Canada should deal with other democracies. China isn’t a reliable alternative.

As Mr. Gere rightfully said, no country has ever benefited when collaborating with China. And they have threatened democracies with violence whenever Beijing deemed it appropriate, and so they’ll with Canada.

It’s mentioned in the report and even the title.

Posted this already in another thread, but it fits here, too.

We should improve democracies rather than collaborating with just another country that has turned to fascist rule

That’s an absurdly weird comment There is no such thing as a ‘fair trade’ with a dictatorship like China that engages in economic coercion, espionage on citizens, transnational repression, election interference, just to name a few examples. China is the exact opposite of the ‘social freedoms’ as you argue. You don’t seem to understand what’s going on in this country and the economy.

As an addition:

Responding to questions about Canada’s pursuit of increased trade with India and China despite Canadian intelligence agencies reporting political interference, European Union Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection Michael McGrath says that ‘where you have evidence’ of foreign interference from a nation looking to do more trade, ‘you have to address it.’ McGrath argues the EU and Canada should be working more closely on online risks: ‘Our democracy is under threat.’

This is what India’s officials have been saying since July, but Indian imports of Russian crude dipped in the third quarter. I don’t say India should or shouldn’t buy, but what they say and what they doesn’t match if you look at the data.

Addition: Ah, the article is two months old …