MPs question finance officials about Ottawa’s investment in Asian Infrastructure Bank

Treasury officials this week declined to answer questions from MPs as they appeared before a House of Commons committee examining the federal government’s recent suspension of operations with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

James Wu, director general of the department’s fund management division, and Kathleen Wrye, director of the department’s financial crimes and security division, told the Commons Standing Committee on Canada-China Relations on June 19 that the government’s decision with regard to the AIIB, their scope was over, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

Treasury Secretary Chrystia Freeland announced on June 14 that Ottawa is ceasing all activities with the AIIB while it investigates allegations made by the bank’s Canadian director of global communications, Bob Pickard, after announcing his resignation.

Pickard supposedly that the AIIB – created in 2016 to fund railways and other infrastructure – is “dominated” by the Chinese Communist Party.

Freeland told reporters at the time that Ottawa would also be discussing the issue with Canada’s “allies and partners who are members of the bank.”

“China, as the second largest economy in the world, has a role to play in solving global problems that affect every country,” she said.

The action of the government in this area comes about six years after Parliament passed the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Agreement Act in 2017, allowing the finance department to purchase $375 million worth of AIIB stock.

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis asked Wu and Wrye at their committee meeting to explain the government’s current position on the AIIB and what it “means” to suspend operations with the bank.

“Is this just a ‘say we’re reviewing it to get it out of the news’ sort of thing, or is there a really serious review that we’re going to hear a decision on?” Genuis said, also asking for more information than what Freeland previously gave.

Wu said he was unable to provide any further information, and Wrye said she was “unable to answer questions with respect” to the bank.

Then Deputy Finance Minister Michael Sabia told the Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts in November 2022 that the AIIB is “not a China-controlled investment bank.”

Pickard said, when he resigned from his position on June 14, that the CCP “runs” the AIIB.

“The Bank is dominated by members of the Communist Party and also has one of the most toxic cultures imaginable,” he said. wrote on Twitter on June 14.

“I do not believe that the interests of my country are served by AIIB membership.”

Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.