Carney’s government admits ‘error,’ says PM did raise human rights with Xi
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office said public servants have corrected information the government tabled in Parliament that suggested he did not “proactively” raise human rights or foreign interference during his visit to Beijing.
“The parliamentary return in question was submitted in error,” wrote Carney’s spokeswoman Audrey Champoux.
Carney met in January with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He told reporters at the end of his visit to Beijing that he had spoken with Xi about human rights in direct conversations.
The Privy Council Office, which serves the prime minister, said in a parliamentary tabling on March 13 that Carney had not raised human rights or foreign interference unprompted.
“Topics of human rights and foreign interference were not brought up proactively by the Canadian Prime Minister,” reads the tabling.
Carney’s office said Monday that the information was “retabled” in the House that afternoon.
“While in Beijing, Canada’s position on areas of concern, including human rights, were raised proactively at multiple levels, including by the prime minister with his counterparts,” Champoux wrote. “Canada and China are building a bilateral framework to standardize engagements and address areas of concern pragmatically.”
The original document was tabled in response to questions from Conservative MP Ned Kuruc. It noted that Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand discussed “sensitive issues such as human rights and foreign interference” with her Chinese counterpart.
The Conservatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the government saying it had tabled incorrect information to Parliament.
Carney also met with Xi last November in South Korea and said afterwards that Beijing did not seem to understand how seriously Canada takes the matter of foreign interference.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2026.