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OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is accusing former Liberal cabinet minister John McCallum of an “invitation of foreign interference in the Canadian election” after McCallum’s comments on the deteriorating Canada-China relationship were published in a Hong Kong newspaper.

McCallum, who was fired as the Canadian ambassador to Beijing for making politically charged comments in January, told the South China Morning Post in an interview this week that China should halt its “punishments” on Canadian exports, and that “anything that is more negative against Canada will help the Conservatives, (who) are much less friendly to China than the Liberals.” He added, “it would be nice if things will get better” before the election.

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To Scheer, this was an open appeal to the Chinese government to help Liberals get re-elected in the contest scheduled for October. “This invitation of foreign interference in the Canadian election — to a regime that has proven itself hostile to Canadian interests — is absolutely reprehensible,” he said in a statement Wednesday.