44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 8, 2023 02:00PM
- Mar/8/23 2:34:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, whether the Prime Minister likes it or not, elections are not the exclusive responsibility of the Prime Minister or his party. They are everyone's responsibility. What is at issue here is democracy, not the Liberals. There must be no doubt in anyone's mind that every person sitting in the House of Commons was elected legitimately, without trickery and without interference. This means that there cannot be any secret meetings and no rapporteur chosen by the Prime Minister.
Why is the Prime Minister refusing to have an independent commission of public inquiry, as everyone is calling for?
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- Mar/8/23 2:35:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, everyone in the House agrees that it is important to rise above partisanship to protect the integrity of our democracy and its institutions. That is why we will choose an independent individual to ensure that the mechanisms proposed are the right ones.
Yes, we have heard from experts that a public inquiry would be the right thing to do, but we also heard experts say that that might not be the best way to get answers.
I believe that handing this over to an independent special rapporteur, an expert who could make a determination, is the right thing for all of us.
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- Mar/8/23 2:43:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during a press conference on Monday, the Prime Minister listed his protection measures against foreign interference: in 2017, he formed the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians; in 2018, he created election financing legislation to fend off foreign financing and, in 2019, he came up with a plan to protect democracy and set up a working group on the threats to democracy. It is a list of everything that did not work.
We all see that it did not work. Now it is time to listen to the opposition. What is the Prime Minister waiting for to set up an independent public commission of inquiry?
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- Mar/8/23 2:44:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am waiting for the independent special rapporteur—meaning the independent expert who will be responsible for investigating the mechanisms in place free of any partisan politics—to do their work. The rapporteur will determine whether we need more mechanisms, not only to ensure that the government can do its utmost to protect our democracy and our institutions, but also so that Canadians can have confidence that everything is being done to protect our democracy, our elections and our institutions.
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- Mar/8/23 2:44:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is understandable that the Prime Minister prefers to sweep the issue of interference under the rug. It is understandable that he does not want to hear it mentioned ever again and that he wants to move on.
However, it is not that simple, and it will take more than a secret committee and a rapporteur doing the Prime Minister's bidding. The Prime Minister is playing with public confidence in our electoral system, and that is not very good news. I invite him to listen to the opposition parties. Will he establish an independent public commission of inquiry into foreign election interference?
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- Mar/8/23 3:09:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know Canadians need to have confidence in our institutions and in the integrity of our elections and our democracy.
That is why we are going to choose an independent expert to look at the entire landscape around foreign interference in Canada and make sure the measures we have implemented since 2015 are doing the job we want them to do. The expert will also decide whether we need a public inquiry or whether we need other mechanisms to ensure everything is being done and to give Canadians confidence.
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- Mar/8/23 3:09:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, another one of the Prime Minister's solutions is to appoint a special rapporteur, who will be happy to do his bidding, kind of like our leader's golden retriever.
We do not need a special report. What we need is a commissioner that all parties in the House agree on to head up an independent public commission on foreign interference in elections.
Why is the Prime Minister stubbornly refusing to set up an independent public commission?
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- Mar/8/23 3:10:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, those of us on this side of the House have confidence in the experts.
I think we have all heard some experts say we need an independent public commission, while others say a public commission would not be able to do all the fact-checking it would take to give Canadians confidence in our institutions.
That is why we chose to ask an independent, impartial expert to determine the best way to ensure that Canadians can have confidence in what was done.
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- Mar/8/23 3:17:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister will not answer how many diplomats he has kicked out, because the answer is zero. Even as they open police stations in our country, he will not answer that question. He will not answer whether members of his existing cabinet and caucus have been implicated in foreign interference. He will not answer whether his staff has been briefed about that interference. He will not answer even whether his party received illegal money directly from the foreign dictatorship in Beijing. He will not answer any of these questions, which is exactly why we need an independent inquiry that can compel his testimony. Will he call it now?
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