i want to clarify: should we have a trade agreement with china? absolutely. but, it shoudn't be a "free trade" agreement.

i mean, it can't be a free trade agreement. that's impossible, given the realities of things. that should be obvious to anybody qualified to negotiate; it should even be a condition to be qualified. but, none of the "free trade" agreements are actually free trade agreements. so, if they try and pull that over you, you know they're just selling the country out. those words, "free trade", are red flags, nowadays.

rather, a trade agreement with china should clearly list tariffs on goods like clothing and electronics, which are made with child or slave labour. the intent of such an agreement should be to increase the price of chinese imports to compensate for endemic human rights abuses and give local manufacturers an ability to better compete.

if we don't get such an agreement in place, these abuses will get worse.

so, yeah: i support a trade agreement with china, but not in the way anybody in the media or government wants to do it.

....and what i'm saying is actually what you would expect, historically, from a liberal government in canada.