Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne says he used talks with China surrounding the evacuation of Canadians amid a coronavirus outbreak to raise the cases of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
In an interview with The West Block‘s Mercedes Stephenson airing on Sunday, Champagne said that although the governments are working jointly to address the spread of an infection that has killed more than 500 people and sickened more than 30,000 others in just over one month, consular cases remain the priority.
“In my call when I was getting the permit for us to land, I did raise the case of the Michaels to make sure my Chinese counterpart understands that despite the fact we now have to deal with emergency issues on the health side, the first and foremost priority of the Canadian government is to get the release of the two Michaels,” he said.
READ MORE: Plane carrying Canadians evacuating China’s coronavirus outbreak lands in Ontario
Champagne added the government is also advocating for clemency in the cases of Huseyin Celil, a Uighur-Canadian activist who has been imprisoned by China for 15 years, and Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian sentenced to death last year for drug smuggling.
China detained Kovrig and Spavor just days after Canadian authorities arrested Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou at the behest of the U.S., which is seeking her extradition on charges laid against her and her company involving alleged fraud related to skirting sanctions on Iran and stealing corporate secrets.
While Meng is out on bail and living in her Vancouver home, Kovrig and Spavor have been denied access to lawyers since their December 2018 detention.
They have been allowed only limited access to consular officials since then.
Champagne faced questions earlier in the week over the time it took for Canadian officials to secure permission from Chinese authorities to land a chartered evacuation flight in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, which is in lockdown.
American and British flights had been allowed to depart with evacuees shortly after the quarantine was put in place.
But it took until this week for Canadian officials to secure that same permission, something Champagne has said was because the other countries had planes already in China when the quarantine went into effect, whereas the Canadian plane was trying to fly in from Hanoi, Vietnam.
READ MORE: 2 Canadians test positive for coronavirus on cruise ship quarantined in Japan
“I can assure Canadians that every step of the way, the Chinese authorities have allowed us all the facilities they have allowed all the other countries.,” Champagne said in the interview.
He has also said it took time for Canadians in the region to register with Global Affairs Canada and ask to be evacuated.
The first plane carrying evacuated Canadians arrived at Canadian Forces Base Trenton overnight.
The 174 Canadians, as well as aircraft crew and medical staff, will be quarantined at the military base for the next 14 days.
A second flight, this one operated by the U.S., also brought 39 other Canadians to Vancouver early Friday morning.
Those individuals have now arrived at CFB Trenton for quarantine as well.
A third plane is scheduled to bring remaining Canadians back on Monday, Feb. 10 and will arrive on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
Champagne has urged any Canadians still in China for non-essential reasons to leave via commercial means while they still can.
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