44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 6, 2023 11:00AM
- Mar/6/23 2:16:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about an urgent matter related to the toxic substance crisis.
As we all know, this crisis has been devastating for communities, resulting in countless lives lost and families torn apart. More needs to be done to address this crisis, yet some in this House would rather use misinformation and score political points than care about the best interests of those struggling.
We know that solutions based on the advice of medical health experts save lives; these include safer supply and on-demand treatment for those who are struggling with addiction. Recovery without supports can become a revolving door, and relapses to street drugs are particularly dangerous.
Harm reduction has an important role to play in recovery. We need more examples of the collaborative work that is happening through events like the community dinner and dialogue that took place in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith just a few days ago. At this event, frontline workers, substance users and members of the community all came together to find a path forward.
The Liberal government must prioritize the health and safety of people. I urge all members of this House to work together and support these initiatives to save lives.
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- Mar/6/23 2:17:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today I salute the courage, determination and dedication of two volunteer firefighters from Berthier—Maskinongé.
I want to pay tribute to Denis Ringuette, who is celebrating 50 years of service as a volunteer firefighter in Louiseville, as well as Jacques Pellerin of Yamachiche, who has completed 52 years of loyal service.
They have stepped up for over 50 years, always willing to risk their lives to save others and always ready to suddenly leave a family dinner or a child's party to run towards danger and protect their community. Conviction and a sense of duty spur them on.
Their dedication has kept their fellow citizens safe and protected all these years. Their outstanding discipline and sense of duty has no doubt brought their community peace of mind.
It is with great respect that I congratulate them for their diligence and perseverance.
I want to thank these gentlemen.
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- Mar/6/23 2:18:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for years, CSIS has assessed that Beijing's foreign interference “can pose serious threats” to the security of Canada. CSIS tracked this interference and brought it to the attention of the Prime Minister, as have others, like Global Affairs Canada's G7 rapid response mechanism.
CSIS advised the Prime Minister that “Canada can make use of a policy that is grounded in transparency and sunlight in order to highlight the point that [foreign interference] should be exposed to the public” and that “Canada can counter [foreign interference] activities by building resilience.” To build resilience, Canadians, communities and all levels of government need to be aware of foreign interference threat activities.
The Prime Minister has ignored this advice. He needs to heed the advice of experts, treat Beijing's foreign interference as the serious threat it is and tell us and Canadians exactly what is going on.
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- Mar/6/23 2:19:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Peter Herrndorf, a giant in the Canadian arts and culture community and a beloved leader, who died on February 18. Peter spent a lifetime devoted to nurturing our artists, storytellers, journalists and administrators to tell the stories of Canada.
Among many accomplishments, Peter was instrumental in creating The Journal at the CBC and The Agenda at TVO. During his 19-year tenure as president and CEO of the National Arts Centre, he brought together artists and performers from across the country to make it the creative force it is today. He also developed the National Arts Centre's Indigenous Theatre, the first national indigenous theatre department in the world. His most recent role was as chair of Luminato.
Our deepest sympathies go to his wife, Eva Czigler; his children, Katherine and Matthew; and his entire family.
Peter was a passionate defender of public broadcasting and Canadian arts and culture. He will be deeply missed, but his contributions have left a lasting legacy and inspired a new generation of Canadian artists and talent.
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- Mar/6/23 2:21:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for the past 10 years, the authoritarian government in Beijing has been trying to give the Prime Minister a helping hand politically, starting with a $200,000 donation to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.
Our intelligence services have since informed the Prime Minister that the Chinese government has interfered in two elections to help the Liberal Party, yet the PM has done absolutely nothing.
Will he finally allow a public independent investigation so Canadians can get the truth?
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- Mar/6/23 2:21:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it will come as no surprise to you that I disagree with the opposition leader's false claims that the government did nothing. As soon as we came to power, we took action against foreign interference in our elections. Ours is the only government ever to have done so.
When my friend, the opposition leader, was the minister responsible for democratic institutions, he did nothing when intelligence agencies raised the issue over 10 years ago.
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- Mar/6/23 2:22:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we did not have to, because the Communist dictatorship in Beijing was not helping the Conservative Party to get elected.
Contrary to that, for 10 years the Communist dictatorship in Beijing has been helping the Prime Minister. It gave $200,000 in donations to the Trudeau Foundation and interfered in two successive elections to help the Liberals win. Moreover, the Prime Minister knew about it. After numerous briefings to that effect, he has done absolutely nothing to stop it because he benefits from it.
Will the Prime Minister finally allow a public and truly independent investigation of it?
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- Mar/6/23 2:23:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we take the issue of foreign interference in Canada's electoral system, any foreign interference, very seriously.
That is why when we formed government, we took a number of unprecedented steps that did not exist when my friend was a minister in the previous government. We created the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians precisely so that parliamentarians from all political parties could have access to classified information and published reports for Canadians. We set up an independent panel of senior public servants to follow exactly the issue of foreign interference in the elections, and we will continue to do more.
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- Mar/6/23 2:23:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all they have done is had the former CEO of the China-financed Trudeau Foundation write a report about it in which he unsurprisingly says, “Do not worry; be happy.”
We know why the Liberals want to cover this up: They benefited from Beijing's interference in two successive elections. The question is, why is the NDP not actually doing its job? New Democrats have been working against transparency by preventing top Liberal campaign operatives and PMO officials from testifying in committee.
Why will the NDP not stop its cover-up coalition and allow top-level officials to testify and answer questions?
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- Mar/6/23 2:24:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition wants top-level officials to testify publicly before parliamentary committees.
The good news is that is exactly what they did last week, including the heads of our intelligence agencies, the deputy minister of foreign affairs, and the national security and intelligence advisor to the Prime Minister. I know my friend would be very excited to know that I am going to procedure and House affairs committee myself on Thursday, and I would be happy to answer any questions.
From the beginning we have said that we take this issue very seriously. We have put in place unprecedented steps to deal with foreign interference, and we will continue to do more.
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- Mar/6/23 2:25:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we learned that the Prime Minister now has a big announcement to make at 5:00 p.m. today. This, after 10 years of having known that Beijing was interfering to support him with donations to the Trudeau Foundation and help in numerous federal election campaigns. Now he is announcing something.
We know that he is probably going to try to sweep this under the rug by naming a Liberal establishment insider to have a secretive process that would never bring about the truth. What we do not know for sure is whether the NDP is once again going to be a co-conspirator in making that happen.
Will we have a final and clear public investigation so that Canadians know the truth?
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- Mar/6/23 2:25:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition was the minister responsible for democratic reform in the previous Conservative government.
In 2013, CSIS identified foreign interference as a challenge in the electoral context. Mr. Harper's former national security advisor raised this publicly in 2010, 13 years ago. When my hon. friend was the minister responsible for this very file, he did absolutely nothing to deal with the question of foreign interference.
I know he is frustrated that we have done so much. The good news is that we will continue to do more because we take this issue very seriously.
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- Mar/6/23 2:26:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that member could have walked across the floor and let me know that the Trudeau foundation had received $200,000 from Beijing, let me know that the dictatorship in Beijing was planning to interfere in successive elections to help Liberals get elected. If they had been transparent about that back then, we would not be having this conversation now. Instead, we have had 10 years of cover-ups from the Prime Minister, who has benefited from the interference, known about it, been briefed on it and done nothing except to try to sweep it under the rug.
Will the NDP stop covering up for the Liberals and get top PMO and Liberal party officials to answer questions before our committee?
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- Mar/6/23 2:27:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, just because the Leader of the Opposition keeps insisting on a falsehood does not make it real. He knows very well that our government took unprecedented steps to deal with this issue, because we take it seriously: a panel of senior public servants, chaired by the Clerk of the Privy Council; setting up in law the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, including representatives from all political parties.
We have taken this issue seriously. We have made senior officials available at parliamentary committees. We will continue to do everything we can to strengthen Canadian democratic institutions.
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- Mar/6/23 2:28:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the revelations about Chinese interference reported in The Globe and Mail are cause for concern.
Whether the outcome of the last election would have been the same is not the issue. Any time the integrity of the democratic process is threatened, it is the responsibility of all of us in the House to defend that process. Public trust in our democratic system is at stake here. This goes far beyond partisan politics.
Will the Prime Minister create an independent commission of public inquiry on foreign interference in our elections?
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- Mar/6/23 2:28:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my hon. colleague that this should be a non-partisan issue, because we all have an interest in protecting and strengthening our democratic institutions.
Our government has introduced a series of robust measures that were assessed by independent experts following the last two federal elections. The good news is that we are always looking for additional measures that we can bring in with the support, I hope, of all parliamentarians in order to strengthen our democratic system.
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- Mar/6/23 2:29:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the experts. Jean-Pierre Kingsley, the former chief electoral officer, Gerald Butts, a former advisor to the Prime Minister, and even Morris Rosenberg, all agree that there needs to be a public inquiry on the integrity of our elections.
We can look all we want, but it seems that no one is opposed to shedding light on any threat to the functioning of our democratic system. There must be no doubts about the legitimacy of the presence of a member in the House. That is something we definitely do not want.
When will the government establish a public and independent inquiry on foreign interference in elections?
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- Mar/6/23 2:30:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe that our government has been very transparent about our efforts to counter foreign interference in our elections and our democratic system.
We look forward to working with all parliamentarians in the House of Commons and the Senate. That is exactly why we created, for example, a parliamentary committee to study these and other issues and to report to Canadians. We created intelligence review agencies to effectively ensure that our democratic institutions are protected, and we continue to look for other solutions at the same time.
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- Mar/6/23 2:30:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are very troubled about the allegations of foreign interference in our elections, but the Prime Minister does not seem concerned at all.
The former head of CSIS, the former head of Elections Canada and even Morris Rosenberg, who wrote the 2021 federal election report, are all encouraging the Prime Minister to go forward with a national public inquiry on foreign interference. PROC of the House of Commons has even adopted an NDP motion that the House may vote on soon, calling for a public inquiry as well.
Therefore, why is the Prime Minister so opposed? Why is he refusing to get answers for Canadians?
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- Mar/6/23 2:31:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government is taking the issue of foreign interference in Canada's democratic institutions very seriously. As my colleague heard, our government has taken unprecedented steps since we formed the government in 2015 to put in place a series of measures precisely to provide greater transparency and understanding to Canadians on a threat that has existed for well more than 13 years, which has been publicly discussed for over a decade.
The good news is that our government takes it seriously. The good news is that the 2019 and 2021 elections were decided freely and fairly by Canadians.
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