The federal government would be willing to offer Michael Spavor $3 million and Michael Kovrig the same amount to compensate them for the three years they spent in detention in China and avoid possible prosecution.
• Also read: Tensions between Ottawa and Beijing: The “two Michaels” affair is once again haunting Canada
• Also read: Detention of two Canadians in China: Michael Spavor blames Michael Kovrig for his detention
At least that's what the Globe and Mail reported Tuesday, relying on two unnamed federal sources.
According to the daily newspaper, Ottawa wants to conclude an agreement with the two Michaels in early 2024. The Globe's sources indicated that Mr. Spavor's lawyer would in turn seek up to $10.5 million for his client.
Federal authorities are reportedly concerned about possible criminal prosecution of Mr. Spavor for his leadership of Global Affairs Canada's Global Security Reporting Program, a program for which Mr. Kovrig worked for Canada during his time as a diplomat.
Michael Spavor believes he was arrested by Chinese authorities because he unknowingly passed information to Michael Kovrig, who then passed it on to the government.
We recall that the two Canadians were arrested in December 2018, a few days after the arrest in Vancouver of Meng Wanzhou, then financial director of the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, at the request of American authorities. China had accused them of espionage, while the Canadian government had denounced arbitrary arrests.
The two men were finally released in September 2021, shortly after the US ended its prosecution and thus the extradition proceedings against Meng Wanzhou.