Canada halting all government-led activity with China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank | CBC News

Canada is freezing ties with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) while it probes allegations it is dominated by the Chinese Communist Party, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Wednesday.

Freeland said she did not rule out any outcome of the investigation — a clear hint that Ottawa could pull out of the bank it officially joined in March 2018.

The bank’s global communications director, Canadian Bob Pickard, said Wednesday he had resigned and accused the bank of being “dominated by the Communist Party” — an allegation the AIIB said was baseless.

“The Government of Canada will immediately halt all government-led activity at the bank. And I have instructed the Department of Finance to lead an immediate review of the allegations raised and of Canada’s involvement in the AIIB,” Freeland told reporters.

She said as the world’s democracies work to limit their strategic vulnerabilities to authoritarian regimes, they must be clear about the ways such governments exercise their influence.

“The review I am announcing today is to be undertaken expeditiously. And I am not ruling out any outcome following its completion,” she said.

Pickard, who worked for AIIB for 15 months, said in a statement on Twitter that resigning was his only option as a “patriotic Canadian.”

He claimed the bank was dominated by “Communist Party hacks” who were “like an in-house KGB or Gestapo or Stasi.”

The Beijing-headquartered bank “has one of the most toxic cultures imaginable,” Pickard wrote. “I don’t believe that my country’s interests are served by its AIIB membership.”

The resignation comes at a time when ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is tightening control over China’s government and pushing private sector companies to align with the party’s development plans.

“Mr. Pickard’s recent public comments and characterization of the bank are baseless and disappointing,” the AIIB said in the email. It said the bank “supported and empowered him” during his tenure.

“We are proud of our multilateral mission and have a diverse international team representing 65 different nationalities,” the bank said.

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in power when Canada joined the AIIB. The opposition Conservatives have long demanded that Ottawa pull out of the bank, saying it is a tool for Beijing to export authoritarianism throughout the Pacific.

Freeland’s remarks mark a new dip in bilateral relations with China, which have been frosty for the past five years.

The RCMP said Tuesday it is investigating allegations that China tried to intimidate a federal Conservative MP.

Canada has accused China of trying to interfere in its affairs through various schemes, including illegal police stations and the targeting of lawmakers. Beijing denies all such allegations.