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Trump Sanctions Flag A Harsh Reality—PRC and Canadian Elite Ties Underwrite Fentanyl Vulnerability

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4 minute read

By Garry Clement

Former Senior Mountie Argues Geopolitics of Ottawa’s Relations with Beijing Loom Behind Trump Threats

The threat of a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada, announced by President-elect Donald Trump, highlights a harsh reality: Canada’s vulnerability to fentanyl is deeply intertwined with its close ties to China.

Chris George, a government relations advisor and writer, has highlighted the Liberal Party’s connections with Chinese leadership. He notes that the party’s relationship with the Chinese Communist Party is significantly influenced by Power Corporation, the Desmarais clan’s flagship enterprise.

“The Liberal Party of Canada is inseparably tied to the Chinese Communist Party today,” George alleges, “and much of the Canadian-Chinese business relationship is driven by Power Corporation, the crown jewel of the Desmarais family fortune.”

The ties between the Liberal Party and Power Corp have allegedly become so entrenched they are virtually indistinguishable:

  • André Desmarais, son-in-law of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, serving as President and co-CEO of Power Corp.
  • Former Prime Ministers Paul Martin, Jean Chrétien, and Pierre Trudeau holding positions within Power Corp.
  • Jean Chrétien acting as a Power Corp. lobbyist in China.
  • John Rae, brother of former Liberal leader Bob Rae, being a long-serving senior manager.
  • Senator Peter Harder, a key advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on China, previously serving on the board of Power Financial Corporation, a subsidiary of Power Corp.

Peter Harder also served as President of the Canada-China Business Council, a business advocacy group founded in 1978 with significant support from Paul Desmarais and Power Corporation. He left the council upon his Senate appointment by Prime Minister Trudeau. The Council is now chaired by Olivier Desmarais, grandson of Paul Desmarais and Jean Chrétien. These connections are also explored in my book, Undercover: In the Shady World of Organized Crime and the RCMP.

Recent reports reveal strong ties between Chinese leaders, the People’s Republic of China, and the Premier of British Columbia. Chinese companies have been acquiring Canadian logging operations and vast tracts of farmland. In Prince Edward Island, properties are being purchased under the guise of a monastic group called Bliss and Wisdom.

Evidence suggests that China’s leadership is complicit in producing fentanyl precursors, fully aware of their shipment to Mexico—and now Canada. It is widely suspected that fentanyl money laundering is facilitated through the “black market peso exchange,” a method funneling illicit proceeds into North America. Wealthy Chinese buyers then use fentanyl profits to purchase property, while the manufacturers of precursors are paid in Chinese renminbi.

Traditional media outlets, across the political spectrum, seem to have fallen under the same spell as the Liberal Party, failing to report on these pressing issues with any legitimate objectivity.

The tariffs proposed by President-elect Trump will undoubtedly impact us all. But perhaps, by remaining silent for so long, Canada is now facing the consequences it deserves. It is time for the silent majority to hold this failing government accountable. Canada needs greater transparency, accountability, and a complete re-evaluation of its foreign and domestic policies—especially those concerning China.

Garry Clement consults with corporations on anti-money laundering, contributed to the Canadian academic text Dirty Money, and wrote Undercover, In the Shady World of Organized Crime and the RCMP

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U.S. Seizes Fentanyl Shipment From Canada In Seattle, As Washington Pressures Ottawa on Crime Networks

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Sam Cooper

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have intercepted a shipment containing more than one pound of fentanyl from Canada, marking the latest sign of an accelerating crisis along the BC-Washington border. The fentanyl, concealed within a package believed to have originated in British Columbia, was discovered during a targeted enforcement operation at a Seattle shipping facility on February 6.

The package contained a brown, rock-like substance wrapped in plastic bags. Subsequent testing confirmed it was fentanyl, the synthetic opioid driving tens of thousands of overdose deaths in North America each year.

Area Port Director Rene Ortega, speaking about the seizure, underscored its broader implications. “Fentanyl is an extremely dangerous synthetic drug that continues to devastate communities across the United States,” Ortega said. “CBP remains committed to using every available tool to stop these lethal substances before they reach our streets.”

The latest seizure is part of an escalating pattern that has prompted increasingly aggressive responses from Washington. President Donald Trump has warned of sweeping tariffs in the coming weeks unless Ottawa delivers a credible, actionable plan to crack down on transnational crime networks driving fentanyl production. These networks—operating primarily out of British Columbia—are deeply entrenched with organized crime groups from China and Mexico.

The Bureau has reported extensively on Washington’s mounting frustration with Canada’s handling of the fentanyl crisis. BC Mayor Brad West, who has been in direct communication with senior U.S. officials, has described an urgent shift in tone from American law enforcement and intelligence agencies. In a high-level 2023 meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, West was briefed on just how seriously Washington views Canada’s role in the illicit drug trade.

“This is no longer just a Canadian domestic issue,” West told The Bureau. “Secretary Blinken made it clear that the Biden administration sees fentanyl as an existential threat. They’re building a global coalition and need Canada fully on board. If we don’t show real progress, the U.S. will protect itself by any means—tariffs or otherwise.”

Concerns extend beyond law enforcement. According to multiple sources with direct knowledge of U.S. intelligence assessments, American agencies have begun withholding key evidence from their Canadian counterparts, citing a lack of confidence that Ottawa will act on it. West confirmed that in his ongoing discussions with senior U.S. officials, they have voiced alarm over the level of access major figures in Asian organized crime appear to have within Canada’s political class.

“They’re basically asking, ‘What’s going on in Canada?’” West said.

The frustration is not new. For years, U.S. and international law enforcement agencies have sought to curb the transnational reach of organizations like Sam Gor, the powerful Asian organized crime syndicate that dominates much of the fentanyl precursor supply chain. But Canada’s response has been widely seen as inadequate. Critics argue that political sensitivities and reluctance to confront entrenched criminal networks have left Canadian law enforcement hamstrung.

The question now is whether Ottawa will take decisive action. Bringing forward measures as sweeping as a RICO-style anti-mafia statute or invoking the notwithstanding clause to bypass legal obstacles to tougher enforcement would represent a sharp departure from the status quo. Both approaches would require confronting entrenched political, legal and economic interests, as well as explaining why existing laws have failed to secure convictions against the most powerful actors in organized crime.

West believes the shifting geopolitical landscape may force Ottawa’s hand. Washington’s patience, he warns, ran thin years ago—and the U.S. is now signaling it will no longer wait.

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USAID funnelled $472 million into Soros-backed media censorship group: report

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From LifeSiteNews

By Calvin Freiburger

The controversial U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) directed more than $472 million to an international media non-profit that promotes left-wing narratives and endorses censorship of so-called “disinformation,” according to a recent Wikileaks report.

The Internews Network describes its mission as providing everyone with “trustworthy news and information to make informed decisions,” by “train[ing] journalists and digital rights activists, advanc[ing] internet freedom, and offer[ing] business expertise to help media companies become financially sustainable.” It boasts offices in 30 nations and support for “independent” media in more than 100.

In 2014, NewsBusters reported that Internews was “was founded by a self-described Marxist anti-war protester” and had gotten the vast majority of its revenue from government grants through programs such as USAID, although leftist financier George Soros also donated millions to it.

On February 7, Wikileaks reported that Internews had received $472.6 million from USAID alone as of 2023, that year producing “4,799 hours of broadcasts reaching up to 778 million people” through 4,291 different media outlets, as well as training more than 9,000 journalists.

During a 2023 World Economic Forum (WEF) panel in Davos, Switzerland, Internews President and CEO Jeanne Bourgault declared that “gendered disinformation” was “one of the most terrifying” types of online “misinformation,” which platforms had a responsibility to police through “content moderation,” and advertisers had an obligation to pressure platforms to restrict in thee name of “help[ing] democracy.”

Bourgault expressed similar sentiments at Davos the following year, arguing that “disinformation makes money and we need to follow that money and we need to work with, in particular, the global advertising industry.” She advocated “exclusion lists or inclusion lists just to really try to … focus their ad dollars toward” what she called the “good news and information.”

“And those are U.S. news sites that operate on social media. And those are U.S. news sites. This is the basis of lawsuits here in the U.S. like Daily Wire and the Federalist suing the State Department because U.S. news sites are in these advertiser blacklists,” cybersecurity expert and Foundation For Freedom Online Executive Director Mike Benz told podcaster Joe Rogan this week. “This is top-down U.S. government policy from the White House and I’ll show you the documents on that to the White House executive branch agencies like USAID and State.”

The Trump State Department recently issued a 90-day freeze on foreign aid disbursed through USAID, citing millions in waste and ideologically-biased programs. With exceptions for certain food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt, the pause is meant to give the administration time to conduct a more thorough review of foreign aid to determine what permanent cuts should be made.

While presented in the media as simply a source of basic care for the poor and sick, USAID has long funneled millions to waste, frivolity, LGBT activism, abortion promotion, and even groups tied to terrorism.

The pause is part of a broader review of federal executive-branch spending currently being spearheaded by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory project. Last weekend, a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration from putting USAID employees on paid leave, in what critics are calling a particularly extreme case of judicial overreach.

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