44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 8, 2023 02:00PM
- Mar/8/23 2:56:20 p.m.
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The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
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- Mar/8/23 2:56:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister respects committees, why did he prevent them from doing their work?
He is currently obstructing a motion to have his chief of staff testify. Katie Telford was apparently informed by intelligence services of foreign interference in our electoral system.
Will the Prime Minister be transparent and let Katie Telford testify before the parliamentary committee, yes or no?
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- Mar/8/23 2:57:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it has been clearly established that ministerial responsibility is an important responsibility. That is why we are always willing to participate in the work of committees, including by sending the minister responsible for democratic institutions and the foreign affairs minister to committee tomorrow.
I want to quote someone: For hundreds of years, ministerial responsibility has been a key principle in the House and at committees.
The member for Carleton said that. We entirely agree with what he said several years ago.
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- Mar/8/23 2:57:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if he thinks the minister should take responsibility, then why does he not take responsibility?
The Prime Minister has been aware of foreign interference in our electoral system since—
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- Mar/8/23 2:57:56 p.m.
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I am sorry to interrupt, but there appears to be a problem. We want to check to make sure there is interpretation.
It seems that there is no interpretation taking place on Zoom, so we will figure out what the technical issue is and then go from there. In case anyone is wondering, one of the major computers has had to be rebooted. I ask for your patience.
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- Mar/8/23 3:06:50 p.m.
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Is the interpretation working?
Everything is fixed and the computer is plugged back in.
The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
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- Mar/8/23 3:07:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today we learned that a briefing prepared by the Prime Minister's own department for the Prime Minister indicates that there was a large transfer of money, funds, for the 2019 federal election.
Is the Prime Minister aware, yes or no, of any money from the dictatorship in Beijing being sent to candidates, leadership candidates, the party or local party associations?
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- Mar/8/23 3:07:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the national security advisor and I stated last fall, we have no information on federal candidates receiving money from China. That continues to be the case today.
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- Mar/8/23 3:08:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, according to Global News, the Prime Minister's Office was informed in 2019 and 2022 about Chinese authorities interfering in our elections. Nothing was ever revealed; the information was hidden. Either the Prime Minister ignored it, which is dangerously negligent, or he was not informed directly, which means someone on his team was dangerously irresponsible.
Now the Prime Minister's solution is to appoint a secret committee. This is just more secrecy.
Why is the Prime Minister refusing to create an independent public commission of inquiry?
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- Mar/8/23 3:09:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know Canadians need to have confidence in our institutions and in the integrity of our elections and our democracy.
That is why we are going to choose an independent expert to look at the entire landscape around foreign interference in Canada and make sure the measures we have implemented since 2015 are doing the job we want them to do. The expert will also decide whether we need a public inquiry or whether we need other mechanisms to ensure everything is being done and to give Canadians confidence.
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- Mar/8/23 3:09:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, another one of the Prime Minister's solutions is to appoint a special rapporteur, who will be happy to do his bidding, kind of like our leader's golden retriever.
We do not need a special report. What we need is a commissioner that all parties in the House agree on to head up an independent public commission on foreign interference in elections.
Why is the Prime Minister stubbornly refusing to set up an independent public commission?
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- Mar/8/23 3:10:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, those of us on this side of the House have confidence in the experts.
I think we have all heard some experts say we need an independent public commission, while others say a public commission would not be able to do all the fact-checking it would take to give Canadians confidence in our institutions.
That is why we chose to ask an independent, impartial expert to determine the best way to ensure that Canadians can have confidence in what was done.
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- Mar/8/23 3:11:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I just asked the Prime Minister if any parties, leadership campaigns or electoral district associations, that is to say parties and their local arms, received money directed by Beijing. He used the very tiny technical term, “candidate”, which only applies to a limited scenario 30 days before an election. He refuses to answer about whether his party or any other received money directed by the communist dictatorship in Beijing. We can assume that the answer, therefore, is yes.
How much did his party, and other parts of his party, get from the communist dictatorship?
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- Mar/8/23 3:11:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on matters of national security, it is extremely important that we continue to give Canadians confidence that our experts and our officials are doing their jobs. However, it is also important to protect the women and men who serve in our security agencies and who do extremely dangerous work to keep Canadians safe. That is why we have created a committee where all parliamentarians from different parties can get top-secret clearance and look into these matters deeply, without compromising the safety of the people who serve this country.
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- Mar/8/23 3:12:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is not interested in protecting the safety of the people serving this country. He is interested in protecting the Liberal Party of Canada. The question was regarding how much his party got in illegal donations funnelled from Beijing. I have asked the question twice now. He refuses to answer it. He distracts and he now claims that he cannot tell, because it would harm national security. Give me a break. It would harm his political career, once he tells how much the Liberal Party or its various arms received in money from Beijing. How much?
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- Mar/8/23 3:13:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate and despicable that any member in the House would question the loyalty to Canada of any other member in the House. I understand the very real concerns that Canadians feel about foreign interference, and that is why we have created mechanisms to keep Canadians safe. To suggest that anyone in the House is not devoted to serving Canadians and to keeping safe those who serve Canada in dangerous positions is quite disgusting.
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- Mar/8/23 3:13:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, no drama lesson will distract from the question that I asked. The question was very clear: How much did the Liberal Party get in donations directed from Beijing? I have asked it multiple times. I find it incredible that the Prime Minister cannot stand up and answer with a zero. If he knows for sure it did not happen, and he has not been briefed to the contrary, he would say so right now. However, he is dodging the question. He is trying to engage in a dramatic distraction. Therefore, I will give him one more chance to answer the question: How much money did his party get from the dictatorship in Beijing?
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- Mar/8/23 3:14:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I see the Leader of the Opposition trying to backtrack from his heinous and disgusting accusations of disloyalty to Canada of anyone in the House, and I am pleased to see him back off from what was an absolutely despicable partisan approach. However, it does go to the point that Canadians need to have confidence that the answers they are seeking on foreign interference and on the integrity of our democratic institutions are being dealt with by experts. There are two ways of doing that. One way is by making sure that partisans and politicians of all parties get classified briefings on that, which the NSICOP does, and the other is to make sure independent—
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- Mar/8/23 3:15:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as we acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of women and girls in our communities today, there is clearly still work to be done to achieve full gender equality. We have seen a recent increase in anti-feminist and violent rhetoric. This rhetoric is dangerous and has a tangible, harmful impact on our communities.
Can the Prime Minister enlighten us as to where he stands on the issues that continue to hold back our women and girls who have so much to contribute to our communities?
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- Mar/8/23 3:15:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to assure my colleague from London West that we on this side of the House will never accept the anti-feminist, violent and downright dangerous rhetoric that minimizes the contributions of women and girls in our society. Supporting women's rights takes more than just words here in the House. It must be backed up with concrete actions like combatting violence online and in our communities, encouraging the full participation of every woman in society and condemning the use of sexist and misogynistic tags on YouTube posts.
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