- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Bloc Québécois
- Trois-Rivières
- Quebec
- Voting Attendance: 62%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $100,349.98
- Government Page
- Jun/16/23 11:39:08 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we have just one week left until the House rises for the summer. There is only one week left for the government to finally launch the commission of inquiry into Chinese interference that the public has been calling for since last winter.
I urge my Liberal colleagues to face reality. They must all realize by now that this commission of inquiry is inevitable. Above all, I appeal to their democratic values. There is a real risk. They must also realize that such a commission would absolutely have to publish its recommendations on how to better protect democracy before the next election.
Will the government give the green light to this independent public commission of inquiry?
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- Jun/5/23 2:37:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is impossible to get answers about Chinese interference. When the Bloc Québécois asks how many elected officials in total have been the target of threats or disinformation campaigns, the government refuses to answer. When the Conservatives ask how many Chinese police stations remain open, it refuses to answer. When the NDP asks about the relationship between the special rapporteur's staff and the Liberal Party, it refuses to answer. Then, when all three parties call for a public inquiry, the government still refuses. This is an affront to democracy.
Where will we find the answers if the government refuses to provide them and refuses to hold a public inquiry?
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- Jun/2/23 11:26:54 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, let us get back to the basics when it comes to Chinese interference. The problem is China's actions and the fact that the Johnston report prevents us from dealing with them because, as a result of that report, there will be no inquiry into the Chinese police stations, the election candidates supported by China, the intimidation of the Chinese diaspora or the threats against elected officials. In the years I spent working as an ethicist, I lived by this adage: “Any action that needs darkness to succeed is probably more unethical than an action that can stand the light.” In this case, there is a lot of darkness. Let us shine a light on what is happening by holding an independent public inquiry.
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- May/9/23 2:59:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it did take two years. The Liberals do nothing about Chinese interference until it makes headlines. They were fine with holding a $1,500-a-head cocktail party fundraiser with Beijing's buddies. They were fine with connections between a Toronto Liberal MP and the Chinese government. They ignored threats against an opposition member. That had to make headlines before the government started behaving like a government should.
The Liberals have no interest in casting light on interference. They would rather keep it all hidden and hope the media does not try to ferret out the truth. When will there be an independent public inquiry?
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- May/8/23 4:18:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are certainly seeing a fundamental shift when it comes to foreign interference. China, Russia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates are involved. A number of countries today have new tools that they are using for nefarious purposes.
However, today's debate is about China. We have reason to believe that it has a slightly different strategy. Russia tends to carry out brutal attacks, but China thinks in terms of generations. China has had a presence in Canada for some time. The Chinese police stations have been operating for some time. They did not just materialize overnight.
I think we need to start trying to understand. Experts on China tell us that it is a bit like erosion. Say I see a river when I am young. Fifteen years later, it will have eroded, yet I walked by it every day and did not see the erosion happening. Erosion is a silent transformation.
Right now we are seeing the result of the silent transformation that we failed to see, failed to monitor or did not want to see, as the case may be. There has been a transformation, and we need to acknowledge it. The global landscape has changed.
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- May/4/23 4:44:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, after hearing about Chinese police stations, interference attempts at universities and everything else, I wonder if my colleague is prepared to understand or actually accept the fact that there are regimes in this world that are ideologically and philosophically opposed to democracy and that the current Chinese regime is one of those regimes.
Does my colleague agree with me that the Chinese regime is hostile to democracy?
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- Apr/25/23 2:41:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to paraphrase what Isabelle Hachey said in La Presse this morning, the Trudeau Foundation is a catalogue of friends of the Liberal Party of Canada.
This catalogue is not subject to the legislation governing political party financing. What a great way for a foreign power to contribute to this catalogue of friends of the Liberal Party, when the Liberal Party is in power. That is exactly what China did.
Why does this government refuse to recognize that the only reason the Chinese authorities would donate to the Trudeau Foundation is to curry favour with the Prime Minister?
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- Mar/20/23 1:37:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I really enjoy hearing from my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.
China does not have a monopoly on interference. That would be my first point.
Also, we have to be very careful because, when we talk about the Chinese Communist Party interfering, we are not saying that allegations should be made against Chinese Canadians. That is very different. We have to be careful not to stigmatize people unnecessarily by stigmatizing a community. It is the Chinese Communist Party that is the problem here.
I agree with my colleague that China does not have a monopoly on interference.
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- Mar/6/23 2:41:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are two possibilities: Either Chinese authorities are interfering in our electoral system and we have to do everything in our power to stop them, or there is no interference and a commission of inquiry will help restore public trust in our electoral system. In any case, the best thing to do, or rather, the only thing we can do to ensure that the public continues to trust their institutions, is to launch an inquiry.
Under these circumstances, when will the government call an independent commission of public inquiry?
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- Feb/17/23 11:56:10 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, China's election interference is a threat to democracy that neither partisanship nor denial will help vanquish. We must all work to make elections impervious to foreign manipulation. The problem is, the government is hiding the truth from people. Not only was it aware of what was going on, but it discussed the matter with allied countries. Not only did it know candidates had received illegal contributions, but it knew which candidates and even refunded the money.
When will the government understand that it cannot overcome Chinese interference by being as opaque as China?
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