44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 4, 2023 10:00AM
- May/4/23 2:21:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to assure my colleague opposite that we take the concerns that he has expressed, and that have been expressed in public, with regard to foreign interference and the targeting of himself and his family extremely seriously, which is why we will continue to work with him and provide him with briefings.
I would also point out that, earlier today, we tabled the 2022 CSIS report, wherein it states, among things, that CSIS provided briefings to 49 federal parliamentarians. By working with everybody, we can protect our democratic institutions.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- May/4/23 2:23:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for sharing that update with the chamber. I can also assure him that, as the Prime Minister said and as I said earlier this week, we found out on Monday of this week, which is why we acted very quickly and decisively to reach out directly to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills to make sure that he was offered a briefing and had that briefing happen.
We will continue to work with him to address and mitigate any concerns around foreign interference, because every member in the chamber deserves to be able to do their work in representing their constituencies in a manner that is safe and secure.
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- May/4/23 2:25:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are taking concrete action. In fact, as my colleague would know, I hope, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, earlier today, summoned the Chinese ambassador to ensure that we are clear about any consequences around hostile activities or foreign interference, and that is very much consistent with Canada's strong record in condemning this kind of behaviour. Moreover, we will continue to work with all parliamentarians to protect the people who work in the chamber so that we can uphold our democracy.
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- May/4/23 2:26:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure my colleague. We share the concerns of the member for Wellington—Halton Hills, which is why we offered him a briefing.
We will continue to offer him support, as well as all members who work in the House, to protect our democratic institutions.
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- May/4/23 2:28:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear: It was only on Monday of this week that the Prime Minister, the government members and I were informed about concerns regarding the member for Wellington—Halton Hills. Once we found out, we dealt with the situation. We provided a briefing to the opposition member.
We are going to keep working with all members to protect our democratic institutions.
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- May/4/23 2:30:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government is working closely with our allies, including the Five Eyes and the G7. That is why we created a protocol to combat disinformation. That is why we will continue to work with all parliamentarians to combat foreign interference with tools and resources.
This is not a partisan issue. It is a Canadian issue. We need all members to stand together to protect our democratic institutions.
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- May/4/23 2:33:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague heard earlier in this question period, my colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has summoned the Chinese ambassador to make it abundantly clear what is legitimate and what is not. This is consistent with Canada's strong position when it comes to hostile activities, especially with regard to foreign interference.
Every single member in this chamber has a right to represent their constituents in complete and total safety. We will continue to work across the aisle with all parliamentarians to make sure that objective is secure.
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- May/4/23 2:34:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is one thing I will agree on, and that is that Canada will always be clear about what the boundaries are, and what is right, legitimate and lawful, and what is not.
I will tell the House that that is a far better approach than the one the Conservatives proposed when we were getting the two Michaels back, which would have been to capitulate to the People's Republic of China. We will never do that. We will always stand up for human rights. We got the two Michaels back. We will make sure we protect all members in this chamber, so we can uphold our democracy.
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- May/4/23 2:36:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first I would like to reiterate that we do take the concerns that have been expressed by the member for Wellington—Halton Hills very seriously. That is why, as soon as we were informed about this issue, which was Monday earlier this week, we reached out to him directly. We offered a briefing to him. We made sure that briefing happened, and we will continue to work with him and all members to make sure that we can uphold our democracy.
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- May/4/23 2:36:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, might I suggest that my colleague across the way listen carefully to the answer I have given now on multiple occasions.
As I said, I was informed on Monday of this week of the specific issue pertaining to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills, and shortly thereafter, I reached out to that member. I wanted to make sure that he knew he would have my support and the government's support because we, in fact, do care for his security, for his family's security.
This is not a partisan issue, and making scandalous allegations does not advance the debate around national security. We need to work together to protect our democracy. That is what we are committed to doing.
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- May/4/23 2:38:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government did reach out to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills to express our support for him and his family.
We are concerned about the situation, not only for the member for Wellington—Halton Hills, but also for all members of the House.
It is important to do this work in good faith to protect our democratic institutions.
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- May/4/23 2:39:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this government will always defend the right of all members to be safe when carrying out their duties without the threat of foreign interference.
That is why we granted powers to new authorities. That is why we enhanced the level of transparency by creating the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians to work across party lines. We must work together to protect our democratic institutions.
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- May/4/23 2:40:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for acknowledging the good word done by CSIS, whose report was tabled in the House earlier today.
The report indicates that CSIS offered 49 briefings to members here, in the House of Commons. This is a tangible example of how we can work on protecting our democratic institutions.
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- May/4/23 2:41:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, foreign interference is not a new problem. It has been going on for years. That is why, as soon as this government took office, we gave CSIS new powers, we invested new resources and we enhanced the level of transparency with the help of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency. That is how we can better protect our democratic institutions.
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- May/4/23 2:42:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have made investments and we trust our national security agencies to do the job of protecting all members who work in the House. It is not easy. There are challenges, but if we work together, we can better protect our democratic institutions.
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- May/4/23 2:57:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, any suggestion that we do not have care or concern for the member for Wellington—Halton Hills is absolutely absurd. I have reached out to that member. We made sure that we got a briefing. We will continue to support him and all members in the chamber, because every member of Parliament, every parliamentarian, has a right to represent their constituencies. We need to do this work together so that we can push back against the forces of foreign interference and uphold our democracy.
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- May/4/23 2:58:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have already said, my hon. colleague the Minister of Foreign Affairs summoned the Chinese ambassador to firmly set the boundaries for activities that are legitimate and others that fall under the category of foreign interference.
We will continue to condemn activities in this category to protect our democratic institutions.
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- May/4/23 3:13:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the minister for global affairs, has been abundantly clear that she has convened the Chinese ambassador to make it clear where the boundaries are, and obviously we will continue to condemn any foreign or hostile activities here in Canada.
What we have seen today has been shameful. We have seen unparliamentary language from the Conservatives. Why? Because they would rather highlight the problem than be part of the solution. How do we know that? Instead of supporting this government and giving CSIS the tools it needs, they opposed it, and instead of supporting the committee of parliamentarians, they continue to play Jekyll and Hyde with that committee. They need to stop politicizing this issue and get behind the cause of the government to defend our institutions.
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