward with China is with eyes wide open. We have to be mindful that there are still two Canadians still contained, with no end in sight and making sure that we’re getting their release. Many Canadians over the last few months since the detention of the Huawei CFO have been contained on administrative reasons. We also know that our farmers have lost billions of dollars, whether it be canola, beef, or soy. So anything that we do, any measure that we do, we have to make sure that we’re doing it with a measured response. We have to make sure that we’re Canadian interests at all times. First and foremost, we should be doing everything in our power to make sure that we get those Canadians home. We also have to recognize the significant contributions that the Chinese Canadians have made for our country. We have to be cognisant of this. We can’t be saying things that are going to be inflammatory. We’ve seen what retaliatory measures have been in our two largest trading partners; the US and China are now involved in a trade war and they’ve brought us into that and it’s negatively impacting Canadians and Canadian producers.”

Green: Mackenzie Kerr 

“I think it’s incredibly important like others have said. We’re very aware of the situation that is happening right now, we know where our data is and what’s happening to it. I’ve grown up with social media so I really think that we need to be looking at the risks of that. Specifically, with international relations with China, our party has a platform on international relations. A lot fo it is based on creating relationships. Right now, our commitments to multilateralism are weakening, which potentially has serious consequences for global stability security, and I think that connects to the question that was asked. I think we need talking about promoting peace and global cooperation. We know this is an extremely important relationship to have with China. As you know, I’m definitely not an expert in this field, so I think that the federal government has an important role to play in keeping a healthier relationship with other countries and making sure our data safe.”

Liberal: Tracy Calogheros 

“We live in a global world, and not everything respects geopolitical boundaries. This question was specifically about our digital security. I’ll talk a little about that but it’s certainly not my area of expertise — few people are trying to hack a museum. Canada’s digital charter is a new development that we’re working on and the idea behind it is to give Canadians individual control over the amount of data that we have out on the internet right now. I shudder to think about how much information is out there about each one of us in this room and who exactly is holding that. I don’t know where it is. I have some vague idea of where they access it because I get ads for shoes on my Facebook page. What I think is important is that we all take personal responsibility for our data and that the government give us the ability to exercise that responsibility. So whether that is knowing where our information is and how it’s being used, the ability to review who has access to our information and delete it, the ability to revoke permission at any time. As I said it’s not my area of expertise, I think our federal government’s job is to try to stay abreast of the development but technology is advancing awfully fast. Tech has changed and it’s going to continue to change, and that’s going to be a challenge for all of us worldwide.”

New Democratic: Heather Sapergia 

“I think the best thing we can do is keep Canada first. We need to make sure that any kind of relationships that we’re involved in, we keep ourselves first. Having said that, we but a lot of technology from all around the world. Chinese technology, we buy that too. I believe we’re staying away from Huawai at the moment. What we need is a strong department within our federal government that keeps a handle on the kinds of data traffic that’s coming and going. We need to put resources into that department to keeping abreast as best as we can.”

People’s Party: Jing Lan Yang 

“I come from China, I’m an immigrant from China so this is a great question. First of all, the principle is we must build our international relations with every country out of respect and a mutual benefit. Our foreign policy should serve as our security. For China, I consider it the greatest market, we need to pay attention to it. Some difficult situations are happening in China, so we can’t export our product, especially the recent months. We need to analyze case by case. For national security, we really need to pay attention and protect ourselves. Our intelligence committee, and our foreign ministry, with the People’s Party, we will make efforts to make sure our country, our interested, both economically and especially cyberattack with intellectual property, we need to protect ourself. I want to emphasize that China can be a great market. A lot of our products, they love Canadian products — it’s well known. We need to work on this.”

MyPGNow has a series of articles on where the Cariboo-PG Candidates stand on issues like crime, the forest industry, West Olefins, and climate change.