The Canadian government intends to sign a multi-million dollar settlement to compensate Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig for the nearly three years they spent in Chinese prisons, the Globe says. The And Mail newspaper reported. reported on Tuesdaysaid a government official.
According to the media, federal lawyers are negotiating compensation for the two people detained in 2018 and hope to reach a financial settlement early in the new year. He added that he was concerned about the possibility of a lawsuit. A spotlight on government security reporting programs.
The Canadian government offered about $3 million for each, but Ms. Spavor’s lawyers sought $10.5 million, alleging gross negligence in Ottawa’s handling of security reporting operations in China, the report added.
The Globe and Mail reported that the government was not prepared to provide the $10.5 million and intended to make a similar offer to both men.
The government did not respond to requests for comment. The two Canadian men could not be immediately reached.
Spavor and Kovrig were detained in China shortly after Canadian police detained Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, on a U.S. warrant.
China has detained two Canadian men for more than 1,000 days, a move at the center of a dispute between Ottawa, Washington and China. The men were released in 2021 on the same day that the U.S. Department of Justice withdrew its extradition request for Meng and returned to China.
Canada and the United States say the detention of the Canadian men (dubbed by Canadian media as the “Two Michaels” in the close encounter) was illegal and arbitrary, a charge that the Chinese government denies. .
Report by Kanishka Singh in Washington