44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 7, 2023 10:00AM
- 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/7/23 2:43:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the government treated the threat seriously, it would listen to the advice of CSIS. CSIS has said that an effective way to counter foreign interference is through sunlight and transparency, to build resilience by informing Canadians about interference threat activities. The government has done the opposite. First it hid behind excuses and accusations, and then it hid behind a secret committee and a special rapporteur. The government has been anything but transparent about this. It is burying the truth in process. Why?
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- Mar/7/23 2:47:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, foreign interference in our elections demands a transparent investigation. Let me say a little bit about what the Prime Minister's definition of transparency is.
Transparency for him means turning the investigation over to a national security committee, a committee whose members will not only be bound to secrecy, but to secrecy in perpetuity, a committee that will hold its meetings behind closed doors and whose proceedings neither the public nor parliamentarians will be allowed to follow, a committee that will not be able to say which witnesses it will meet or report their exact words, a committee whose report will inevitably be redacted.
Where is the transparency in that?
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- Mar/7/23 2:47:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government increased the level of transparency by creating the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, or NSICOP, and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, or NSIRA.
Yesterday, we announced that we will appoint a special rapporteur to evaluate and monitor all options, and to make recommendations. The government will respect the special rapporteur's choice and recommendations.
That is how we will respect the values of transparency.
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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/7/23 2:50:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, instead of following the advice of CSIS to provide transparency and sunlight when it comes to Beijing's election interference, the Prime Minister announced what amounts to a cover-up: a secret committee with secret evidence and secret conclusions redacted by the PMO, all to bury the truth. There is no transparency, no sunlight and total secrecy. What does the Prime Minister have to hide?
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- Mar/7/23 2:52:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what the Prime Minister announced yesterday is nothing more than a smokescreen with no transparency. Indeed, the only thing that is transparent is the transparent attempt by the Liberals to cover up what the Prime Minister knows about Beijing's election interference.
Consistent with this, today at committee the Liberals are filibustering to block the Prime Minister's chief of staff from having to testify. Why? What is he so afraid of? What does he have to hide?
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