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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 180

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 19, 2023 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 180 - Apr/19/23
Mr. Kyle Seeback (Dufferin—Caledon, CPC)
  • Apr/19/23 7:35:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on March 9, I raised questions with respect to foreign interference here in Canada, and I asked a very specific question. We have more and more reports, specifically from Global News, that talk about the type of well-organized orchestrated interference of our elections, and what became abundantly clear from these reports is that it was being orchestrated by Beijing diplomats. The question I asked was how many of these diplomats had been expelled. Of course, I did not get an answer to that question, but we do know the answer to that question, and the answer is absolutely none. Our security services are doing the hard work. They are identifying what the problems are. These reports are delivered to the government. We also heard from the Prime Minister's chief of staff that he reads every single report, so that would mean that the Prime Minister actually read these reports we were hearing so much about in Global News, which included the fact that diplomats were orchestrating and organizing the donation of funds to preferred candidates through an organization they called the “tea party”. Absolutely no action was taken by the government to expel any diplomats who were involved in this. The government knew there were some, because CSIS delivered that report, and we know from the Prime Minister's chief of staff that the Prime Minister reads every single report. Why was nothing done? Why has nothing been done to date, with respect to that? We are now a month and a half later. Absolutely nothing has been done. What is so embarrassing about this and so difficult for us to justify with our allies is that we have now heard the Prime Minister has been telling our allies that the government will never meet the 2% target for spending on our armed forces, as required by NATO. The blows to our reputation never stop, but we can look where we are now. The United States now has made 36 arrests, including an arrest of one who has information on their cellphone and photos of folks proudly opening a police station here in Canada. Not only do we not expel diplomats in this country who we know are actively engaged in foreign interference in our elections, but we do not make any arrests either. The United States is taking decisive action on this. Here in Canada, what are we doing? Why are we always behind the eight ball on these things? Why are we always playing catch-up? Why can we not get in front of some of these things, and do something? I have heard on the special committee on Canada-China relations from Canadian citizens who talk about the orchestrated harassment they endure from Beijing in foreign influence operations, and we have clear evidence that the diplomatic corps is actively involved in this. No one gets expelled. Why is the government so afraid to stand up to Beijing foreign influence?
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Context: House Hansard - 180 - Apr/19/23
Hon. Robert Oliphant (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.)
  • Apr/19/23 7:39:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Government of Canada, as I want to say very clearly to the House, takes any allegation of inappropriate or illicit behaviour by any foreign representative or diplomat in Canada extremely seriously, including interference in the internal affairs of Canada. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister have both been very clear that Canada will never tolerate any form of foreign interference. The government, I think more than any other government I have ever experienced, has stated time and time again that foreign interference activities in Canada and violations of Canadian sovereignty are unacceptable. This includes harassment and intimidation of individuals, the establishment of illegal overseas so-called police stations and, of course, covert and malicious influence in Canadian democratic processes. As my hon. colleagues are well aware, the Prime Minister relayed these messages directly to China's President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Indonesia last November. Our foreign affairs minister reiterated these same messages to her Chinese counterpart as recently as March 2 of this year, and had done so with her previous counterpart on more than one occasion. Global Affairs Canada officials have also repeatedly delivered similar messages to Chinese officials in both Ottawa and Beijing. Our message has been consistent: There is no tolerance for interference by the People's Republic of China on Canadian soil. The government has clearly stated its expectation that China respect Canadian and international law, including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and any domestic law. We will never tolerate any breach by Chinese diplomats or diplomats of any other country of the Vienna Conventions on Canadian soil. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was very clear during her last appearance before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs in March, when she said she would never hesitate to order out of Canada any foreign diplomat suspected of wrongdoing. She would never hesitate to do that, should clear and concrete evidence linked to specific individuals come to light. As my colleagues know, and this was emphasized by the minister before the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, the expulsion of any diplomat accredited to Canada would be a measure of last resort. No decision would be taken without considering all factors and risks. This decision is never taken lightly. The government will continue to choose the most effective tools from a wide range of options at our disposal to properly combat foreign interference. This includes diplomatic tools that may be subtle to some, but are very effective in preventing foreign interference before it starts. Sometimes that means stopping certain positions from being created at foreign diplomatic missions. For example, we denied China's request to create a new position at the embassy in Ottawa for the international liaison department of the Chinese Communist Party. It was inappropriate, and we refused permission to create it. Sometimes we stop certain individuals from being posted to foreign diplomatic positions here. In fact, very often the government in question will withdraw an individual's application as soon as we raise concerns. Our government will also continue to ensure that China faces consequences for any illegal or inappropriate actions. The question of foreign interference is not one that is unique to Canada; this is a problem that our partners and allies around the world are also grappling with. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has been very clear that she is working with her counterparts from around the globe to share best practices. We will continue—
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