Two months before Canadians vote in federal elections, the government scandal that hit Justin Trudeau’s poll ratings earlier this year is once again putting his Liberal party’s re-election bid at risk.
Watching world events unfold from his pig farm in southwestern Ontario this past spring, Craig
Hulshof expected a strong summer for Canadian pork producers.
The Trump administration’s tariff fight with China had made it more costly for American producers to serve the booming Asian market. Meanwhile, the spread of African swine fever in China, the world’s biggest consumer of pork, forced the culling of millions of pigs, creating an opportunity for Canadian pork to fill the void.
Instead, pork and beef producers here now find themselves shut out of China altogether, the latest victims of worsening diplomatic relations between the two countries after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in December.
“We expected that when barbecue season started up that’s when we’d make our money,” Mr Hulshof said. “China has put a fork in it.”
On paper, Peter Zhang and his wife, Judy Wang, were models for the type of newcomers Canada wanted to attract with its immigrant investor program. Before it was scrapped in 2014, the program’s aim was simple: lure the world’s wealthy to Canada’s shores with the promise of a passport. In return they would bring their business savvy, invest in the economy and create jobs.
Zhang and Wang were undeniably rich. They arrived from China at the end of 2010 with at least $6 million, settling in the suburbs north of Toronto. But almost immediately after, a twisting tale was set in motion that would eventually see Wang accuse a realtor, a lawyer and others of fraud and negligence, and prompt an Ontario judge to raise questions about both the source of Zhang and Wang’s wealth and a string of real estate and mortgage transactions tied to the case.
When Justin Trudeau announced the end of US steel and aluminium tariffs at a steel mill in Hamilton, Ontario on Friday, onlookers witnessed something they had not seen in weeks — the Canadian prime minister smiling.
“This is just pure good news for Canadians,” said a beaming Mr Trudeau, standing before coils of steel. “Families will know that their jobs are just a little more secure.”
The break in trade hostilities with the US comes at a crucial time for Mr Trudeau. Over the past three months, a series of controversies have rocked his government and left his Liberal party trailing the Conservatives in the polls with just five months to go until the federal election.