There are few safe options for Canada in dealing with China, the former head of Canada's spy agency says.

Ward Elcock told The House that claims accusing two Chinese nationals of waging an extensive, state-sponsored hacking campaign against government agencies — including some in Canada — are not surprising.

This week, American prosecutors said Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong were acting on behalf of China's top intelligence agency to gather information from several countries.

Elcock, the former CSIS chief, said the public is becoming more aware of Chinese espionage — but "this is not new news."

Meng Wanzhou, ​chief financial officer of the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, was arrested by Canadian authorities in Vancouver earlier this month on an extradition request from the U.S., which accuses her of violating sanctions on Iran.

China, which has heatedly protested Meng's arrest, has since detained two Canadians in what many have interpreted as acts of retaliation. The country has offered only vague explanations for the detentions, saying only that Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig are suspected of engaging in activities that endangered China's security. China has not drawn a direct link between the detentions and Meng's arrest.

While Canada works its way through these murky diplomatic waters, Elcock said, it doesn't have a lot of options that would satisfy the Chinese.

He said the Trudeau government's messaging on Meng and the detentions suggests it's trying to avoid a big battle with China.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale used softer language than the U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in discussing the situation.

An Alberta teacher who recently became the third Canadian detained in China this month has been sentenced to administrative punishment for illegal employment, according to a spokesperson for the Chinese government. 2:06

Rosenstein called China's actions "stealing commercial information" and "state sponsored criminal activity."

But the increasing number of intelligence incidents involving China likely is quietly informing the government's approach, Elcock said.

"It is conditioning how the government responds, to some extent," he told host Chris Hall.

The question, he said, is how far the government wants to take its relationship with a country that doesn't respect the rule of law.

Canada has been attempting to broaden trade ties with China for some time, with little success. Elcock said Meng's extradition will further weaken those bonds.

"I think the arrest of the CFO has put that certainly in jeopardy," he said.

This week saw a third Canadian detained in China, as well as hacking charges levelled by the United States government against two Chinese nationals. How will Canada be affected by this escalation of tensions between the U.S. and China? We talk to the former head of CSIS, Ward Elcock. 10:00

'Things are not getting better': B.C. opioid crisis still raging

An Ontario Provincial Police officer displays bags containing fentanyl during a news conference in Vaughan, Ont., on Feb. 23, 2017. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)

A huge percentage of opioid deaths in Canada happen in British Columbia, and the problem isn't easing off.

The province declared a state of emergency in the spring of 2016, but thousands of people have died since.

"Things are not getting better," Judy Darcy, B.C.'s minister of Mental Health and Addictions, told Chris Hall on The House.

"We're doing many of the right things but we need to be doing more of them."

The federal government's 2018 budget set aside $230 million over five years to address the opioid crisis, but Darcy said Ottawa has resisted opening up the conversation to include some of the alternative approaches B.C. has proposed.

B.C. is taking steps to ease the crisis — supporting first responders, increasing the number of doctors who can prescribe opioid alternatives and opening more supervised injection sites.

"We're turning over every possible stone," Darcy said.

Still, it's not enough. Complete numbers haven't been released, but reports indicate 2018 is matching the trend of last year, which saw nearly 4,000 people die of overdoses nationwide.

The Lancet medical journal concluded this week that, "although the interventions to date have protected human lives, current actions are simply not sufficient."

Darcy said there's a need to connect more people with treatment and tackle the root problems of addiction.

The B.C. government wants distributors and manufacturers of opioids to take responsibility for what's happening. It has launched a lawsuit against dozens of opioid industry players, saying they should have known the drugs were ending up on the illegal market.

The British Columbia Coroners Office flagged the opioid crisis 25 years ago, and still the deaths caused by fentanyl and other drugs are unabated. BC's Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Judy Darcy tells us what still needs to be done if there is any hope of stopping the thousands of deaths that are occurring each year. 9:12

The opposition parties look back on 2018

Members of the House of Commons pose for a photo in the chamber before Question Period in the House of Commons Wednesday December 12, 2018 in Ottawa. Centre block is slated to close for renovations following the fall session. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Insults and tension between the political parties in the House of Commons have defined much of 2018.

For the Conservatives, one of the defining issues was convicted murderer Terri-Lynne McClintic's transfer to an Indigenous healing lodge.

Lisa Raitt, the party's deputy leader, told The House it was a prime example of the Official Opposition responding to the anger of ordinary Canadians.

"It truly came from people calling in who were very upset with it," she said.

A heated exchange erupted in the HOC Wednesday over how a convicted child killer ended up in a healing lodge. 1:01

NDP MP Nathan Cullen said policy challenges like the negotiation of a new NAFTA and the closure of the GM car plant in Oshawa made his party look closer at whether Canadians could see their lives improving.

Immigration was a big issue for both parties, although their stances differ.

Raitt said that municipalities are being hit hard by illegal border crossings and people seeking asylum in Canada. She added that some people have a "valid concern" about how the system processes immigrants.

Cullen said there's also an undercurrent in the immigration debate of "straight up racism," which worries him. He blamed part of that rhetoric on current Liberal immigration policies which he said leave Canadians with the wrong message about the the asylum and immigration processes.