44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 7, 2023 10:00AM
- Mar/7/23 2:25:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the dictatorship in Beijing has been helping the Prime Minister for 10 years. It started with a $200,000 donation to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, and now it has helped Liberal candidates get elected in at least two elections.
What does the Prime Minister want to do? He wants to set up a secret committee that will do a secret investigation with secret information. It is the Las Vegas rule: What happens in committee stays in committee.
What does the Prime Minister have to hide?
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- Mar/7/23 2:26:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we have reassured Canadians quite a bit about the importance of countering foreign interference in elections. That is something my colleague cannot say.
He talked about a 10-year period. However, 13 years ago, intelligence agencies raised the importance of countering foreign interference in elections. At that time, my colleague was the minister responsible for democratic institutions and he did nothing.
That is the opposite of our government's record, and we will continue to do the right thing.
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- Mar/7/23 2:27:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if they have known about it for 13 years, why have they never done anything about it?
Ten years ago, the dictatorship in Beijing gave the Trudeau Foundation $200,000. It then interfered in two elections to help keep the Liberals in power. It even helped campaign for certain Liberal candidates.
What is the solution now? The Prime Minister proposes a secret committee that will do a secret investigation with secret outcomes. This committee will follow the rule of Fight Club. The first rule is that no one talks about the committee.
Why is the Prime Minister trying so hard to keep everything so secret?
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- Mar/7/23 2:27:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition knows very well that our government has taken very robust measures to protect democratic institutions from foreign interference.
Last night, the Prime Minister announced additional measures that will reassure Canadians not only that our democratic institutions are protected from foreign interference, but that those who seek to interfere with these very institutions will be held to account.
That is something that the previous Conservative government did absolutely nothing about.
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- Mar/7/23 2:28:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I forgot to mention that other than the secret committee that will see secret information and never actually publish any information, there will also be something called a rapporteur, a fake new position that the Liberals have invented. Does the rapporteur come with a costume, maybe a cape and a sword? Is this the best they can come up with, a fake position doing fake work?
Why are the Liberals trying to cover up the truth?
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- Mar/7/23 2:29:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we did not need another reason to see that the Leader of the Opposition has never taken this issue seriously.
In fact, yesterday, he said something that was shocking. When I pointed out to him that this had existed as a challenge to Canadian democratic institutions, including when he served as minister of democratic reform, he said that of course the previous Conservative government did nothing about it because it was not to its partisan advantage to do anything about it.
Let us think about that. Protecting our democracy is not a partisan issue; it is a Canadian issue.
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- Mar/7/23 2:29:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, why will the Prime Minister not stand up today and answer a question? Why is he hiding? Why will he not stand from his seat? What is he hiding from Canadians that he stands behind that substandard minister?
He has been hiding this for 10 years. Whatever it is that he is hiding, it must be bad. It must be really bad. How bad is it?
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- Mar/7/23 2:30:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is the height of irresponsibility, when talking about national security, to talk about the fact that national security should just be set aside and we should just open this up as if it could be done. It is not something that I think is being responsible.
Responsible leadership is saying that every single member of the House is totally and utterly committed to protecting Canadian democracy. The assertion that anything else is true is offensive and untrue. Playing games with national security is not appropriate.
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- Mar/7/23 2:30:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister really were interested in protecting national security, he would not be hiding. He would stand up right now and answer the question. Instead, he hides behind those two stooges who protect him—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Mar/7/23 2:31:13 p.m.
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Order. I want to remind hon. members of two things: one, please use parliamentary language and be judicious; and two, we cannot do indirectly what we cannot do directly in the House.
The hon. Leader of the Opposition, from the top, and I am sure he will use both principles in his questions.
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- Mar/7/23 2:31:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was hiding yesterday from the House. He is hiding today from the House. He has been hiding for the last 10 years—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Mar/7/23 2:31:52 p.m.
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Once again, I want to remind hon. members that we cannot do indirectly what we cannot do directly. I do not want to have to move to the next question.
The hon. member can start from the beginning, and I am sure he will use parliamentary judgment.
The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
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- Mar/7/23 2:32:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been hiding this for the last 10 years. Ten years ago, he found out that the Trudeau Foundation got $200,000. Over the last five years, he has had briefing after briefing, warning of interference by Beijing in our elections to support him. Now he is hiding the truth behind a secret committee that will not provide public information.
Whatever he is hiding, it must be bad. It must be really bad. How bad?
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- Mar/7/23 2:32:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member across, the leader of the official opposition, would know well where the Prime Minister is today. He is meeting with the president of the European Commission to talk about national security issues—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Mar/7/23 2:33:02 p.m.
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Order. I want to remind hon. members that one thing they cannot do is refer to either the presence or the absence of someone in the chamber.
I will let the hon. government House leader take it from the top, and I am sure he will be judicious in his words.
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- Mar/7/23 2:33:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, of course that question was asked, despite you saying that it was unparliamentary several times. I want to put that as a matter of record.
Let me say this and be very clear. One of the things that we had as a long tradition in our country was to make sure that when we were dealing with national security, we did not use national security as a way to play partisan politics and to grind an axe on one other.
The reality is that this issue of foreign interference has been a serious issue since well before this government. It was a matter that the member across was responsible for as a minister. They did not take action. We have—
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- Mar/7/23 2:34:24 p.m.
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The hon. member for La Prairie.
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- Mar/7/23 2:34:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, at his news conference on Chinese interference yesterday, the Prime Minister once again made it clear that he just does not get it.
People want a public inquiry. He announced a secret committee. Secret is not public; it is secret. We wanted an independent inquiry.
The Prime Minister is going to appoint a special rapporteur himself. This person will report to him and submit their report to him. That is not independent in the least.
Why is the PM refusing to set up an independent public commission of inquiry?
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- Mar/7/23 2:35:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was very clear yesterday.
Since taking office, we have implemented robust, concrete measures to counter foreign interference in our elections. We also asked a special rapporteur to go over all these issues and, transparently, give the government recommendations for next steps. We will keep doing what needs to be done to reassure Canadians that our elections are free and democratic and that all members of Parliament were 100% elected by Canadians.
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- Mar/7/23 2:35:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what the Liberals do not understand is that this is not about opposing the government.
This is not about one party against another. It is about public trust in the electoral system. It is about ensuring a level playing field from the start. If we cannot address the issue of the integrity of our elections in a transparent manner, frankly, we are in trouble. We will start to look like a banana republic, with all due respect to bananas.
When will the Prime Minister create an independent public commission?
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