44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 4, 2023 10:00AM
- May/4/23 10:01:44 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table, in both official languages, the 2022 CSIS public report, as required pursuant to subsection 20.2(1) of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act. The report stands referred to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.
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- May/4/23 11:09:34 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the way that the process works is that CSIS determines what the briefing should look like. If it rises to the level that it should reach the Prime Minister or the ministers, CSIS makes that determination. If that is not the case, and I am given to understand that it was not the case for the member for Wellington—Halton Hills, a defensive briefing is given to that particular member. It was my understanding that the member was briefed a couple of years ago.
If in fact that is true, if the member for Wellington—Halton Hills was briefed prior to Monday, the minister was informed on Monday. There is a material difference between a briefing given to a member and one given when the level rises such that somebody else, a minister or the Prime Minister, would be informed of the same.
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- May/4/23 11:12:18 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, based on the public report that was tabled today from CSIS, a staggering 49 federal members of Parliament have received briefings from CSIS.
The member for Wellington—Halton Hills is just one of 49. As a matter of fact, I recall a discussion in the PROC committee when the member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon said that he had also received a briefing. I am going to assume that that was a defensive briefing from CSIS as well.
The reality is that CSIS provides these defensive briefings a lot. I am wondering if the member could inform the House as to whether or not he has received a defensive briefing from CSIS?
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- May/4/23 11:13:07 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have not received a briefing of any kind from CSIS.
I would say, as somebody who has worked in the public service, and who had the privilege of working with the folks at CSIS and the RCMP, briefings, when given, are taken seriously. When people are called by CSIS, those briefings should be taken seriously.
What CSIS shares with one individual, when they are being briefed, is not necessarily the purview of others. Those briefings are, hopefully, supposedly held in confidence. It is important for us to recognize the way our security intelligence apparatus works in this country. It works in a way that seeks to not only keep Canadians safe but also ensure that the methods and sources they work with are also preserved and protected, so that the work they do can continue. It is important for all of us in the House to respect that work.
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- May/4/23 12:20:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to correct the record, what I have been saying is that the member for Wellington—Halton Hills received a defensive briefing from CSIS. I do not know the content of what was said and I have not said that—
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- May/4/23 12:39:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, CSIS is the deciding authority that ultimately determines what is brought to a higher level. CSIS did not make the Prime Minister aware of this until Monday of this week, yet the Conservatives have been accusing the Prime Minister of hiding.
The member is asking for members of this side of the House to apologize. He should look in a mirror. Does he not see the hypocrisy that is oozing? Is the Prime Minister not owed an apology, a collective apology from members of the Conservative Party, for their behaviour on this issue?
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- May/4/23 1:33:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what it does is it reminds us all that foreign interference is not new in Canada. It has been around for more than a decade. CSIS has made us aware of it.
What is important to recognize is that this government, since 2015, has taken concrete steps toward providing assurances. There are many other opportunities for us to not only improve this system, but ultimately to work in an apolitical fashion, hopefully, through standing committees and other mechanisms, so we can all get onside and assure Canadians we have a democracy that is healthy, vibrant and that will be there for future generations.
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- 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 2:23:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have just been informed by the national security adviser that the CSIS intelligence assessment of July 20, 2021 was sent by CSIS to the relevant departments and to the national security adviser in the PCO. This report contained information that I and other MPs were being targeted by the PRC.
This contradicts what the Prime Minister said yesterday. He said that “CSIS made the determination that it wasn't something that needed be raised to a higher level because it wasn't a significant enough concern”.
Will the Prime Minister correct the record that this report and information was sent to the departments and to the Privy Council Office?
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- May/4/23 2:24:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, CSIS has been advising the government, the departments, the Privy Council Office, the national security adviser and deputy ministers that foreign agents in Canada, foreign diplomats in Canada, are presenting a threat to Canadian MPs in the House of Commons. In fact, the 2022 intelligence report from CSIS today says, “These threat actors must be held accountable for their clandestine activities.... We will also continue to inform national security stakeholders and all Canadians about foreign interference”.
Why is the government not listening to the advice of CSIS and not listening to the advice in the reports that are being distributed?
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- May/4/23 2:29:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is blaming CSIS, but he has been ignoring their warnings for years.
Even before the 2019 election, CSIS warned him that a Liberal candidate was possibly being supported by China. He ignored that. CSIS later warned him that the same Liberal member was discussing the two Michaels with Beijing. He ignored that. In 2021, CSIS warned him that China was threatening an opposition MP. He ignored that. He is only showing an interest in all this today because the information was leaked to the media.
Is it worthy of a member of the Five Eyes alliance to blame its intelligence service for its own willful blindness?
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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 3:53:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to put on the record that both my colleague from Kitchener Centre and I will be voting for the motion before the House today, and we would wish for Liberal members do so too.
I want to make it very clear that, in voting for the motion before us, I am not saying in any way, shape or form that I do not believe the Prime Minister. Without evidence to the contrary, I absolutely take the Prime Minister at his word that CSIS did not brief him.
When I am asked if I trust the RCMP or CSIS, I say that I would be a fool to do so. The RCMP, we know, is the only agency proven to have interfered in a Canadian election and changed the result from a Liberal win to a Conservative win in 2005. We also know that CSIS is not exactly reliable. It allowed trumped-up charges against Maher Arar and continued to defend them past the point that it knew the charges were a lie and that they were covering up for the false arrest, imprisonment and torture of a Canadian citizen.
I will never blindly trust any agency. I want civilian oversight all the time, and that is why I support an inquiry into this matter. We need to make sure that we know that we do not have vulnerability as Canadians to any form of interference, whether the state police, CSIS or China.
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- May/4/23 3:59:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, what we have are accusations and information. CSIS gathers that information, and its officials determine at what point it reaches a certain threshold to involve and advise different levels of government. They advise what to do in certain circumstances based on meeting or not meeting various thresholds.
If we have a problem with that, then our job as lawmakers is to change the law to make modifications, just as the Prime Minister did when he learned about this. The Prime Minister was shocked about it. He said that, from now on, he wants to know about anything that has to do with any MP.
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