44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 6, 2023 11:00AM
- Mar/6/23 2:21:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it will come as no surprise to you that I disagree with the opposition leader's false claims that the government did nothing. As soon as we came to power, we took action against foreign interference in our elections. Ours is the only government ever to have done so.
When my friend, the opposition leader, was the minister responsible for democratic institutions, he did nothing when intelligence agencies raised the issue over 10 years ago.
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- Mar/6/23 2:23:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we take the issue of foreign interference in Canada's electoral system, any foreign interference, very seriously.
That is why when we formed government, we took a number of unprecedented steps that did not exist when my friend was a minister in the previous government. We created the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians precisely so that parliamentarians from all political parties could have access to classified information and published reports for Canadians. We set up an independent panel of senior public servants to follow exactly the issue of foreign interference in the elections, and we will continue to do more.
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- Mar/6/23 2:24:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition wants top-level officials to testify publicly before parliamentary committees.
The good news is that is exactly what they did last week, including the heads of our intelligence agencies, the deputy minister of foreign affairs, and the national security and intelligence advisor to the Prime Minister. I know my friend would be very excited to know that I am going to procedure and House affairs committee myself on Thursday, and I would be happy to answer any questions.
From the beginning we have said that we take this issue very seriously. We have put in place unprecedented steps to deal with foreign interference, and we will continue to do more.
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- Mar/6/23 2:25:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition was the minister responsible for democratic reform in the previous Conservative government.
In 2013, CSIS identified foreign interference as a challenge in the electoral context. Mr. Harper's former national security advisor raised this publicly in 2010, 13 years ago. When my hon. friend was the minister responsible for this very file, he did absolutely nothing to deal with the question of foreign interference.
I know he is frustrated that we have done so much. The good news is that we will continue to do more because we take this issue very seriously.
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- Mar/6/23 2:27:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, just because the Leader of the Opposition keeps insisting on a falsehood does not make it real. He knows very well that our government took unprecedented steps to deal with this issue, because we take it seriously: a panel of senior public servants, chaired by the Clerk of the Privy Council; setting up in law the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, including representatives from all political parties.
We have taken this issue seriously. We have made senior officials available at parliamentary committees. We will continue to do everything we can to strengthen Canadian democratic institutions.
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- Mar/6/23 2:28:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my hon. colleague that this should be a non-partisan issue, because we all have an interest in protecting and strengthening our democratic institutions.
Our government has introduced a series of robust measures that were assessed by independent experts following the last two federal elections. The good news is that we are always looking for additional measures that we can bring in with the support, I hope, of all parliamentarians in order to strengthen our democratic system.
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- Mar/6/23 2:30:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe that our government has been very transparent about our efforts to counter foreign interference in our elections and our democratic system.
We look forward to working with all parliamentarians in the House of Commons and the Senate. That is exactly why we created, for example, a parliamentary committee to study these and other issues and to report to Canadians. We created intelligence review agencies to effectively ensure that our democratic institutions are protected, and we continue to look for other solutions at the same time.
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- Mar/6/23 2:31:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government is taking the issue of foreign interference in Canada's democratic institutions very seriously. As my colleague heard, our government has taken unprecedented steps since we formed the government in 2015 to put in place a series of measures precisely to provide greater transparency and understanding to Canadians on a threat that has existed for well more than 13 years, which has been publicly discussed for over a decade.
The good news is that our government takes it seriously. The good news is that the 2019 and 2021 elections were decided freely and fairly by Canadians.
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- Mar/6/23 2:32:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my hon. colleague. It is important that Canadians have confidence in our democratic institutions.
We have taken the issue of foreign interference seriously since the moment we formed government. We have implemented a series of measures, including legislative measures, to ensure that our democratic institutions are protected from unacceptable interference.
As my hon. colleague well knows, we share his concern. The good news is that we will continue to do what is necessary.
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- Mar/6/23 2:39:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague clearly stated, our government took this matter seriously the moment we took office. My colleague across the way claims people looked the other way, but he knows that is not the case. As my colleague pointed out, there were threats over 10 years ago, and if his government had taken them seriously, it might have implemented robust measures like the ones we implemented specifically to counter this kind of unacceptable interference. We will keep doing what needs to be done to strengthen our institutions.
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- Mar/6/23 2:40:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague mentioned 2013. I thought he was going to say that that was when CSIS identified the potential threat of Chinese interference in our election. Who was the minister responsible for the integrity of democratic institutions in 2013? It was the current Leader of the Opposition. He did nothing in 2013 or in 2014. He did not do anything in 2015 either.
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- Mar/6/23 2:41:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said a few moments ago, since we formed government, we have acknowledged the threats of foreign interference in our democratic system, in our democratic institutions. That is why we amended the Canada Elections Act to prevent foreign contributions to our election campaigns. That is why we passed legislation, a bill, to create a committee in charge of overseeing the national security agencies, with representatives from all parties, including the Bloc Québécois, and we referred this important matter to those members.
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- Mar/6/23 2:43:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my hon. colleague that we must work together to do whatever it takes to safeguard elections in Canada and our democratic institutions.
I have good news for him: That is exactly what our government has been doing since we came to power. We are always looking for advice on how to strengthen the robust measures that are already in place.
We will continue to do whatever it takes because we agree with my colleague that this interference is completely unacceptable.
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- Mar/6/23 2:44:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my hon. colleague that we must work together, as parliamentarians, precisely to counter foreign interference in our democratic institutions.
My colleague knows this very well because she sits on the parliamentary committee. I look forward to seeing her when I attend on Thursday.
We have been transparent with parliamentarians, but we have also introduced important measures to counter foreign interference. These measures are working very well.
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