44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 2, 2023 10:00AM
- May/2/23 2:34:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as this is the first occasion that the member for Wellington—Halton Hills has risen since this matter was brought to the attention of the public and this chamber, I want to express solidarity to him and to his family. We will continue to work with him and all parliamentarians to make sure he and all parliamentarians get the support they need.
Since the outset, when we took the reins of government, we have been vigilant in fighting against foreign interference. We have put in place the people, the resources, the tools and the oversight, as the Prime Minister just said, to defend our institutions. We will do that work together.
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- May/2/23 2:35:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague across the aisle for highlighting the directive that this government has put in place to ensure transparency and accountability around decisions, which are taken independently by our non-partisan professional public servants when it comes to which classified information is made public and which must remain classified to protect the people who work in that space.
This is not a partisan issue. We must all work together to defend the institutions, the communities and, most important, the parliamentarians who serve those institutions to protect our democracy.
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- May/2/23 2:36:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have just said, it is our non-partisan independent public servants who make decisions around operations, including which classified information is made public, and for good reason. It is important that we protect the people who work in those institutions, not only to protect our national security but to protect the people who work within these institutions, including parliamentarians.
Let me just say that it is outrageous to make the claim that any member of Parliament would stand for any attack on any parliamentarian. We are united in fighting against foreign interference.
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- May/2/23 2:37:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague can continue to ask the same question and she will get the same answer.
It is this government that has raised the bar on transparency, when it comes to protecting our institutions, by creating a committee of parliamentarians, by creating NSIRA. By the way, I would point out the Conservatives had nearly 10 years to create those institutions and they never did.
Rather than suggesting that we stand up, I suggest they now stand up and get behind the cause of the government so we can protect all parliamentarians and our institutions.
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- May/2/23 2:38:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to my colleague, that is the same question and I will give the same answer.
The government increased the level of transparency by creating a committee of parliamentarians to examine national security issues and by creating the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, or NSIRA. We will continue to work with all members to protect our institutions, and, more importantly, with all the people and all MPs who work in this institution to protect democracy. That is the most important thing.
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- May/2/23 2:38:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the question is always the same, so the answer is always the same.
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- May/2/23 2:39:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to my colleague, it is absolutely outrageous that the Bloc Québécois would suggest that this government stood idly by on an issue such as this one, which affected a member of Parliament and his family.
This is why the government has created tools to give our communities certain national security responsibilities in order to defend everyone working in our institutions. We will remain vigilant on this issue.
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- May/2/23 2:40:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I already explained, this government is truly proactive when it comes to dealing with the challenge of foreign interference.
That is why we gave more powers to CSIS. That is why we introduced Bill C‑76 to crack down on foreign contributions that could pose a threat to our institutions.
We will continue to do this important work to protect communities, institutions and, more importantly, all Canadians.
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- May/2/23 2:43:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the Conservatives continue to pose the same question, they will get the same answer.
At the very core of the premise of those questions is the suggestion that somehow this government does not care about the hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills. Nothing could be further from the truth. We may have disagreements in this chamber about domestic and foreign policy, but we will always stand united behind the right of all members to do their job to represent their constituencies, because that is a fundamental value of standing up for democracy.
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- May/2/23 2:44:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since we continue to get the same question in a broken-record format, let me highlight exactly what we are doing to combat foreign interference.
We introduced Bill C-59 to give CSIS additional threat reduction measure powers. We introduced Bill C-76 to crack down on foreign funding. We introduced the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians so we could work across partisan lines. We finally introduced NSIRA to ensure transparency on how we do this work to Canadians.
What is the distinction? We did those things; the Conservatives opposed.
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- May/2/23 2:45:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have explained several times now, decisions about what information should or should not be shared with the public are made by our public servants, who work in an independent and non-partisan manner. Yes, I will be working with the member for Wellington—Halton Hills to brief him and share information, because this government is there to protect not only that member, but everyone who works in the House.
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- May/2/23 2:46:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think my hon. colleague understands the answer now. I hope that he and all of his colleagues will change their position on national security issues and challenges and support all of the government's efforts, such as creating new powers, increasing transparency and, most importantly, protecting democratic institutions as well as everyone who works in those institutions.
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- May/2/23 2:51:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there have been a number of questions on this issue. I agree with my Conservative colleague, in a moment of some consensus, that decisions regarding national security and intelligence should not be politicized.
I would certainly hope that this is not what the Conservative leader is now suggesting, yet it was him who said, a little more than a month ago, that when he was the minister responsible for democratic institutions, he knew about these things and he did not act because he did not think it was in his interest to do so. Let us now unite—
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- May/2/23 2:52:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am somewhat encouraged. At least the Conservative leader is now using the right words for a change, in that he is saying it is non-partisan, which is what the government has been saying for months now on this issue. I have said to the Conservative leader and the member for Wellington—Halton Hills that we will work with them to get them the information on this issue.
CSIS has offered a briefing to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills, and the Conservatives now, finally, hopefully after some reflection, will agree to work with the government to protect our institutions and the people who work in this chamber.
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- May/2/23 2:53:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely outrageous that the leader of the Conservatives would suggest that the government has no concern for the member for Wellington—Halton Hills. I contacted him yesterday to offer support and to offer a briefing with CSIS. This government is committed to working with all members of the House to protect our institutions and everyone who works here.
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- May/2/23 2:54:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said now on numerous occasions, decisions regarding what information that touches on security and intelligence is released into the public domain are made by our independent and non-partisan public servants. We have reached out to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills.
The government's commitment is to work with him and all members of this chamber so we can do the work of protecting our institutions, our communities and, most importantly, the people who represent, in this chamber, the 338 ridings. We will do that work in a non-partisan way.
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- May/2/23 3:02:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I explained to my colleague, the RCMP has taken decisive action to deal with the so-called Chinese police stations. The RCMP will continue to monitor whether there are others. I hope that all members expect the RCMP to remain vigilant on this issue.
More importantly, budget 2023 allocates $49 million to deal with this matter. I hope that my colleague and all Conservatives will support the budget.
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