OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney did not answer directly Monday when asked whether Liberal MP Michael Ma will face consequences for his recent comments about forced labour in China, and sidestepped questions about his thoughts on China’s labour practices.
Carney said Ma had apologized and that he remains a member of the Liberal caucus. He wouldn’t say if Ma will still co-host a Liberal fundraising event Monday night in Markham, Ont., at which Carney is set to speak.
Carney was in Toronto making a housing announcement alongside Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, where he faced several questions for the first time about Ma’s remarks at a House of Commons committee hearing on Thursday.
The committee was discussing the decision to lower Canadian restrictions on Chinese electric vehicles when Ma appeared to cast doubt on reports of forced labour in China. He later apologized and said he had been asking about forced labour in Shenzhen, where most of China’s electric vehicle production is located, and not Xinjiang, where the Chinese government has been accused of widespread abuses against Uyghurs.
Ma’s comments were directed at Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa, who told the committee Chinese vehicles are made with products that come from slave labour performed by members of the Uyghur minority.
During the meeting, Ma asked McCuaig-Johnston if she had personally witnessed forced labour in Shenzhen.
“Mr. Ma has apologized for his comments, as he should have. He’s recognized the seriousness of the issue in that apology,” Carney said when asked whether Ma will face consequences for his remarks.
Carney also said Ma “apologized directly to Ms. McCuaig-Johnston.”
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office later clarified to The Canadian Press Carney was referring to Ma’s apology statement, posted to his social media accounts, in which he addressed McCuaig-Johnston.
Reached by phone Monday, McCuaig-Johnston told The Canadian Press she had not received an apology directly from Ma, noting she gave Ma her business card.
Asked Monday if he believes there is forced labour in China, Carney avoided addressing China’s practices specifically but acknowledged there are “higher risk” parts of China.
“I’ve followed this issue over the years, in China and elsewhere. And there is evidence of child labour around the world. There’s evidence, and there’s existence, I should say, of child labour and forced labour around the world,” Carney told reporters.
“There are parts of China that are higher risk, and therefore (there) needs to be diligence.”
The United Nations reported in 2022 that China had committed serious human rights violations in Xinjiang against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities that “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”
A report issued that same year by Global Affairs Canada found China “is using otherwise legitimate programs for retraining and relocation of unemployed workers as instruments of a broader campaign of oppression, exploitation and indoctrination of the Uyghur Muslim population into Han (majority) Chinese culture.”
Beijing vehemently denies those claims, arguing it has addressed terrorism threats while offering economic opportunities to minority populations.
Canada has repeatedly rejected Beijing’s framing. A June 2021 government response to a committee report decried “the mass, arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in internment camps” in Xinjiang.
Thursday’s committee hearing examined China’s EV policies.
In March, Canada signed an agreement with China to initially allow 49,000 Chinese-made EVs into the market at a 6.1 per cent tariff rate — a heavy discount from the 100 per cent surtax the government implemented in 2024.
A 2024 report from Human Rights Watch identified a “risk of exposure to forced labour” through the EV supply chain because of the amount of aluminum produced in Xinjiang. The report said a tenth of the world’s aluminum comes from the region.
Last week, the Chinese embassy in Canada posted a statement to its X account calling allegations of forced labour in China’s EV supply chain “a blatant lie.”
Federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne is scheduled to travel to China this week and Carney said supply chain integrity will be part of his discussions there.
“Issues of supply chain integrity, including forced labour, child labour, and ensuring that those standards are in place, will be part of those discussions, I’m certain,” Carney said.
“And ensuring that we have the adequate transparency for any good from any of our trade partners, any of our trade partners.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2026.
— With files from Dylan Robertson
Nick Murray, The Canadian Press
