Liberals Accuse Conservatives of Fouling China Relations
The Federal Liberal party is accusing the Conservatives of doing too little to maintain and improve relations with the PRC. Specifically they are lambasting the lack of movement towards attaining approved destination status (ADS). The Liberals began negotiations with the PRC in 1999 in hopes of achieving ADS which would presumably lead to an increase in tourists from China. While Canada was one of the first countries to pursue ADS we haven't been able to move the negotiations to an agreement. Many other countries have achieved ADS and noted modest but appreciable increases in tourism from the mainland.
The Liberals have a point when they argue that the Conservatives have apparently ignored China since coming to power. There have been no state visits of importance, and an tangible souring of relations over things like the Lai Changxing case, the Huseyincan Celil case, and Tibetan policy. It appears the two parties have differing approaches to the China question.
The Liberals hoped engaging China and reaping all the benefits that engagement had to offer was the best course of action. They argued that Canada could capitalize on that engagment and use it to influence the powers that be in China. The Conservatives seem rather more hesitant to deal like buddies with what many believe to be a corrupt and in ways morally reprehensible regime.
I suspect, regardless of how the Canadian authorities engage with the Chinese, any influence we gain will be minor indeed. The decision as to how best to deal with China is dependent upon what kind of benefits Canada wishes to extract from the relationship, and what degree of hesitation our opinion of the CCP demands.