Illustration: Tang Tengfei/GT

The past weekend saw multi-city protests staged by migrant workers and other non-permanent residents in Canada, demanding more rights and financial protection to support them to overcome difficult times as the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated social welfare inequalities between permanent and non-permanent residents.

At a time when no response has yet been made to domestic calls for full immigration status for all residents in Canada, it seems nothing but hypocritical for the Trudeau government to work on changes to its immigration policy over the Hong Kong issue. 

The Trudeau government seems more interested in Hong Kong than alleviating its own social and economic problems. It also said on Friday that the nation would suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and would halt exports of some sensitive goods to the Chinese city. 

To a certain extent, Canada's repeated political provocations with its second-largest trading partner may further raise concerns about the dim prospects for Canadian economy, which encountered major setbacks and contracted by almost one-fifth in March and April. While Canada's GDP is expected to show a mild turnaround in May, it remains dubious whether Canada has sufficient resources to bring about a full-bloom economic recovery. 

The Canadian government is apparently more enthusiastic in following the heels of the US and playing geopolitical games. Now, Prime Minister Trudeau is facing investigation for embroiling in a problematic contract with WE Charity. All these issues have clearly made the country's economic recovery more challenging.

It should be noted that Canada's intervention in Hong Kong is not out of a pursuit of justice, but out of consideration to its relations with the US. Due to its high economic dependence on its southern neighbor, Canada tends to lean toward the US on many issues in order to defend their alliance.

Canada may be looking to the US to help revive its economy, but the US' own economy is undergoing unprecedented strain, which may have prompted Canada to deflect rising domestic pressure and public grievance. Even the US-Canada-Mexico Trade Agreement, which came into effect on July 1, can hardly lift the Canadian economy out of trouble.

In this context, it would be unwise for Canadian politicians to make nonsensical attacks on China over the national security legislation for Hong Kong, as Canada government is clearly interfering into China's internal affairs. 

The arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou by Canadian police at the request of the US government in December 2018 has severely damaged China-Canada relations, which will produce far-reaching negative impact on the political and economic ties between the two countries in many years to come. 

Now the Trudeau administration meddling in Hong Kong's management will probably lead to another setback in bilateral relations, causing lasting damage to their economic ties. China will not tolerate any politically malicious remarks from Canada that harm China's national security and core interest. 

Chinese businesses and individuals who foresee the growing risks of the deterioration of China-Canada relations are bound to reevaluate their investment and trade decisions, which will trigger a series of economic repercussions.