SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Hon. Michael Chong

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of the panel of chairs for the legislative committees
  • Conservative
  • Wellington—Halton Hills
  • Ontario
  • Voting Attendance: 65%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $120,269.09

  • Government Page
  • May/29/24 5:07:43 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, there are measures in this bill that will give CSIS the power to disclose classified information to universities, municipalities and provinces to ensure that they have the information they need to protect their interests. We support this measure. We think it is very important to give our national security agencies the power to do that.
57 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • May/4/23 2:24:25 p.m.
  • Watch
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?
104 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • May/4/23 2:23:06 p.m.
  • Watch
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?
114 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • May/3/23 2:36:38 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, in reference to the July 2021 intelligence assessment, this morning, the Prime Minister said, “CSIS made the determination that it wasn't something that needed be raised to a higher level”, but former CSIS director Dick Fadden said that the assessment would certainly have been sent to the Department of Public Safety, the Department Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister's national security adviser, who appears to have been David Morrison, the current deputy minister of foreign affairs. Will the government confirm the Prime Minister's assertion this morning that the intelligence assessment never made it out of CSIS?
103 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/21/23 2:34:17 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. According to reports in The Globe and Mail around the time of the 2021 federal election, CSIS outlined a sophisticated strategy to disrupt our democracy and back the re-election of the Liberal Party and the Liberal government. Has the Prime Minister ever been briefed on the activities of Beijing or its affiliates in support of the Liberal Party in any election, and, if so, when?
75 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/20/23 4:59:21 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, there is a great BBC article on the case of Christine Lee, dated July 19, 2022, entitled, “Why did MI5 name Christine Lee as an ‘agent of influence’?” I encourage the member and others to read that article because it explains the tactics behind MI5 going public with this information. To answer his question, at the end of the day, CSIS cannot go public with any information to the Speaker of the House of Commons, to individual members of Parliament or to political parties or candidates without the express authorization of the Prime Minister. What has been happening is that the Prime Minister has refused to grant this authorization for CSIS to go public with the details of these foreign interference threat activities. That is why it is so critically important that we use the tools of this House and its committees to compel testimony from individuals like Ms. Telford and others and get them to answer questions about what exactly is going on. We can then heed the advice of Five Eyes intelligence experts to use sunlight and transparency to publicly reveal the details of what is going on.
196 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/7/23 2:43:06 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, if the government treated the threat seriously, it would listen to the advice of CSIS. CSIS has said that an effective way to counter foreign interference is through sunlight and transparency, to build resilience by informing Canadians about interference threat activities. The government has done the opposite. First it hid behind excuses and accusations, and then it hid behind a secret committee and a special rapporteur. The government has been anything but transparent about this. It is burying the truth in process. Why?
85 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border