- Member of Parliament
- Liberal
- Eglinton—Lawrence
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $83,797.98
- Government Page
- May/29/23 2:45:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with all due respect for my colleague, the independent special rapporteur, Mr. Johnston, meticulously reviewed classified information. He verified the findings of two other independent panels regarding the fact that the 2019 and 2021 elections were free and fair. Now, he is recommending that we invite all Canadians and everyone to have an open and transparent conversation about creating new tools to defend our democratic institutions.
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- May/3/23 2:48:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague opposite raised a number of concerns, one of which is how it is that we are protecting our democratic institutions, including our elections. As he knows, we have set up independent panels, including with protocols, to make sure that we inform Canadians when there are threats, but also making sure that we are vigilant about the threats that occur today, which is why in budget 2023, there is $49 million for the law enforcement community to protect Canadians from foreign interference.
I sincerely hope that the Conservatives will see fit to support that budget because that is the way we will protect Canadians from foreign interference.
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- Mar/23/23 3:04:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, by now my colleague will have heard that the answer to that question lies in the mandate provided to Mr. Johnston, who will look into all allegations related to the 2019 and 2021 elections. I also want to assure the member that two independent panels have verified that those elections were free and fair.
Now Mr. Johnston will put forward recommendations up to and including a public inquiry, which this government will respect, so that we can reinforce the confidence of Canadians in all our institutions, most especially our elections.
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- Mar/23/23 2:51:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows full well that this government has set up the appropriate mechanisms to be transparent and upfront with Canadians in the ways we are protecting our institutions, including our elections, from any allegations of foreign interference. We have had two independent panels, made up of non-partisan, professional public servants, verify that the elections were free and fair in 2019 and 2021. Now we have appointed an eminent Canadian in David Johnston to map out the next steps so we can continue that work. This is something we will do transparently with Canadians as well.
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- Mar/23/23 2:34:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I assure my colleague that the government has set up the appropriate mechanisms to deal with the allegations with regard to foreign interference in our elections, through the creation of NSICOP, through the creation of NSIRA and now through the appointment of Mr. David Johnston, who was initially appointed by Steven Harper, a former Conservative prime minister. Mr. Johnston is an eminent Canadian who possesses the qualifications, the experience in the law and the wisdom to help us navigate around the important challenges of foreign interference.
No member in the chamber should have any doubt whatsoever as to the way in which we are protecting our institutions and ensured the return of the two Michaels to Canada.
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- Mar/21/23 2:48:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the mandate that has been given to Mr. Johnston will allow him to look into all of the questions and concerns that have been raised around the elections in 2019 and 2021. I will highlight the fact that two independent panels have already verified that those elections were free and fair. Now Mr. Johnston will continue to work with all parliamentarians and with the committees and bodies charged with the responsibility of protecting our national security so that we can shine a light on the way we protect our elections. That is precisely what this government is focused on. I hope Conservatives will join in that effort. This is not a partisan issue. It is a—
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- Mar/21/23 2:47:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is a government that believes in taking foreign interference with the utmost seriousness, which is why we have raised the bar when it comes to being transparent in how we are doing that work, through the creation of NSICOP, through the creation of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency and now with Mr. Johnston's appointment as the special rapporteur. He will put forward the next best practical steps so that we can continue to reinforce our democratic institutions, including our elections.
This is not a partisan issue. It is one that all members should unite behind, and I hope that will include the Conservatives as well.
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- Mar/9/23 2:35:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would remind my colleague that, like him and all members, we take foreign interference very seriously, including as it relates to potential foreign interference through funding.
That is why the government put into place Bill C-76 to crack down on that threat. In addition to that, we set up two independent panels made up of our top public servants who verified that the elections in 2019 and 2021 were free and fair.
Now we will continue to work with public servants as well as with the independent expert in the special rapporteur to do this work together.
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- Mar/7/23 3:07:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I share my hon. colleague's concerns.
That is why we created two independent panels that verified that the 2019 and 2021 elections were free and fair. Now, we will follow a process managed by a special rapporteur. The rapporteur will table recommendations that the government will follow.
Yes, this is very important. We will continue to protect our democratic institutions.
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- Mar/7/23 2:49:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government will choose a special rapporteur who possesses the necessary skills and expertise to examine all the options and put forward a recommendation based on the best advice they can offer the government.
That is how we will uphold transparency and protect our democratic institutions and our elections.
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- Mar/6/23 2:45:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague has heard now on a number of occasions, we take these matters very, very seriously. We approach them very soberly, and that is why this government has put in place the authorities required for CSIS to both address and mitigate potential foreign interference.
That is why we have also created the requisite transparency for Canadians, including through the creation of NSICOP, NSIRA, and the independent panels, which have both examined the circumstances and the allegations around the 2019 and 2021 elections. Yes, both those elections were free and fair, but we will continue to do this work together.
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- Mar/6/23 2:36:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's question and I also embrace his concerns around transparency. This is a government that has raised the bar of transparency through the creation of NSICOP and through the creation of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, which both have robust access to classified information so we can be up front with Canadians in the ways in which we are protecting all of our institutions, especially elections.
As my colleague, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, said, we have good news. Two independent panels have concluded that both of the elections in 2019 and 2021 were free and fair. We will continue this work together.
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- Mar/6/23 2:35:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it was this government under the leadership of the Prime Minister that created the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians to encourage and foster collaboration across partisan lines, because this is an issue that transcends that dynamic. We will continue to shine a light on the threats that are posed by foreign interference so we can protect our democratic institutions, especially elections, because Canadians, and Canadians alone, must be reassured that they determine their elections and no one else.
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- Mar/6/23 2:34:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, has said, we take the threat of foreign interference very seriously, which is why we have taken concrete action, like putting in place threat reduction measures for CSIS and cracking down on foreign funding which could interfere with our domestic elections.
With corresponding transparency through the creation of bodies like the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians to ensure that we are up front with Canadians, all members should be united in protecting our elections. They are sacrosanct. Canadians, and Canadians alone, determine them.
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- Dec/2/22 11:54:32 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I assure my colleague that we take all allegations of foreign interference very seriously. That is why we struck independent non-partisan professional panels to look at these allegations, which subsequently confirmed the results of the elections in 2019 and 2021 were both free and fair. More importantly, we are going to continue to do everything to protect our democratic institutions, including our elections, so that Canadians can have their voices represented in this chamber, including my hon. colleague, the parliamentary secretary for intergovernmental affairs, who does stellar work for her riding and on this issue.
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- Dec/1/22 2:55:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we have put in place a number of measures to increase transparency about threats of foreign interference. For example, we have the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, independent bodies that have issued two reports confirming that the 2019 and 2021 elections were free and fair. We will improve transparency because it is a value that protects our democratic institutions.
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- Dec/1/22 2:51:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague that we need to take allegations of foreign interference very seriously. That is why we created independent, non-partisan panels to shine a light on the allegations of foreign interference, both of which confirmed that the elections in 2019 and 2021 were free and fair.
We will continue to shine a light on the tools, on the investments, that we are putting in our national security community to protect all our democratic institutions, including elections.
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- Dec/1/22 2:28:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows that we created an independent, non-partisan panel to examine all allegations of foreign interference and that the panel confirmed that the 2019 and 2021 elections were free, fair and just. That is why we will continue to protect our democratic institutions.
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- Dec/1/22 2:27:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government takes all allegations of threats of foreign interference very seriously. That is why we established two panels to review all allegations. The panels confirmed the integrity of the 2019 and 2021 elections.
We will continue to provide all the tools that the national security community needs to protect our democratic institutions.
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- Nov/29/22 2:47:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague and all members of this chamber can be assured of the integrity of the 2019 and 2021 elections, because we had independent panels that looked with great detail and great attention at documents, interviewed witnesses and confirmed the result. More importantly, we will continue to give all tools necessary to our independent police community and independent national security community so they can protect all democratic institutions, and Canadians can have their voices reflected in our governments.
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