44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 30, 2022 02:00PM
- Nov/30/22 2:24:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on November 7, Global News reported that the Prime Minister received briefings from CSIS saying that China had funnelled money to federal candidates. The Prime Minister says that he heard nothing about it and knew nothing about it, but since that news came out on November 7, has he asked CSIS whether there is any proof of those allegations?
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- Nov/30/22 2:25:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think all Canadians understand that I need to be deliberate about my answers, when it comes to matters of national security. Canada and its allies are regularly targeted by foreign states like China, including during our elections. Our national security agencies, under this government, are taking more action than ever.
We created an independent panel to evaluate foreign interference threats to Canadian elections and that panel confirms that election integrity was not compromised. Yes, I am regularly—
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- Nov/30/22 2:25:49 p.m.
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The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
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- Nov/30/22 2:25:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is very interesting. He has received briefings. The question, then, is whether he received those briefings since November 7, when Global News reported that CSIS had said the Chinese government had funnelled money to nearly a dozen candidates. The Prime Minister says he knew nothing about money from China to candidates.
However, presumably he would have been curious enough to ask, when he read about it in the news. Did he?
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- Nov/30/22 2:26:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think members and all Canadians understand that I need to be deliberate about my answers when it comes to a matter of national security.
Canada and its allies are regularly targeted by foreign states like China, including during our elections. Our national security agencies, under the current government, are taking more action than ever and indeed are among the global leaders on countering foreign interference in elections. We created an independent panel to evaluate foreign interference threats to Canadian elections that confirms that election integrity was not compromised. I am briefed, but more, all parties are briefed on threats—
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- Nov/30/22 2:27:08 p.m.
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The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
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- Nov/30/22 2:27:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the question is whether he has been briefed since November 7 about whether or not a foreign power funnelled money to Canadian federal candidates, yes or no?
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- Nov/30/22 2:27:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said a number of times in the House, to this moment, I have not. In all the briefings I have received, there has never been information around candidates receiving money from China in the 2019 election or in the 2021 election. We have independent public servants who are engaged to oversee the integrity of elections. They confirmed the elections did complete themselves with full integrity.
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- Nov/30/22 2:28:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, did the Prime Minister ask for briefings on the allegations that were in the November 7 story, yes or no?
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- Nov/30/22 2:28:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know the member opposite, who sat in a cabinet, understands the importance of respecting national security guidelines. On top of that, I know the member opposite understands how important it is to ensure the integrity of our elections, because he was the minister for elections integrity under that previous government. However, under that previous government, while he was making reforms to our elections act, he did absolutely nothing on foreign interference.
What we did was bring in a number of mechanisms and a number of new tools to ensure the integrity of our elections.
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- Nov/30/22 2:28:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister wakes up in the morning, reads a story that says a foreign government funnelled money to Canadian federal candidates, and he cannot tell us if he picked up the phone or face to face asked his officials if these allegations were true.
We will move on to a next question. The Prime Minister said yesterday when I asked if there was any electoral interference from a foreign government that there was none that “significantly changed the outcome of the election.”
Was there any interference, to his knowledge, yes or no?
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- Nov/30/22 2:29:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, like I just said, Canada and most of our allies are regularly subject to foreign interference from various states, including China, on an ongoing basis and including during our elections. That is something the member opposite would know if he had paid attention when he was minister of elections, and also if he were to ask his two colleagues who are previous leaders of the Conservative Party from 2019 and 2021, whose teams were briefed before, during and after those elections on foreign interference.
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- Nov/30/22 2:30:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister denies Chinese interference in and influence over the Canadian government. He said in English that there was little or no significant influence over the 2019 election. I wonder at what point interference is considered to be little, medium, a lot, dangerous or too much.
In 2016, within 48 hours of a Chinese bank being granted the right to operate in Canada, $70,000 from Chinese communities were deposited in the riding of Papineau.
Is this interference or influence?
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- Nov/30/22 2:31:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague raises an important question: Should politicians who make partisan accusations decide whether or not there was problematic interference in our democracy during the election? That is why we leave it up to our intelligence services and experts in the public service. I have created a committee that is responsible for taking an independent and objective look at the electoral system to ensure the integrity of our elections, and that is what it did during the 2019 and 2021 elections.
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- Nov/30/22 2:31:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me make better use of my 35 seconds. In 2016, the Liberal coffers in Papineau, the Prime Minister's riding, got a $70,000 boost from the Chinese communities of Toronto and Vancouver. Around that same time, a new bank was created specifically to serve Chinese communities in Canada.
Looking back, was that interference or influence?
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- Nov/30/22 2:32:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, interference in our democratic processes and our elections is an extremely important and crucial issue. I realize the hon. member is attacking the integrity of our institutions. Canadians can trust the process we set up to oversee the integrity of our elections. I can assure Canadians that, despite the ongoing reality of interference in our country, our democratic institutions and our elections were not affected.
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- Nov/30/22 2:33:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Dr. Guylaine Larose, a pediatrician at CHU Sainte-Justine, is saying she has never seen the emergency room so busy. She has never seen so many children in respiratory distress, so many exhausted doctors and nurses, and so many distraught parents. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister sits back and does nothing.
When are the Liberals going to wake up and offer help, like they did during the pandemic, to save our health care system?
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- Nov/30/22 2:33:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the House respect provincial jurisdictions. We are well aware of how much Canadians are suffering because their health care systems are overwhelmed and struggling to meet the demand. That is why we are here to work with the provinces and territories to improve health care system outcomes. Yes, we are here with more money, but we are also here with more tools to ensure that our systems can improve and remain public, to meet the expectations of Canadians.
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- Nov/30/22 2:34:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, leadership means finding solutions, not hiding behind excuses.
We have another serious threat to our health care system in the form of Danielle Smith's sovereignty act in Alberta. Albertans are worried about their health care system, and the act is going to do nothing to deal with the problem. In fact, it might make things even worse. People in Alberta are worried that Danielle Smith will use the sovereignty act to undermine Canadian laws, like the Canada Health Act, and make patients pay to access hospital services.
What is the Prime Minister doing to stop Danielle Smith from destroying health care in Alberta? What is he doing to protect health care so Albertans get the care they need?
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- Nov/30/22 2:35:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I can very much understand why so many Albertans are preoccupied with the premier's choice to bypass the legislature in order to advance her agenda, but on this side of the House we will remain focused on standing up for Albertans on working constructively with anyone who wants to advance better jobs and a cleaner environment for Albertans, and who wants to work to ensure that they are getting quality health care services with real results and real outcomes.
We are going to continue to work with all Albertans to deliver a brighter future for them.
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