The allegations were made by Bob Pickard, a Canadian citizen who resigned as global head of communications for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank earlier this week. The Canadian government announced Wednesday it would “immediately halt all government-led activity” with the AIIB, a development bank led by China that also counts G7 countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany as members.
Scrutiny over China Canada joined the AIIB in 2018, and has since pledged a total of $995.4 million, according to the bank. In her remarks Wednesday, Freeland said the government review would be expedited, and that she was “not ruling out any outcome following its completion.” She said Canada would discuss the matter with allies and partners who are also members of the bank.