See, It's Alright When THEY Do It

Ahem:

Critics are calling on the federal government to introduce new rules for online fundraising campaigns after a fundraiser for this weekend's protest in Ottawa against vaccine mandates raised millions of dollars — in part from anonymous donors and people using fictitious names.

Green Party parliamentary leader Elizabeth May said the GoFundMe fundraiser for the protest convoy raises concerns about whether such campaigns could be used by big businesses or foreign state actors to circumvent Canada's political financing rules.

"If this isn't worrying, it certainly exposes a possibility that is very worrying, which is that you can be not a political organization, not registered with Elections Canada but find the right kind of dog whistle and put up a GoFundMe campaign," she said.

I'll just leave this right here: 

In addition to lobbyists, foreign donors have also been giving more to the foundation in recent years. Chinese national Bin Zhang, who made a $200,000 gift to the charity following a cash-for-access Liberal fundraiser with prime minister Justin Trudeau, has been the focus of heated debate in the House of Commons. The gift, which was first reported by the Globe and Mail, counted as a domestic donation, since it was made by a company registered in Canada.

Under Elections Canada rules, only Canadian citizens and permanent residents can make federal political donations, but foreigners with an interest in Canadian public policy are free to donate to the Trudeau Foundation.  Foreign donations to the foundation have increased significantly in recent years.

 

I'm sure these things have nothing to do with anything:

The Department of Health paid a Chinese manufacturer for more than $11 million worth of vaccine syringes, according to Access To Information records. The disclosure comes ahead of Monday’s deadline to begin a federal boycott of China-made medical supplies at federal offices nationwide: “We’ve signed a contract for millions of syringes.”

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The federal government has trumpeted previous vaccine partnerships with a China-based company as one of the reasons why Canada was pinning its hopes on a COVID-19 vaccine candidate from China early in the pandemic.

But The Fifth Estate has reviewed those partnerships and found that a collaboration with McMaster University in Hamilton stalled years ago and never resulted in an approved vaccine anywhere in the world.

That collaboration has been of little benefit to the university or Canada. Instead, both the company, CanSino Biologics, and McMaster are now independently racing to develop similar COVID-19 booster vaccines.

Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a former federal public servant who negotiated Canada-China science and technology agreements, said the CanSino-McMaster vaccine arrangement may turn out to be "a case study of what not to do in partnerships with China."

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China’s Winter Olympics “remain a priority for international diplomacy,” says a Department of Canadian Heritage briefing note. MPs voted unanimously to petition to relocate the Games from Beijing in protest over human rights atrocities: “I don’t think the athletes are concerned,” ...

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China buying a Canadian lithium mining company is part of a wider strategy by the Chinese to become “dominant in global high-tech manufacturing,” an analyst told a parliamentary committee Wednesday.