Dear Editor,

Re: “Richmond candidate answers flag-flying question,” Letters, Oct 19.

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On Oct. 1, at an all-candidates meeting, Conservative Party candidate Kenny Chiu called into question the Liberals’ record by raising the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, describing it as “the last straw” that “broke the camel’s back.”

A letter to Richmond News by Barb Coley rightly challenged Mr. Chiu on this point: asking why his views aligned so closely with those of the authoritarian Beijing government. Mr. Chiu responded by assuring his loyalty to Canada, but he stopped short of offering any context to his remarks.

In doing so, Mr. Chiu has squandered a valuable opportunity. He could have described precisely what he saw wrong with our country upholding an important reciprocal agreement with a close strategic ally and our independent justice system’s procedure.

Without this information, Mr. Chiu’s reasoning, and therefore his motives, remain an open question.

Last week, I phoned the Conservative Party to clarify their stance on the arrest of Wanzhou. The representative I spoke to told me that this was the first time she had heard of one of their candidates making such statements, that those statements — if accurate — were off-message, and absolutely did not represent the Conservative Party of Canada’s position. They said they would be looking into it.

The independence of our judiciary, and the integrity of our commitment towards our international treaties are of fundamental importance to the well-being of our country.

Whatever the outcome of the election, the specific questions put before Kenny Chiu really do demand specific answers — not vague assurances of loyalty.

Beau Tanner

RICHMOND