44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 21, 2023 10:00AM
- Mar/21/23 2:41:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows very well that we did not ignore these warnings. The former Conservative government ignored them when it was in power. We did the opposite. We put in place a suite of measures to strengthen our democratic institutions and to share intelligence vital to national security with parliamentarians.
We have a panel of independent experts chaired by the Clerk of the Privy Council that certified that the 2019 and 2021 elections were free and democratic. The good news is that we will continue to strengthen these measures.
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- Mar/21/23 2:41:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the debate over Chinese interference in our democracy demonstrates the Prime Minister's systematic and long-standing lack of ethics.
He floated the threat of a confidence vote to keep his chief of staff, Katie Telford, from having to appear. In other words, he actually threatened to force an election, all to avoid telling the truth about information he has had for a very long time about Chinese interference.
What is it that the Prime Minister wants to keep Ms. Telford from admitting to, so much so that he would consider bringing down his own government?
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- Mar/21/23 2:42:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is just not true.
It is our goal to make sure that all the witnesses needed to answer questions are available. Many ministers have already gone to committee. Several people will be appearing before the committee as well.
We will make sure that someone is there to answer all the questions asked.
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- Mar/21/23 2:43:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, knowing that China interfered significantly in the last two elections, the Prime Minister has threatened to trigger another election with a confidence vote.
Before the details of China's interference tactics could even be investigated, before the electoral system could even be strengthened to counteract these illegal practices, the Prime Minister threatened to trigger another election, even if it means that Beijing can resort to the same strategy a third time in a row, scoring a hat trick.
When will we finally get an independent public commission of inquiry?
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- Mar/21/23 2:43:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague does not get too hung up on the truth. Making up facts does not seem to bother him all that much.
The Prime Minister has been very clear. This will not be a confidence vote. He said so this morning, as reported by all the papers. It is clear.
If the Bloc Québécois is just trying to pick a fight, stir the pot and impede our work here, it could at least stick to the facts instead of making things up all the time.
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- Mar/21/23 2:44:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are playing games by threatening an election. Meanwhile, in the real world, there are real people in the Chinese community who are facing real threats from the Chinese regime.
As for the notorious Chinese police stations, Safeguard Defenders confirmed yesterday that 83 Canadian citizens have already been detained and deported to China to face trial, and those are only the cases we know about.
Beijing is literally arresting Canadian citizens in Canada under the Prime Minister's nose. This is serious.
When will he finally launch a real independent public inquiry?
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- Mar/21/23 2:44:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will always make certain that our position on China clear, and it is clear. We will never tolerate any form of interference in Canada's democracy or domestic affairs.
I think it is important for all my colleagues to understand that we are always going to make a distinction between the Chinese government and the Chinese people themselves.
Unfortunately, Chinese Canadians in this country are too often the target of these actions. I call on all members of the House to support Chinese Canadians in every riding across the country.
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- Mar/21/23 2:45:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and his loyal Liberal caucus keep trying to distract, divide and cover up their failure to protect Canadians from foreign interference. Canadians deserve to know the truth about Beijing's interference in our elections. We need to learn exactly what the Prime Minister knew and what was done to defend our democracy.
Will the Prime Minister finally identify all 11 federal candidates who received funding from Beijing, yes or no?
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- Mar/21/23 2:46:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I can assure my colleague and all members in this chamber that we take foreign interference very seriously, which is why we have put in the people, the authorities, the resources and the technology to protect all of our institutions, including most especially our elections. It is why last week we appointed Mr. Johnston, a former governor general appointed by Stephen Harper no less. He is unimpeachable and has the ability to put forward concrete recommendations, including and up to a public inquiry, which, if he does, this government will respect, because we take the work of protecting our democratic institutions very seriously, and we are committed to continuing to do that.
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- Mar/21/23 2:46:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is not the truth Canadians expect.
Just recently, Global News revealed that two high-level national security reports before and after the 2019 election suggest the Prime Minister's Office was warned about Chinese government officials and the direct funding they were giving to Liberal candidates. However, the Prime Minister continues to express that this information was never shared with him directly.
The question now is simple: Who in the Prime Minister's Office deliberately and intentionally withheld the information from him, and will he be terminating that person, yes or no?
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- Mar/21/23 2:47:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is a government that believes in taking foreign interference with the utmost seriousness, which is why we have raised the bar when it comes to being transparent in how we are doing that work, through the creation of NSICOP, through the creation of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency and now with Mr. Johnston's appointment as the special rapporteur. He will put forward the next best practical steps so that we can continue to reinforce our democratic institutions, including our elections.
This is not a partisan issue. It is one that all members should unite behind, and I hope that will include the Conservatives as well.
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- Mar/21/23 2:48:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we see this over and over again: skirt, deflect; skirt, deflect; skirt, deflect. At the end of the day, I find this all very perplexing. We know there have been reports given by CSIS to the Prime Minister's Office. Somehow those reports did not make it to the Prime Minister's ears. At least that is what he tells us.
My question for the Prime Minister is this: Was he not even just a little curious as to who the individuals were who withheld that information from him? Would he not want to know, or did he already know and simply did not need to ask?
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- Mar/21/23 2:48:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the mandate that has been given to Mr. Johnston will allow him to look into all of the questions and concerns that have been raised around the elections in 2019 and 2021. I will highlight the fact that two independent panels have already verified that those elections were free and fair. Now Mr. Johnston will continue to work with all parliamentarians and with the committees and bodies charged with the responsibility of protecting our national security so that we can shine a light on the way we protect our elections. That is precisely what this government is focused on. I hope Conservatives will join in that effort. This is not a partisan issue. It is a—
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- Mar/21/23 2:49:19 p.m.
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The hon. member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles.
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- Mar/21/23 2:49:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the media reported that CSIS informed staff in the Prime Minister's Office that Liberal candidates were receiving money and support from Beijing and that nothing had been done about it.
Does the Prime Minister really expect Canadians to believe that he did not demand answers from those who withheld this information from him, or did he not ask because he already knew the information?
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- Mar/21/23 2:49:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is fully aware that our government has taken the threat of foreign interference seriously from the very beginning. That is why we put in place a series of measures that enabled a panel of senior officials chaired by the Clerk of the Privy Council to confirm that the 2019 and 2021 elections were indeed free and democratic.
We have strengthened the measures already in place. Mr. Johnston will provide an analysis and make recommendations if there are other measures we can implement to continue to ensure that there is no foreign interference in our elections.
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- Mar/21/23 2:50:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, now that the New Democrats have forced an end to the government filibuster at committee and secured the testimony of the Prime Minister's chief of staff, I think we owe it to Canadians to make a little more time in this place to talk about the issues affecting them in the pocketbook, like grocery prices, for instance. Even as inflation begins to slow, grocery prices continue to rise at an outpaced rate, and grocery companies are walking away with all of that in profit while Canadians are cash-strapped.
The solution is to impose a windfall tax on grocery companies that are overcharging Canadians for their groceries as a clear signal that they will not get to walk away with that money and that the money will be reinvested in Canadians who are staring down the barrel of a recession.
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- Mar/21/23 2:51:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member will know, the inflation rate today for February was posted at 5.2%. That is still too high, and we are going to continue to support Canadians who need the support when they need it most. In our country, tax fairness is a fundamental principle of taxation. That is why we insisted that insurance companies and banks pay more with the Canada recovery dividend, 1.5% more, on income over $1 billion.
We will continue to watch very closely what the grocery companies are doing, and we will continue to be there fighting on the side of Canadians.
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- Mar/21/23 2:51:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the IPCC just gave another dire warning: If we do not act now, the devastating consequences of the climate crisis will only get worse. President Biden just announced a budget that eliminates billions of dollars in U.S. fossil fuel subsidies and invests that money in the low-carbon economy. This is what leadership looks like. Other countries are stepping up to the plate, but the Liberals want to keep giving billions to rich oil and gas CEOs.
Will the Liberals stop dragging Canada backwards and finally end fossil fuel subsidies?
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- Mar/21/23 2:52:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after a decade of complete inaction by the opposition when it was in government, we are showing that leadership. The IPCC is right: Climate change is real. Climate change is urgent, and we are taking action. That is why we need to continue doing what we are doing. We put a price on carbon pollution. We have an emissions reduction plan that speaks to how we are going to reduce emissions across all sectors of our economy. We have committed to ending all fossil fuel subsidies for unabated fossil fuels.
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