- Member of Parliament
- Liberal
- Eglinton—Lawrence
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $83,797.98
- Government Page
- Jun/5/23 2:41:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to my colleague, our government has a list of meaningful action that has been taken with respect to foreign interference with the creation of new powers for CSIS, with the creation of a new national coordinator in the fight against foreign interference and with a public consultation for the creation of a new foreign agent registry. We are prepared to work together with the Bloc and with all members in the fight against foreign interference to better protect our democratic institutions.
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- May/30/23 2:34:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear that we share the concerns of the diaspora community leadership, who are worried about being targeted by foreign interference. That is why we conducted a public consultation on the foreign agent registry, and that is why we think there are compelling, intelligent reasons a public hearing would put the community at the centre of these conversations, so that we can have a thoughtful way forward in the work to protect our democratic institutions and in fighting against foreign interference.
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- May/29/23 3:09:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, every single one of us in this chamber has a responsibility to take the issue of foreign interference seriously. What we have seen from the Conservatives is the exact opposite.
They have voted against legislation to give our national security establishment more powers to fight this scourge.
We heard their own national campaign director in the last election say that members of their caucus did not take this issue seriously and now we have the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada who refuses to take the briefing. To him, I say, “Take the briefing and take this issue seriously, so that we can fight foreign interference together.”
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- May/16/23 3:16:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking my colleague for her work and her leadership on this issue. Obviously, any form of foreign interference is unacceptable, and we have a concrete plan that is focused on prevention, protection and accountability, including and up to expelling foreign diplomats when they cross the line, but we are not stopping there. We are going to continue with the creation of a foreign agent registry, but we are going to do it in the right way, so that communities are not stigmatized or marginalized. We are going to do this work to protect Canadians, and we need to do that work together.
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- May/8/23 2:29:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last week, the Minister of Foreign Affairs summoned the Chinese ambassador to make clear the parameters of legitimate foreign operations. Canada will always condemn any activities that go beyond what is set out in agreements and the law.
What is more, we have already put in place the required authorities and strengthened transparency to defend our democratic institutions, and we will continue to do so.
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- May/4/23 2:58:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have already said, my hon. colleague the Minister of Foreign Affairs summoned the Chinese ambassador to firmly set the boundaries for activities that are legitimate and others that fall under the category of foreign interference.
We will continue to condemn activities in this category to protect our democratic institutions.
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- May/4/23 2:41:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, foreign interference is not a new problem. It has been going on for years. That is why, as soon as this government took office, we gave CSIS new powers, we invested new resources and we enhanced the level of transparency with the help of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency. That is how we can better protect our democratic institutions.
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- May/4/23 2:33:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague heard earlier in this question period, my colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has summoned the Chinese ambassador to make it abundantly clear what is legitimate and what is not. This is consistent with Canada's strong position when it comes to hostile activities, especially with regard to foreign interference.
Every single member in this chamber has a right to represent their constituents in complete and total safety. We will continue to work across the aisle with all parliamentarians to make sure that objective is secure.
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- May/3/23 2:52:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary for Global Affairs, informed this chamber that if any agent representing a foreign government exceeds their lawful authorities and activities here, we will take whatever appropriate steps are necessary.
Canada's record in condemning the actions of foreign and hostile actors is universally well known. We will continue to take the steps that are necessary to protect our institutions.
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- May/1/23 2:55:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government takes the issue of foreign interference very seriously. That is why we have already brought in new powers for the intelligence community. That is why we continue to make investments to add people to protect not only our democratic institutions, but also Canadians.
I hope that we can do this work together with the Conservatives, because this is not a partisan issue.
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- Apr/18/23 3:07:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government takes foreign interference very seriously. The RCMP handled the situation by taking concrete action and shutting down the alleged Chinese-run foreign police station.
We will keep investing and allocating resources in the field to respond as needed to protect our institutions, our communities and Canadians.
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- Mar/20/23 1:05:24 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I extend my condolences to the member's community.
The role of the special rapporteur will be to provide advice on what, if any, additional steps need to be taken, given allegations of foreign interference that have been raised with regard to the 2019 and 2021 elections, but with sufficient flexibility to offer additional recommendations and suggestions on how we can better fight against foreign interference. As I said in my last response, that could include a recommendation for an independent public inquiry. It is not the only way in which that work can be done, but it is certainly an option that has been deliberately and consciously left on the table by the government.
I would point out, importantly, that the government will respect whatever recommendation Mr. Johnston puts forward.
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- Mar/20/23 1:01:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
The government takes the issue of foreign interference very seriously. All of our legislation demonstrates our commitment to this issue. Consider for example Bill C‑59, which granted the Canadian Security Intelligence Service new powers to reduce threats caused by foreign interference. Another example is Bill C‑76, which targeted foreign funds that could pose a threat to our democratic institutions.
My colleague is quite right to ask questions. That is the purpose of this House. The point of this place is to shed light on how we carry out these duties. At the same time, it is fair to point out that, for the government and for everyone else, partisanship is not good for debate.
I hope we can set partisanship aside as we move forward.
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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 2:38:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague values transparency. So does this government. That is why yesterday, when we announced the imminent appointment of a special rapporteur, we said that we would abide by and respect any recommendation that that individual would put forward, including and up to a public inquiry.
Equally, I would remind all members of this chamber that we also announced that we would commence consultations on a foreign agent registry as well as the launch of a coordinator to fight against foreign interference. I sincerely hope this is something that all members of this chamber are united on.
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- Mar/6/23 2:37:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague knows, this government set up the SITE panel and the critical instant reporting protocol to ensure that independent, non-partisan, professional public servants would make decisions about which allegations of foreign interference would be disclosed. This is a process that has served our democracy well.
Now we will take the recommendations from Morris Rosenberg and work closely with the public service to implement them so we can build on the strong track record of this government, which remains vigilant and clear-eyed about fighting against the threats of foreign interference.
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- Dec/5/22 2:43:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would have thought that my hon. colleague would be assured by the concrete action the RCMP is taking to root out allegations of foreign interference in this country as a means of protecting our national security.
I would have thought that my hon. colleague would be assured by the things we are doing around allegations of foreign interference, creating independent panels to assure the integrity of our elections and cracking down on foreign funding. We will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect our interests here and abroad.
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