MP's Uyghur Labor Query Sparks Controversy

0:00It's March 27, I'm Cory with the story, and this is Vancouver News today, your AI-powered local news. Liberal MP Michael Ma stirred controversy this week by questioning reports of forced labor involving Uyghurs in China during a House of Commons, committee meeting on Chinese electric vehicle imports. The former conservative who switched to the Liberals last December challenged a witness on claims that electric vehicle parts use aluminum produced, through forced labor in Xinjiang Province. The exchange focused on a recent human rights watch report highlighting how nearly one tenth of the world's aluminum comes from that region, where, abuses against Uyghur and Turkic Muslim minorities are well documented. Canada's House of Commons unanimously recognized these actions as genocide back in 2021. Ma asked if the witness had personally seen such labor, or relied on second-hand info, reactions poured in quickly from across the political spectrum. Ma's former party first apologized for him before demanding Prime Minister Mark Karni

1:03clarify his stance on the issue. A Uyghur rights advocate accused Ma of echoing Chinese government positions and undermining Canadian values. Energy Minister Tim Hodgson distanced the Liberal Party from Ma's remarks on Friday, noting Ma's apology and directing further questions to the Prime Minister's office, which has stayed silent so far. Whatever it is wrote to Karni pressing whether he raised human rights concerns during recent talks with Chinese officials, as the debate lingers, calls grow for clear leadership on balancing trade with China against documented abuses, keeping the spotlight on supply. Chain Ethics in Canada's auto sector.