UBCM President and Kamloops city councillor Arjun Singh says the executive is set to meet in mid-July to discuss China's involvement in the UBCM convention (Image Credit: Municipal World))

By Chad Klassen

UBCM CONVENTION

UBCM President Singh says executive to meet next month to decide on China controversy

Jun 26, 2019 | 4:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops city councillor and UBCM President Arjun Singh can see the China controversy from both sides, but he says it’s a good debate to be having.

“China’s our second-biggest trading partner in British Columbia,” he said. “A lot of communities, in all parts of B.C., have involvement with Chinese businesses and Chinese trade.”

Singh also acknowledges the negative aspect of China’s involvement.

“There’s obvious concern about not only human rights in China, democracy in China, but also what’s happening around trade. They are really acting quite heavy-handedly in many people’s perspectives.”

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Since 2012, the Chinese consulate in Vancouver has sponsored a cocktail party at the convention. The Chinese government pays $6,000 a year to host delegates.

Singh says there has always been controversy, but it’s been exacerbated this year. Canadian-Chinese relations have been rocky since the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in December. Two Canadians are currently being detained in China.

“It’s just so irresponsible for the UBCM to take cash. They take a cheque from the government of China in exchange for providing access to mayors and city councillors,” Port Coquitlam mayor Brad West told Global News.

Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone is with Singh in seeing the pros and cons of China being a prominent sponsor.

“There’s no question the concerns that are being expressed in the current context of a couple Canadians being held in a jail in China. Punitive trade measures that are being taken against Canadian interests in the area of meat and canola,” noted Stone. “The flip side of all this is there are some very important trade relations between Canada and China.”

However, Stone’s biggest beef in all this is the Liberals being left off the agenda, given the official opposition is not a UBCM sponsor.

“To ask a provincially-elected official, MLAs, to have to use taxpayers money in order to be included in the program as sponsors is simply and totally unaccepted,” he said.

Stone would like the UBCM executives to address the sponsorship issue during their meeting in mid-July.

In terms of the China controversy, Singh says he’s had some conversations with people like West. The executives will talk about the issue further and decide whether the Chinese government should be allowed to attend the UBCM convention in September.