REVEALED: Canada's Chief Librarian, appointed by Trudeau, went on Chinese state-funded trip to Beijing
Canada's new chief librarian and archivist, Leslie Weir, was barely on the job two weeks before she accepted a Chinese state-funded trip to Beijing to listen to Chinese communist propaganda about the role of libraries in sticking “to the Communist Party Central Committee’s decisions and plans (...) and make greater contributions to the great development and prosperity of socialist culture”
Weir also gave a speech of her own to the September 7, 2019 International Symposium of Libraries, hosted by the National Library of China, however no transcript of her speech is available.
Blacklock’s Reporter has the explosive story behind their paywall today:
Records indicate a week later Weir billed $983 in expenses to fly to Beijing as a guest of China’s National Library in celebration of the seventieth anniversary of the Communist takeover of the mainland. Thousands in additional expenses were paid by her hosts.
The conference opened with remarks by China’s Minister of Culture who said he “hoped the National Library of China and public libraries around the country would stick to the Communist Party Central Committee’s decisions and plans…and make greater contributions to the great development and prosperity of socialist culture,” according to minutes.
Written greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping “aroused prolonged and warm applause”. A statement by the Party-run Xinhua news agency read: “Xi Urges National Library To Stick To Correct Political Direction”, explaining Party leaders expressed “the hope that the Library will make new contributions to the building of a socialist country with great cultural strength.”
It’s shocking. Canada’s chief librarian is supposed to care about access to information for the public. She shouldn’t be jumping at a communist funded mini-vacation in the most censorious country on the planet.
I dug up Weir’s expenses and found that according to her online expense filings “accommodations costs, meals and a portion of airfare costs were paid by the National Library of China” — the Communist Party of China.
The very same day that Weir was allowing herself to be wined and dined by the evil sino-state that censored doctors sounding the alarms about coronavirus, locks up religious and cultural minorities, and holds two Canadians as political prisoners, Hongkongers were risking their lives to fight against the oppression of the Chinese government, beginning their 14th straight day of protests.
In a normal government, Weir should be fired, but this is Canada and Weir is just learning about how the government works from the top down, allowing herself to be fully colonized by the Chinese state just like the Liberal party has done.
Budget 2024 allocates $42 million more to CBC this fiscal year
By Alex Dhaliwal
2024 Student Journalism Conference
Applications are now open for The Democracy Fund's third annual Student Journalism Conference. This is a one-of-a-kind, all-expenses-paid opportunity for young aspiring journalists in Canada!
TDF Student Journalism Conference 2024Don't Get Censored
Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.
Don't Get Censored
Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.