Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland can run, but they can’t hide from John McCallum’s unwanted ramblings.

Canada’s former ambassador to China is one of theirs. He’s a long-time Liberal. When he tells a newspaper he’s told contacts in China to be nicer to Trudeau – because the Conservatives will be tougher on them – it’s easy to see how some might construe that as an invitation for another country to attempt to sway Canada’s upcoming federal election.

Distroscale

McCallum reportedly told the South China Morning Post recently that: “Anything that’s more negative against Canada will help the Conservatives, (who are) much less friendly to China than the Liberals.”

The Conservative Party has asked CSIS to investigate.

Conservative deputy leader Lisa Raitt called the comments, “highly inappropriate,” especially since the Chinese government, “continues to detain two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor and has taken other hostile actions towards Canada,” she said in a letter to CSIS.

Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

McCallum’s comments are outrageous. Two innocent Canadians have been hijacked in a hissy fit by the Chinese government.

McCallum was forced to resign as ambassador in January after he blabbed inappropriate comments about the arrest in Vancouver of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou with Chinese journalists. She was arrested at the behest of the U.S. and faces extradition.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

It’s worrying that McCallum’s still in touch with his Chinese contacts, given his gaffe-prone tenure as envoy. Yet his political bosses – Trudeau and Freeland – have yet to effectively gag him and tell him to butt out.

He continues to advise Canadian businesses on China, leaving the appearance he’s still talking to both the Liberal government and the Chinese. What advice is he giving?

The Trudeau government has bungled its handling of the China hostage crisis. Kovrig and Spavor are paying the price.

The best plan Trudeau could come up with was to ask U.S. President Donald Trump to raise the issue with China’s President Xi Jinping at the recent G-20. Our PM was swatted away like a pesky fly.

It’s more jellyfish diplomacy. It’s so much easier to pat yourself on the back when there’s no spine to get in the way.

Stand up for Canadians, Prime Minister. Show the world we still have backbone.