- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs
- Liberal
- Beauséjour
- New Brunswick
- Voting Attendance: 65%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $117,680.95
- Government Page
- May/29/24 4:51:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I salute the committee's decision to do a prestudy. We think that is very positive and will help our colleagues on the committee be able to judge what amendments are appropriate and how to deal with what is a series of complex legislative amendments.
I certainly share the concern of our colleague from the NDP around the appropriate handling of the datasets to move a national security institution from an analog era to a digital era. That obviously comes with the required and appropriate safeguards that need to be increased. They need to be understood and applied by CSIS at all times. I am happy to work with the service and with colleagues in this place to make sure the understandable concern around the appropriate handling of the data, and the privacy rights of Canadians in particular, is respected.
I am glad the member acknowledged that members of the House from all caucuses have themselves been targeted or affected by foreign interference, and it is a source of concern for every member of the House.
I also note his question around clandestine work. It goes without saying that some people are prepared to take injurious actions against the national security of our country. Some of the briefings I have from CSIS officials give me perhaps a unique perspective, or a perspective that not many people can have, about the nature of the threat some of the hostile state actors present to the security of our country. Therefore, I take his comments around their desire to comply with a registry with the seriousness in which he made them. The committee may have reflections on how the penalties might be strengthened. We think they are significant and severe, but we, again, will work with parliamentarians in this regard.
The member's comments around how we disrupt and ultimately prosecute some of the very hostile, threatening actors who may be operating in Canada today are ones every government has struggled with. The ability to take intelligence information and turn it into evidence in a criminal trial is something Five Eyes partners struggle with. I have had those conversations with our colleagues from the Five Eyes community.
We are always looking at ways the RCMP, which would have the investigative authority in terms of criminal activity in Canada, is able to work with its partners. However, often the very intelligence information CSIS would get from partners comes with caveats; therefore, the ability to turn it into a criminal prosecution remains a challenge, but we are very much focused on what we can do in that regard as well.
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- Feb/12/24 2:24:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am surprised that the Leader of the Opposition would mention investing in border security, when his government cut 1,000 officers who did the exact kind of work that he is now pretending he wants to invest in. It eliminated 50% of the intelligence capacity in the Border Services Agency to work with local provincial police and the RCMP. We have no lessons to take in investing in border security from somebody who gutted the Border Services Agency.
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- Dec/7/23 3:07:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have obviously had a number of discussions with senior RCMP officials about the importance of strengthening our position at the border. The integrity of our borders is obviously an issue that the government takes very seriously. I have discussed this with my American counterpart, Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas.
I can assure my colleague that the number of RCMP officers, for example in his province, Quebec, who are dedicated to organized crime and border security will not decrease.
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- Nov/24/23 12:08:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be very happy to get those exact details and provide them to the member.
I can tell him that, as the member of Parliament for Beauséjour, when I visited the medium-security prison Dorchester Penitentiary, I met inmates and CORCAN staff who work on exactly those programs. I share his view that if we can give inmates the skills and ensure that, for example, they complete their high school education or a trade, it will make them much more likely to successfully reintegrate into society when they finish their sentence. That keeps Canadians safe as well.
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- Sep/21/23 2:56:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what our government is choosing to do is to invest in all the necessary instruments to ensure that our communities remain safe.
We are investing in the Correctional Service of Canada precisely to ensure that these most dangerous criminals serve their time in the appropriate facilities. We are investing in border services, something the Conservatives gutted, to keep illegal guns and drugs from entering our country.
Our government will continue to support victims, but will continue to ensure we have a robust criminal justice system that treats everybody with the appropriate security.
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- Sep/21/23 2:53:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, just because our colleague on the other side repeats the same silly phrase does not make it true.
Our government has never been asleep when it comes to community safety, when it comes to investing in police services, border security and undoing some of the cuts of the Harper government to our border services particularly to keep guns and drugs out of Canadian streets.
Our government is committed to doing everything necessary for the safety of Canadians, including having a robust and strong correctional system.
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- Jun/14/23 2:30:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
I share the interest of all parliamentarians in finding the right process and, as I have said, a public inquiry has never been ruled out. However, it is a matter of finding the right way to do the work in a respectful manner, while taking into account the importance of protecting highly confidential security information, in order to rebuild Canadians' trust.
That is what we are going to do, hopefully with the support of the opposition parties.
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- Jun/12/23 2:41:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am encouraged by our colleague's comments about the kind of public inquiry that will have to be considered by the government and by the House of Commons.
She specifically identified one of the challenges when it comes to top secret information, which is so classified in order to protect the safety of Canadians and those who work for our security agencies.
Rather than simply repeating the call for an independent public inquiry, it would be helpful to hear exact terms and conditions, specific suggestions on how to protect top secret information, the ideal person to conduct that kind of discussion or public inquiry, and the timelines.
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- Jun/12/23 2:32:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it will not surprise members that I do not share some of the exaggerated premises of our hon. colleague's questions.
What we have said, and members of the Conservative Party know this well, including the leader of the Conservative Party, who sat in government, is that this was designed and decided to protect national security information from public release. The Conservatives know that. Saying they want a public inquiry right now is not, in fact, a responsible suggestion. They should tell us what the terms of reference would be, how they would protect the national security interests of Canada and who might lead this process—
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- Jun/12/23 2:31:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we think that a discussion about issues as important as protecting Canadian democratic institutions from unacceptable foreign interference would benefit from all of us lowering the partisan temperature. That is why we believe the decision of Mr. Johnston to leave the special rapporteur role gives all of us an opportunity to discuss what the next steps are in a public process.
The opposition says it wants a public inquiry. What would be the terms of reference of that inquiry? How would they protect necessary national security information in the interests of Canada? What would be the timeline? Those are the conversations we are anxious to have.
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- Jun/12/23 2:27:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said at the start of question period, that has always been an option.
I know that the Bloc Québécois will never form the government, but the Conservative Party is well aware that a public inquiry involving the most heavily protected national security information cannot proceed irresponsibly.
I think that everyone would benefit from a substantive discussion on how to approach the next steps in the public process and, if a public inquiry is the option chosen, how it will proceed, what its terms of reference will be and what the timeline will look like.
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- Jun/6/23 2:43:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as everyone in the House knows, information from national security agencies must remain secret. Those circumstances exist in every one of Canada's allied countries in this important area.
The good news is that we have offered the leaders of the opposition parties, including the Bloc, access to this information and the opportunity to judge Mr. Johnston's findings for themselves. They simply prefer to play partisan games and attack Mr. Johnston instead of looking at the facts and fully understanding the reality of foreign interference.
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- May/29/23 3:01:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all of Canada's national security allies are taking appropriate action to protect Canada's most secret national security information. I know the Bloc Québécois does not like that, but that is exactly how a responsible government works.
However, we have accepted the special rapporteur's recommendations on the difficulties in order to share information with political leaders within the government. The good news is that my colleague from Public Safety and the Prime Minister have addressed these deficiencies.
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- Apr/17/23 2:28:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the chief of staff said exactly what the Prime Minister and other ministers have been saying all along. Security agencies repeatedly informed the government of the threat of foreign interference. That is precisely why we took action, unlike the previous government.
We have also said that the Right Hon. David Johnston is in a better position to look at the big picture and advise the government on any additional steps to be taken, and we look forward to following his advice.
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- Mar/21/23 2:38:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague should be careful not to make outrageous allegations that he knows very well have no basis in truth.
Our government, from the beginning, took the issue of foreign interference very seriously. We put in place a number of steps, including a National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, created by law, with access to all relevant documents and officials, to make assessments about this and other national security issues. Far from what my colleague is saying, we have taken this issue seriously from the very beginning and continue to do so.
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- Mar/20/23 2:33:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government has certainly taken the issue of foreign interference seriously. That was far from being the case before we formed government in 2015.
We introduced a series of measures, including the creation, under the act, of an all-party committee that will review and examine all these national security concerns.
The Right Hon. David Johnston will go even further. He will review the measures currently in place, which we consider robust and which have been publicly described as such. We will follow Mr. Johnston's recommendations.
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- Mar/7/23 2:50:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague insists on repeating things about a secret committee. That must be the high-level committee that the Bloc is a member of, the committee that hears all the appropriate information about this and other national security issues and that tabled in Parliament reports that the government will act on.
The Bloc has fully participated in this process, and it is one of the processes that we set up to specifically address this issue.
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- Mar/7/23 2:43:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend likes to refer to what CSIS said. Let us talk about what it said in 2013, when the Leader of the Opposition was the minister responsible for democratic institutions. It specifically warned, 10 years ago, “When diaspora groups in Canada are subjected to clandestine and deceptive manipulation by a foreign power in order for it to garner support for its policies and values, these activities constitute a threat to the security of Canada.” What did the then Conservative government do for two years after that 2013 threat? It did absolutely nothing.
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- Nov/29/22 2:49:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows full well that the government has been very transparent.
My colleague across the way is referring to documents that a House committee has requested. The good news is that there is a committee of parliamentarians specifically tasked with looking at these kinds of intelligence and national security issues.
I invite my colleague to ensure, as will we, that this committee has access to all the necessary information, as it is the appropriate group to be looking at these kinds of documents.
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- Nov/29/22 2:37:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we obviously share the concern of all members of the House about the importance of protecting Canadian democracy from any foreign interference, and we know that authoritarian regimes around the world have attacked other western democracies for many reasons and for many years.
That is why we thought it was important to take all steps necessary to protect our democratic institutions. As the Leader of the Opposition will know, we set up the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, something the previous Conservative government did not do, and they have access to that confidential information.
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