44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 9, 2023 10:00AM
- May/9/23 1:37:20 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to be able to speak on the motion standing in the name of the hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills.
Like most Canadians, I was appalled to hear of the treatment of my hon. colleague, and I immediately presumed that the government would be taking firm action by expelling the Chinese diplomat responsible. That is what any government should do, especially when facts are clear. It should act immediately.
However, the Liberal government did not. It immediately went into its patented circle-the-wagons approach to try to obfuscate, deflect and then pay lip service. Promises were made to stand up to ensure the safety of all members of the House; however, such noncommittal platitudes for the cameras were not backed up by concrete action. The NATO-esque mantra that an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us wears just a little thin. Moreover, one certainly hopes that no member is counting on such whimsical offerings of invisible protection.
Members deserve to know when a threat is made against them by anyone, whether foreign or domestic. They deserve to know who made the threat, when it was made and how the government will respond, hopefully in a timely fashion. This process clearly did not happen in the case of the hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills.
When a member is the target of a threat, they should be advised. This should be carried out efficiently and in the most expeditious manner. The government, CSIS, the RCMP or any other of our security services should be involved. Yet, in this case, while the government indicated that it would stand up for the safety and security of a member, it then pawned it off on others to let the target know.
Information on a threat to the hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills was known within CSIS and, at some point, within the PMO. The Prime Minister and his group of security ministers surely must have known. Why, then, did it take months for the member to be informed of this threat? Was it due to the government's ongoing reluctance to do anything that it thinks would upset the Chinese government? If the safety and security of members is said to be a primary focus of the Prime Minister and his government, one must question how much of a priority is really attached. Would this threat ever have come to light? Did the government adopt a wait-and-see approach? Perhaps it hoped that nothing would happen and that the matter would just go away.
What message does this lackadaisical approach send to Beijing? What picture does it paint of the government's first and foremost role to protect Canadians? It seems that foreign operatives can threaten our citizens at will, and maybe, in a couple of months, our government just might get around to doing nothing.
Perhaps some Liberal Party focus group finally indicated to the government that it should declare Wei Zhao to be persona non grata. However, the government was oblivious to supporting the opposition motion before the House calling for the exact same thing and a few other sensible measures to combat Chinese interference in our democracy.
After the vote passed, with the support of all members of the House except the Liberals and one independent member, the government stood up and announced that Mr. Zhao would be sent packing. It is not a contest. All governments have an obligation to put people before foreign operatives and party polling. Why are we still debating the creation of a foreign agent registry, similar to what the United States and Australia have? Why is the government so opposed to creating a public inquiry on foreign interference? With so much smoke, Canadians know that a good fire is smouldering.
Why is the government so reluctant to shut down Chinese police stations? The U.S. did not put up with this meddling in their internal affairs. The Chinese government would not put up with it for one moment if a few RCMP stations popped up in Shanghai. I do not know what is causing such a timid government response to confronting the issue of foreign interference. Is the government content to display to Beijing that our country is a doormat and will not stand up for MPs and Canadians across our country? Canadians deserve better. Hopefully they will get it, if Beijing allows.
I made reference to Australia. I want to do a Canada-Australia comparative analysis on fighting foreign interference. Both of our countries are resource-based economies. We are of similar size, population and land mass. Frankly, just like them, we have a lot of people spread out and dispersed outside of urban centres, and we share a lot of their multicultural characteristics. However, unlike Canada, Australia has created a foreign agent registry. The country has taken action, even at significant economic cost.
In 2022, over a quarter of Australia's exports, 25.9%, to be exact, went to China. For Canada, it is only 3.7% of Canadian exports. I want to reiterate something that an expert on Chinese Communist Party influence stated. Vice-Admiral Paul Maddison, formerly a commander for the Royal Canadian Navy, now retired, as well as Canada's high commissioner to Australia, stated this: “Exposure to economic coercion [of Canada] is much less than in [Australia], yet Australia has stood up to the CCP, absorbed the costs, diversified trade, and made it clear that no foreign power will be permitted to undermine its democracy and values.”
Is it the government's intention to send a clear signal to Beijing that Canada is a doormat? How difficult is it to create a registry? Did the PSAC strike set it back a few weeks? How has the government stood up and confronted Chinese interference in Canada head-on? I shudder when I think about what our allies must be thinking.
The government recently expressed its desire to enter AUKUS, after the Prime Minister had initially dismissed the security partnership as just looking at nuclear subs. How could our allies trust us? What message does it send, when the Prime Minister seems more intent on communicating to NATO that we will not even bother with hitting 2%, although this is an international commitment that our nation has made?
I also want to address the issue of racism, because it is often raised as a rebuttal to criticize action, whether it be on a foreign registry or otherwise. Right out of the Chinese Communist Party playbook, the issue of racism is used to deflect when there is any sort of real legitimate criticism, whether it be against the ongoing Uyghur genocide or attacking and dismantling the democratic institutions of Hong Kong. China continues its aggression toward Taiwan, threatening any country and trying to intimidate anyone who dares to support the rightful membership of Taiwan in the WHO. This deprived the world of the expertise, lessons learned and best practices that Taiwan could have contributed to help fight the pandemic. There is also ongoing Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, despite UNCLOS, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
We must take action to address foreign interference, and we must take what the hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills has raised very seriously. If we do not, there is a real cloud of racism that is in play here. It hovers over any Canadian of Chinese heritage or anyone who might look like they are of Chinese heritage. We need the government to return to its sunny ways and shine a light into the shadows where foreign operatives hide.
Because there are incredible Canadians of Chinese heritage, and because May is Asian Heritage Month, I want to take this occasion to speak about one of them. I want to highlight Lieutenant-Commander William King Lowd Lore. This hero had his application to join the Royal Canadian Navy rejected three times, in 1940, 1941 and 1942, until the chief of naval staff intervened.
Lieutenant-Commander Lore went on to become not only the first Chinese Canadian officer in the Royal Canadian Navy, but the first naval officer of Chinese heritage to serve in any of the Commonwealth royal navies. There are Canadians of proud Chinese heritage who loyally served this country and continue to do so today. Lieutenant-Commander Lore forged a path for others to be able to follow in his footsteps, including myself, to be able to proudly serve in His Majesty's Royal Canadian Navy.
Speaking of brave leaders, I want to take the occasion to reiterate my support and admiration for the hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills. He is of Chinese heritage like me, but he has served in this House for much longer and has been a role model and a leader who has made it easier for someone like myself to be able to serve, because one cannot be what one cannot see. It is hard for kids growing up without seeing someone who looks like them in a particular role or job to be able to imagine themselves in that position. Whether it is Lieutenant-Commander Lore, whose descendants I had the honour of meeting, or the hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills, they are trailblazers and leaders who made it easier for everyone who came after them.
I want to conclude. Yesterday we finally learned, after the government actually decided to finally do something, that the threshold to expel a diplomat is targeting an MP's family. This is a good first step, but I would argue that setting up illegal police stations in our country and intimidating our people on our soil also warrant action, not the least of which should include shutting down these police stations. Let us show these oppressive regimes that Canada is not a doormat.
I hope the federal government listens to the majority of parliamentarians, who voted yesterday for the Conservative motion on foreign interference.
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- May/9/23 1:50:58 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I remain skeptical that the Prime Minister only just found out, because I have trouble reconciling the fact that his chief of staff said that everything that is put in front of her gets put in front of him.
Let us presume he really did just find out, and accept what my colleague just said. How is that a good excuse? An MP's family was targeted, and only recently, after two years, did he just find out. That is not a good excuse, so either he was willfully ignorant or he intentionally decided not to hear it, or he was incompetent. Those are not good rationales to try to explain this away, and I would encourage my colleague to please drop that talking point.
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- May/9/23 1:52:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for raising a really good point. If, indeed, the Prime Minister only just found out, clearly the system is not working. Clearly, the information that is being assessed is not being passed on to the people who need to know. I think any time a member of the House and their family are being targeted in any way, they must be informed.
I truly hope that, when this government comes out and says “We are going to change that”, it actually will, because for the duration of this government, for more than just two years, the Liberals have come out and made some great promises, which sound really great and make exceptionally awesome headlines, but there is no follow-through and no implementation, and the execution continues to be lacking.
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- May/9/23 1:54:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I agree that whether it is academic partnerships, research and development or corporate investments and so on, all of those have to be examined with a critical eye.
It is not just the Chinese Communist Party. Frankly, influence, potential interventions and other nefarious approaches are being used and deployed by many other regimes. The IRGC is one that comes to mind. I think it is vitally important that, while we start with directly attacking this issue right now of Chinese Communist Party interference, we also keep in mind the full scope that extends beyond that.
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- May/9/23 1:56:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, speaking about rephrasing, I recall that, when this matter surfaced, the member for Kingston and the Islands had initially used the talking point to attack the member for Wellington—Halton Hills and his credibility. That is the thing that continues to stand out to me. I am glad he did end up rephrasing and apologizing for his comment, because I could not think of a more honourable and principled member than the member for Wellington—Halton Hills.
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- May/9/23 1:57:48 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as I said earlier, I remain skeptical and, frankly, the explanation that they did not know is not, in itself, a good excuse for not knowing something that is of the utmost importance, such as a member of the House and their family being targeted. Incompetence and ignorance are not an excuse.
An hon. member: Oh, oh!
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- May/9/23 1:59:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I guess the dynamic Liberal duo is back.
Speaking of offensive, there was nothing more offensive than attacking the credibility, as this member had tried to do, of the hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills. We cannot, on the one hand, try to say that everyone is super honourable, and then, at the same time, attack the honour of another member. This is rich.
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