As much as Canada’s announcement this month that it will
Both initiatives, along with broader hope that Canada could benefit from China’s economic growth without suffering the costs of its geostrategic coercion, were misplaced. At the time, Ottawa was convinced that spurning membership in the AIIB would endanger its interests as the economic centre of gravity was shifting toward Beijing.
It is true that the Indo-Pacific region is in deep need of infrastructure; the Asian Development Bank notes the regionDespite this, leaving the AIIB won’t deal a fatal blow to Canada’s efforts to contribute to infrastructure development in the region. Ottawa remains an important shareholder in the Manila-based ADB which has a longer, more transparent track record of governance in the region than the AIIB.
This means Ottawa must get creative fast. Our allies are already ahead of us on this front as the U.S., Japan and Australia spearhead, a mechanism to certify infrastructure projects that meet robust international quality standards. The grouping also has been joined by other Western partners, including Britain and Spain.