Canada and China have agreed on a one-year pilot program on practicing rule of law. (Photo : Getty Images)
The statement was made by Scott Bardsley, press secretary to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale. If a deal was concluded, Chinese officials will be able to travel to Canada to interview Chinese citizens.
These individuals can be considered inadmissible by Canada, but China can verify their identities and documents. The verification process usually took a long time and delayed deportations.
During the visit of Premier Li Keqiang last week, officials from both Canada and China signed a one-year pilot program on enforcement of immigration law.
The talks are part of Canada's efforts to fix estranged relations with China. The one-year plan was signed together with the start of talks on the long-running trade dispute between the two countries.
In Canada, politicians are confused on the direction that the country is taking with regard to Chinese relations.
Stephanie Dion, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, stated, "There is no negotiation. To write like pretending it is, it is wrong. Stop that please."
Minister Pamela Goldsmith-Jones clarified that Canada entered into a different treaty and did not pertain to extradition.
She said, "To be clear, what we have done is enter into a framework called National Security and Rule of Law."
She added, "It's a way to have conversations about counter-terrorism, about security, about rule of law, about consular affairs which is also very important ... within the rule-of-law conversation, we have had one discussion about extradition. It's a far cry from saying this is a negotiation around extradition."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canada is very strict when it comes to extradition.
Human rights groups have criticized Canada for the recent talks, saying that China's disregard for human rights will lead to further harm if Chinese offenders were sent back to the mainland.
