44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 23, 2023 10:00AM
Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member that small businesses are the backbone of Canada and the Canadian economy, with the majority of Canadians working in small and medium-sized businesses.
Related to this bill is the fact that this issue affects small-sized businesses disproportionately more, because they do not have enough resources to protect themselves from cyber-threats. In fact, as I mentioned in my speech, the new Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, which is part of the Communications Security Establishment, is there to provide expert advice, guidance, and service and support on cyber-threats and cybersecurity to Canadian organizations.
102 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I want to ask some questions of the hon. member that are more related. I know it is a bit away from this bill, but he mentioned in his speech the work we are doing in our defence committee on cyber-defence and cybersecurity. I have two questions.
There have been calls for the International Criminal Court to declare cyberwarfare an actual war crime. What does the member think about that?
There is also the fact that we heard that Canada and its security institutions actually overclassify information by about 90%, and that if we could declassify a lot of that information, this would significantly help those security organizations deal with the specific threats we are seeing. I want to hear the member's opinion on that.
129 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, we know that threats to cybersecurity are increasing and are very concerning. We are far behind other countries in our capacity to respond to them. We have heard from civil liberty groups that the surveillance provisions in this bill could be quite problematic.
Bearing in mind that we need to strengthen our cybersecurity, does the member have thoughts on the concerns or unknown ramifications that might result from this bill?
72 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Mar/23/23 2:40:31 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, as we have been saying for months, threats of foreign interference are not just at the federal level. Democratic institutions in the provinces have likely been targeted by the same kinds of threats that we are seeing right now in the context of federal elections.
That is why we have always kept up a constructive dialogue with the premiers. I myself have spoken with Mr. Ford about the importance of strengthening democratic institutions. We have given provincial governments access to senior intelligence officials who can provide the information they need.
94 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Mar/23/23 2:41:39 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, as we said many times and as I already said before the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs several weeks ago, as ministers, we get regular briefings on threats of foreign interference. We also provided provincial authorities with briefings or access to the senior officials responsible for our intelligence agencies so that they could understand the nature of the threat, which is always changing, and take the necessary measures in their jurisdictions to do what we did, which is to strengthen our democratic institutions.
87 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I acknowledge that today we are having a serious debate about cybersecurity and amendments to the Telecommunications Act.
What strikes me is that as we discuss this issue in Parliament, there is an immense disconnect. Many communities here in our own country have barely any access to the Internet and the wired world that so many of us take for granted.
I am thinking particularly of first nations in my constituency, 11 of which announced a regional state of emergency today. The threat they face is not from the outside; it is from within. It is the threat of drugs, as well as the threat of federal neglect through the housing crisis and the public safety crisis. It is truly an unbelievable set of crises that they are facing in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. As their member of Parliament, I certainly share the concern that Canada is not taking the reality of first nations seriously in this country. There is a disconnect they are facing.
The big question is: What will it take for the Government of Canada to act and deal with the real threats that first nations, particularly the most marginalized here in our country, are facing right now?
207 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
