IN-DEPTH: Why Steven Guilbeault Is an Executive Member of a Chinese Regime Body

Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s minister of environment and climate change, speaks at a press conference at the COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 12, 2021. Alastair Grant/AP Photo

With Steven Guilbeault set to be the first Canadian cabinet minister to visit China since 2018, questions have been raised about his role with a Chinese regime environmental body.

Mr. Guilbeault, in charge of Environment and Climate Change Canada, will go to China from Aug. 26 to 31 to participate in the annual general meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED).

The CCICED was established with the help of the former Canadian International Development Agency in 1992 and with the approval of the Chinese regime.

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China is responsible for “providing guidance for its operations, implementation, and daily management,” according to the CCICED’s charter.

A 2017 memorandum of understanding between Canada and China on the roles of both countries with respect to the CCICED, including its financing, says Canada has been the lead international donor to the body since inception.

The Chinese regime appoints most of the leadership of the CCICED, but Canada, as the lead funding partner, appoints the international executive vice chairperson. Mr. Guilbeault’s presence on the executive committee in this role is in accordance with this agreement. He was preceded in the role by Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, who was previously in charge of the environment portfolio.

Mr. Guilbeault is the only foreign government official on the committee and one of five non-Chinese members, with two being United Nations officials.

The top leadership is composed of senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials, with Vice-Premier of the State Council and Politburo member Ding Xuexiang serving as chairperson. Chinese Environment Minister Huang Runqiu serves as executive vice chairperson.

Praising Xi

The CCICED is not shy about admitting that it’s working to advance the regime’s interests and has praised Chinese leader Xi Jinping in its communications.

“In the report of the 20th National Congress, President Xi Jinping comprehensively and systematically summarized the world-renowned major achievements and major changes in the construction of ecological civilization in the new era,” says a post on the organization’s website dated Jan. 4.

It adds that Mr. Xi “profoundly expounded that the harmonious coexistence of man and nature is an important feature of Chinese-style modernization, and made a major strategic deployment for promoting green development and promoting the harmonious coexistence of man and nature.”

The official WeChat account of CCICED this year published an article by the state-owned People’s Daily, which cited former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang saying that when it comes to the issue of Taiwan, independence must be resolutely opposed and reunification must be promoted. Beijing doesn’t recognize Taiwan’s independence and often pressures other nations to refer to Taiwan as being rightfully under the authority of the regime.

The Chinese version of CCICED’s website also says it focuses on the regime’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a mega infrastructure push to install a Chinese presence in strategic locations.

A briefing note prepared for the Canadian minister of international development’s appearance before the foreign affairs committee in 2022 says “widespread concerns have been raised as to whether the BRI conforms to established principles, rules and norms for international development surrounding human rights, financial sustainability and environmental protection.”

The Epoch Times asked Mr. Guilbeault’s office if his role as a senior executive of the organization means he has a part in such declarations by the organization. His office didn’t respond to the question directly, but said the previous Conservative government “contributed roughly the same amount to this forum.”

His office also said the organization is “an independent international forum, similar to forums established by the U.S. and the E.U.,” but didn’t reconcile the fact that it is under the leadership of senior CCP officials and that it promotes the regime’s messaging and official policy.

Mr. Guilbeault’s continued membership in the organization and upcoming trip come at a time when Beijing maintains a hostile stance toward Canada.

This week, the regime dropped Canada from its list of approved travel destinations for tour groups. Chinese planes have also buzzed Canadian planes and naval ships in the Asia-Pacific region on multiple occasions in recent years.

In 2018, China locked Canadian agricultural imports and also imprisoned Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for over 1,000 days in a move that is widely regarded as retaliation for the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition request.

Additionally, recent intelligence leaks have raised concerns over allegations of Beijing’s extensive efforts to interfere in Canadian elections and other aspects of Canadian society.

Funding

Canada provides $1.6 million a year to the CCICED with funding allocated until 2027, according to the 2022 briefing note to the minister of international development. The note says Canada and China each provides approximately one-third of the CCICED’s funding, with the remaining one-third provided by other partners including the European Union, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway.

Canada terminated its bilateral assistance program to China in 2013 but kept funding smaller initiatives like the CCICED and other programs managed by the Canadian Embassy in Beijing.

Canada provided $7.23 million in international assistance to China in 2020–2021, states the 2022 briefing note. The Epoch Times reached out to Global Affairs Canada for updated figures but didn’t immediately hear back.

Visit

Mr. Guilbeault’s office says his visit to China is in line with Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy released last year. The strategy recognizes the disruptive behaviour of the Chinese regime but seeks to engage it on the economy and environmental issues.

“We will challenge China when we ought to, and cooperate with China when we must. Environmental action is a must,” said his office in a statement.

Mr. Guilbeault also said during an interview in French with Radio-Canada that the trip could be an opportunity to rebuild diplomatic relations with China.

The visit comes at a time when the Canadian public is more aware of Chinese interference in its democracy, but Mr. Guilbeault told Radio-Canada he hoped a season of severe weather would make engaging China on climate change more palatable.

Criticism

The Conservatives have called for Mr. Guilbeault to resign from his position on the CCICED and for Canadian funding to the “communist-led organization” to stop.

“Canada should not lend its credibility to this organization,” the party said in an Aug. 17 statement. “For Ding [Xuexiang] and the CCICED, the interests of Beijing’s Communist Party come first.”

The CCICED’s charter explicitly states it works to fulfill the political objectives of the Chinese regime, such as supporting its five-year plans.

The Tories add the Liberals “routinely” lecture Canadians and democratic allies about the climate impacts of going about their daily lives. “Given this, we fully expect Minister Guilbeault to be vocal over Beijing’s seemingly unabetted expansion of coal electricity generation.”

The statement also noted the recent fiasco surrounding the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, with Canada pausing its participation after a resigning Canadian cadre said the bank is a tool of the CCP.

“Justin Trudeau’s government has not learnt any lessons,” it says.

Some have also raised concerns that the Chinese regime uses the green movement for political gain.

“As the world embraces green initiatives on an unprecedented scale, so has the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—perhaps surprisingly—embraced the green movement, but has done so primarily to support its own political objectives,” writes China analyst Filip Jirouš for the Jamestown Foundation.

He adds that “many” advisers and council members of the CCICED “have backgrounds in influence operations.”

“The presence of these individuals suggests that CCICED also serves influence purposes, exploiting foreign government officials and NGO heads (including the Canadian minister of environment)—who are given what appear to be mere token positions on the council—for green-washing propaganda while receiving money (CCICED’s total budget amounts to roughly $20.000.000) from the foreign states and organizations that the councilors represent.”

Andrew Chen contributed to this report.