44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 30, 2022 02:00PM
- Nov/30/22 2:19:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in honour of Jewish refugee day, I would like to commemorate the nearly one million Jews who were forced into exile from Iran and other countries in the region beginning in 1948.
This forced migration was marked by a religious persecution and even genocide. Many individuals and families found safe harbour here in Canada. The communities that thrive today contribute so much to the diverse mosaic of the Canadian identity. Anti-Semitism and racism of all kinds remain a part of the lived experience for people in Canada and around the world.
One of our best defences against this can be found through education. B'nai Brith, Canada's oldest Jewish advocacy organization, will host a virtual commemoration of the story of Jews from Iran and Arab lands this evening. The event can be accessed through the B'nai Brith website. It is through education that we can build our defences against hatred in all of its forms.
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- Nov/30/22 2:20:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today I want to acknowledge the works of Victor‑Lévy Beaulieu, a giant of Quebec literature and a proud resident of Trois‑Pistoles.
Last month, Mr. Beaulieu was selected to receive the Prix de la langue française, one of the highest honours awarded to a writer in the entire Francophonie. He is the first Quebecker in history to receive this honourable distinction.
A man of many talents, Mr. Beaulieu has written novels, literary essays, plays and screenplays. He was also a teacher, a columnist and an editor. In addition to producing a monumental collection of works over the span of five decades, he also engaged in politics; above all, he is a staunch defender of the Quebec nation and a proud sovereignist.
Unfortunately, the Académie française and Académie Goncourt did not allow Mr. Beaulieu to accept his award when his health prevented him from travelling. This regrettable choice only emphasizes the importance of celebrating the talent and contribution of Victor‑Lévy Beaulieu to Quebec culture and the Francophonie.
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- Nov/30/22 2:22:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, back in August, the Prime Minister made a speech in which he talked about the complex challenges facing Canada. The Prime Minister was clear that strong institutions are among those things that guarantee our freedom.
Let us pause for a moment and reflect on the current state of our institutions. There is an immigration backlog of over a million people. Many Canadians still cannot obtain a passport in reasonable time. Canadians still pay the highest wireless bills in the world, yet we see the government desperately trying to regulate and censor online content despite the fact that many Canadians lack high-speed Internet services to access it. We have a government actively outlawing our grandfathers' hunting rifles while looking us in the eye and saying that it is not. Canadians are paying more and getting less.
It seems like everything is broken under the current Liberal government, but we can fix this. Canada needs an accountable and affordable Conservative government. Under the leadership of the member for Carleton, we will bring back hope, win the support of Canadians and clean up this Prime Minister's mess.
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- Nov/30/22 2:23:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, progress depends on sound public policy. Public policy is both a science and an art. It relies on rigorous analysis and an acute sense of the possible.
Today, graduate students from McGill's Max Bell School of Public Policy are on Parliament Hill to build on their study and exploration of the issues facing our country. They are here to learn first-hand about government decision-making in a Westminster parliamentary system.
They are accompanied by the program's founding director, Professor Chris Ragan, one of Canada's top economists. Professor Ragan has succeeded in bringing together academics and practitioners in myriad subject areas to create one of the country's leading faculties dedicated to excellence in public administration.
I ask members of the House to join me in welcoming our Max Bell visiting students to the nation's capital today. We look forward to these bright young minds returning soon, to take up roles and responsibilities that will guide our ship of state into a promising future.
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- Nov/30/22 2:24:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on November 7, Global News reported that the Prime Minister received briefings from CSIS saying that China had funnelled money to federal candidates. The Prime Minister says that he heard nothing about it and knew nothing about it, but since that news came out on November 7, has he asked CSIS whether there is any proof of those allegations?
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- Nov/30/22 2:25:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think all Canadians understand that I need to be deliberate about my answers, when it comes to matters of national security. Canada and its allies are regularly targeted by foreign states like China, including during our elections. Our national security agencies, under this government, are taking more action than ever.
We created an independent panel to evaluate foreign interference threats to Canadian elections and that panel confirms that election integrity was not compromised. Yes, I am regularly—
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- Nov/30/22 2:25:49 p.m.
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The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
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- Nov/30/22 2:25:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is very interesting. He has received briefings. The question, then, is whether he received those briefings since November 7, when Global News reported that CSIS had said the Chinese government had funnelled money to nearly a dozen candidates. The Prime Minister says he knew nothing about money from China to candidates.
However, presumably he would have been curious enough to ask, when he read about it in the news. Did he?
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- Nov/30/22 2:26:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think members and all Canadians understand that I need to be deliberate about my answers when it comes to a matter of national security.
Canada and its allies are regularly targeted by foreign states like China, including during our elections. Our national security agencies, under the current government, are taking more action than ever and indeed are among the global leaders on countering foreign interference in elections. We created an independent panel to evaluate foreign interference threats to Canadian elections that confirms that election integrity was not compromised. I am briefed, but more, all parties are briefed on threats—
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- Nov/30/22 2:27:08 p.m.
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The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
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- Nov/30/22 2:27:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the question is whether he has been briefed since November 7 about whether or not a foreign power funnelled money to Canadian federal candidates, yes or no?
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- Nov/30/22 2:27:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said a number of times in the House, to this moment, I have not. In all the briefings I have received, there has never been information around candidates receiving money from China in the 2019 election or in the 2021 election. We have independent public servants who are engaged to oversee the integrity of elections. They confirmed the elections did complete themselves with full integrity.
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- Nov/30/22 2:28:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, did the Prime Minister ask for briefings on the allegations that were in the November 7 story, yes or no?
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- Nov/30/22 2:28:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know the member opposite, who sat in a cabinet, understands the importance of respecting national security guidelines. On top of that, I know the member opposite understands how important it is to ensure the integrity of our elections, because he was the minister for elections integrity under that previous government. However, under that previous government, while he was making reforms to our elections act, he did absolutely nothing on foreign interference.
What we did was bring in a number of mechanisms and a number of new tools to ensure the integrity of our elections.
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- Nov/30/22 2:28:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister wakes up in the morning, reads a story that says a foreign government funnelled money to Canadian federal candidates, and he cannot tell us if he picked up the phone or face to face asked his officials if these allegations were true.
We will move on to a next question. The Prime Minister said yesterday when I asked if there was any electoral interference from a foreign government that there was none that “significantly changed the outcome of the election.”
Was there any interference, to his knowledge, yes or no?
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- Nov/30/22 2:29:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, like I just said, Canada and most of our allies are regularly subject to foreign interference from various states, including China, on an ongoing basis and including during our elections. That is something the member opposite would know if he had paid attention when he was minister of elections, and also if he were to ask his two colleagues who are previous leaders of the Conservative Party from 2019 and 2021, whose teams were briefed before, during and after those elections on foreign interference.
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- Nov/30/22 2:30:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister denies Chinese interference in and influence over the Canadian government. He said in English that there was little or no significant influence over the 2019 election. I wonder at what point interference is considered to be little, medium, a lot, dangerous or too much.
In 2016, within 48 hours of a Chinese bank being granted the right to operate in Canada, $70,000 from Chinese communities were deposited in the riding of Papineau.
Is this interference or influence?
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- Nov/30/22 2:31:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague raises an important question: Should politicians who make partisan accusations decide whether or not there was problematic interference in our democracy during the election? That is why we leave it up to our intelligence services and experts in the public service. I have created a committee that is responsible for taking an independent and objective look at the electoral system to ensure the integrity of our elections, and that is what it did during the 2019 and 2021 elections.
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- Nov/30/22 2:31:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me make better use of my 35 seconds. In 2016, the Liberal coffers in Papineau, the Prime Minister's riding, got a $70,000 boost from the Chinese communities of Toronto and Vancouver. Around that same time, a new bank was created specifically to serve Chinese communities in Canada.
Looking back, was that interference or influence?
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- Nov/30/22 2:32:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, interference in our democratic processes and our elections is an extremely important and crucial issue. I realize the hon. member is attacking the integrity of our institutions. Canadians can trust the process we set up to oversee the integrity of our elections. I can assure Canadians that, despite the ongoing reality of interference in our country, our democratic institutions and our elections were not affected.
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