The photo Harper doesn’t want you to see

The first colour photo at the dinner in honour of the President of China released to the media by the PMO, blocks out the person sitting to the right of Hu Jintao because of the angle the picture was taked from and ther small Chinese flag on the table.


However, the next black and white photo below from La Presse newspaper shows Hu Jintao to the right of Harper and the mystery person hidden by the flag in the other photo is revealed to be Andre Desmarais, Power Corp CEO and son-in-law of former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien on Hu Jintao's right-side.

Andre Demarais "reclusive and powerful Quebec billionaire Paul Desmarais made a fortune investing in China early and wisely, plowing investments into the country long before it boasted the world’s fastest-growing economy." (Toronto Star, March 30, 2010)

"In China, the Desmarais own 4.3 per cent of Hong Kong- based Citic Pacific Ltd., a steel, m ining and real estate development company with a market value of $7.2 billion as of July 13. [Son] Andre Demarais joined the board in 1997. His fathhr first ventured into China in the 1970s." (Bloomberg Markets, September, 2009)

" "Desmarais grew to command the intersection of Canadian business and politics through close relations with four prime ministers. He was a backroom adviser, Lank says, to [leftist, Liberal] Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who was elected in 1968 and led Canada for 14 years. [Conservative Prime Minister Brian] Mulroney worked as a labor lawyer for Desmarais before he headed to Ottawa. Paul Martin, Canada’s prime minister from 2003 to 2006, ran Power Corp.’s Great Lakes shipping operation before buying it from Desmarais in 1981. Jean Chretien, prime minister from 1993 to 2003, is part of the family: Chretien’s daughter, France, is married to Andre. Mulroney and Trudeau both did stints on Power Corp. advisory boards after they left office. " (Bloomberg, July 30, 2009)

Just the day before, the head of CSIS sounded the alarm about extensive Red Chinese espionage and influence peddling in Canada.
"Canada's spy agency suspects that cabinet ministers in two provinces are under the control of foreign governments, CBC News has learned.Several members of B.C. municipal governments are also under suspicion, Richard Fadden, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told CBC News in an exclusive interview. " (CBC, June 23, 2010)



Norman Spector blogs on politics, government and the mass media.



Friday, June 25, 2010 5:31 AM
The photo Harper doesn’t want you to see

Norman Spector
In addition to avoiding press questions yesterday, the Prime Minister’s Office took great care in the photo of last night’s state dinner released to the media and that it posted on the PM’s website.



The photo (with accompanying caption) that you’ll find in La Presse today.



At last night’s dinner in Ottawa in honour of President Hu, from left to right, André Desmarais, president and co-Chair of the Power Corporation Board of Directors … who has contributed greatly to the strengthening of China-Canada relations, Hu Jintao and the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper.