SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 169

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 20, 2023 11:00AM
  • Mar/20/23 12:10:27 p.m.
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moved: That, given the many reports of foreign interference in Canada’s democratic processes by, or on behalf of, the communist regime in Beijing, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics be empowered and instructed to study all aspects of foreign interference in relation to the 2019 and 2021 general elections, including preparations for those elections, and, to assist the committee with this study, (a) Katie Telford, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, be ordered to appear before the committee as a witness, for three hours on her own, under oath or solemn affirmation, at a date and time, no later than Friday, April 14, 2023, to be fixed by the Chair of the Committee; (b) the following individuals be invited to appear as witnesses before the committee on dates and times to be fixed by the Chair of the Committee, but no later than Friday, May 19, 2023, (i) the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, to appear on her own for two hours, (ii) the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, to appear on his own for two hours, (iii) the Minister of Public Safety, to appear on his own for two hours, (iv) Morris Rosenberg, author of the assessment of the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol for the 2021 general election, to appear on his own for two hours, (v) Janice Charette, Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, to appear on her own for two hours, (vi) a panel consisting of the 2019 and 2021 national campaign directors for each recognized party in the House, (vii) a panel consisting of the security-cleared party representatives to the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections during the 2019 and 2021 general elections, (viii) a panel consisting of the Hon. Ian Shugart, Greta Bossenmaier, Nathalie Drouin, Gina Wilson and Marta Morgan, members of the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol Panel during the 2019 general election, (ix) James Judd, author of the assessment of the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol for the 2019 general election, to appear on his own, (x) a panel consisting of David Morrison, François Daigle, Rob Stewart and Marta Morgan, members of the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol Panel during the 2021 general election, (xi) David Vigneault, Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, to appear on his own for two hours, (xii) John McCall MacBain former Chair of the Board of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, (xiii) Élise Comtois, former Executive Director of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, (xiv) the Hon. John McCallum, former Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, to appear on his own for one hour, (xv) Jennifer May, Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, to appear on her own for one hour; (c) for the purposes of this study, it be an instruction to the committee that, (i) it hold at least one additional meeting, for a duration of three hours, during each House sitting week concerning this study, (ii) it hold at least one meeting during the adjournment period beginning Friday, March 31, 2023, if necessary, for the purposes of paragraph (a), (iii) any proceedings before the committee in relation to any motion concerning non-compliance with paragraph (a) of this order shall, if not previously disposed of, be interrupted upon the earlier of the completion of four hours of consideration or one sitting week after the motion was first moved and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the motion shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment; (d) for the purposes of this study, the committee shall, notwithstanding paragraph (p) of the special order adopted on Thursday, June 23, 2022, have the first priority for the use of House resources for committee meetings; and (e) the evidence and documentation adduced by the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs during the current session in relation to its study of foreign election interference shall be deemed to have been laid upon the table and referred to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.
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  • Mar/20/23 2:40:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe the hon. member across from me to be an honourable member. I am absolutely certain of his commitment to Canadian democracy. I hope that he would share the belief that every member in the House is equally committed to our Canadian democracy and equally offended at the idea of foreign interference interrupting it. What concerns me is that we have provided mechanisms for every party to be able to look at every aspect of this. We provided an eminent Canadian who is going to look at this independently and provide recommendations. We have offered multiple ministers, multiple witnesses. Their interest continues to be a partisan interest, not a factual interest. That is inappropriate.
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  • Mar/20/23 5:34:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, often Liberal members get criticized for not answering questions. I am going to ask the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader the simple question for a third time. NDP members last week supported the idea of having the Prime Minister's chief of staff and key witnesses testify in committee on what they knew and how they knew it when it came to Beijing's election interference. Suddenly, they are wavering. Can the member answer the question with a yes or a no? Have they made the vote tomorrow a confidence matter? For the third time, is it yes or no?
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