School District 43 trustees are taking a wait and see approach before they make any decisions about changing a planned trip to China in March.
Monday, the federal government updated its travel advisory after an Abbotsford man was sentenced to death for drug smuggling in China. The advisory, on the travel.gc.ca website, warns Canadians to exercise a high degree of caution “due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws.”
The trip, planned for spring break, is to be paid for by the Confucius Institute, affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education.
“We need to monitor their travel advisories. The trip is not imminent, it’s not until March, this is January and we will be keeping a close on eye on what goes on politically and internationally. That’s really all I can say,” said board chair Barb Hobson, who is a Coquitlam trustee.
Citing board policy that requires the chair to speak for the board, a number of School District 43 trustees are not stating their own opinions about whether the trip should continue in light of an ongoing diplomatic dispute between China and Canada.
However, one Port Moody trustee said that Chinese human rights issues have always been concerning but are more the purview of provincial and federal governments and outside of the mandate of school board, which he said sees the trip as a way to promote international education and global education.
“That’s the premise on which we are going, based on the relationships we have had in the past. Things are going on but I don’t think it’s something we need to be involved in,” Keith Watkins said. However, he said he’s not going on the trip because of the “optics” of the Chinese government funding the trip.
Coquitlam trustee Jennifer Blatherwick also said she won’t be going on the trip but said the board is waiting to see if the federal government updates its travel advisory before deciding whether to change its plans.
“I think at this time, I’m certainly hoping the relations between China and Canada can be resolved. At this time we are going to go with the guidance of the Canadian government about whether or not it is safe to go there. When you hear about things like that you hope for the best for the man and his family.”
Anmore/Belcarra trustee Kerri Palmer Isaak said it’s up to the board chair to speak for the board, a statement also made by Port Coquitlam trustee Christine Pollock, who added that she won’t be going on the trip to China.
Trustees Carol Cahoon and Craig Woods of Coquitlam, Lisa Park of Port Moody and Michael Thomas have not yet responded to the Tri-City News.
However, Hobson noted that while there is an ongoing diplomatic dispute between China and Canada, commerce is continuing between the two countries.
“People are traveling back and forth as this has come up and obviously it’s a concern nationally and internationally [but] the commerce between our country continues. Just closely monitoring the situation is all we can do until there is some change.” Hobson said Monday.
The death sentence for Robert Schellenberg is widely being seen as political retaliation for the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
In a poll by CKNW’s Lynda Steel of @SteelTalk on Twitter that ran Monday and Tuesday, 90% of 628 respondents said trustees shouldn’t go on the paid trip because the “optics are terrible,” 6% said “why not” and 4% going would be good to “build bridges.”
