Monday January 12, 2026 | VICTORIA, BC [Posted at 8:36 pm PT | Updated 9:08 pm PT]
News analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Prime Minister Mark Carney will be joined by a contingent of Canadian elected officials on his diplomatic trade mission to China this week.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Kody Blois was in China in November, and will join Carney on this trip. The continuation of dialogue is important, said Blois in national news today.
Blois added that “the fact that the trip is happening in an of itself is important”.
Others on the trip:
Carney will also be joined on the trip by:
- Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly (former Foreign Affairs Minister under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) also currently Registrar General of Canada, and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions;
- Foreign Affairs Minister of Industry Anita Anand;
- Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson;
- Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Heath MacDonald;
- Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development of Canada Maninder Sidhu; and
- new Liberal MP Michael Ma (Markham-Unionville).
A focus on food crops:
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe will be participating in Canada’s mission in China as well, making his second trip in six months with a focus on seeing the tariffs on canola and other western Canada products being dropped.
Moe said after his September 2025 trip to China that the trip was a step toward easing tariffs on key Saskatchewan exports.
Back in March 2025, China placed a 100% duty on canola, an important crop for Saskatchewan’s agricultural sector. China also imposed tariffs on pork and seafood which impacts other parts of Canada’s diverse agrifood economy.
Some Saskatchewan farmers may need to diversify their crop planting this spring if the Chinese tariffs are not dropped; in the long run that could be an advantage to spread dependence away from one central customer.
Success for this trip:
This is a trip with complex hopes, expectations and possible outcomes.
Removal of tariffs would be a measure of success for this trip, and then a deepened capacity for steady trade between Canada and China.
A possible stumbling block is that if in any way either side can’t get past the diplomatic memory of how the two Michaels were arbitrarily detained by China in 2018.
Security concerns will need to be kept top of mind.
No apparent defence emphasis:
There is no obvious intention to discuss military or defence issues on this trip.
Canada’s minister of national defence David McGuinty is not listed as going along on this trip.
Meanwhile the map of the arctic region makes it clear the proximity of Canada’s north to that of China.
Prince Rupert ahead of the China trip:
On Tuesday, the prime minister will be squeezing in a trip to Prince Rupert on the BC west coast to meet with Indigenous leaders ahead of departing for China.
This junket may be seen as important for assessing the possibility of success with a pipeline to the coast, before Carney meets with one of the intended international markets for oil through such a proposed pipeline.
Carney will be accompanied in Prince Rupert by Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, Housing Minister Gregor Robertson and BC Liberal MP Wade Grant who is Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Departure to China:
Prime Minister Mark Carney will depart for China’s capital city of Beijing on a flight from Vancouver International Airport at 2:45 pm PT.
The trip to China is seen as a start to repairing Canada-China relations and ameliorating current trade tariff challenges.
Carney was already booked on a trip with many complexities, starting with China with high-stakes political and trade issues, then Qatar about trade, then Switzerland for the World Economic Forum.
Fitting in an equally significant visit to Prince Rupert shows the prime minister juggling domestic and national/international issues.
The trip to Prince Rupert also bears evidence of the importance of the MOU-related coastal major projects issue.
===== RELATED:
- Carney quick stop in Prince Rupert on his way to China (January 12, 2026}
- Prime Minister Carney to visit Qatar for bilateral engagement (January 8, 2026)
- Prime Minister Carney & German Chancellor Merz discuss Ukraine, Greenland & trade (January 8, 2026)
- January 2026: International engagement by Carney in China & Switzerland (January 7, 2026)
- The Paris Declaration: guarantees for Ukraine once a ceasefire happens (January 6, 2026)
- Carney and Smith sign pipeline MOU to facilitate economic growth (November 27, 2025)
- NEWS SECTIONS: POLITICS | CANADA-NATIONAL | MAJOR NATIONAL PROJECTS | USA & GLOBAL