44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 2, 2023 10:00AM
- May/2/23 2:25:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have to confess that, until 48 hours ago, I would have agreed that no government would ever sit on threats of this nature over two years long. However, unfortunately, what we have learned is that it is exactly what this Prime Minister did.
The government knew, in July of 2021, that an agent acting for the dictatorship in Beijing, accredited to work at the consulate in Toronto, was threatening a family member of a Canadian parliamentarian, and the Prime Minister's government knew about it and did absolutely nothing. Why?
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- May/2/23 2:26:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is simply not true. I spoke with the member for Wellington—Halton Hills earlier today and ensured that he got a briefing from our top security officials to ensure that he gets all the information he needs. A core part of CSIS's mandate is to provide briefings and take action whenever a threat exists, and those same top security officials have confirmed that whenever there is action to take, they do so.
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- May/2/23 2:27:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, and yet he did absolutely nothing other than to hold a meeting with the MP after the information became public. The Prime Minister was not interested in protecting Canadians; he was interesting in protecting his political reputation.
The Prime Minister has the power to kick this diplomat out. Think of it: If a Canadian had threatened an MP or his family over a vote in the House, that Canadian would be in jail. This individual cannot be arrested because of diplomatic immunity granted by the current government, which is something the Prime Minister could take away any time he wants. Why is he keeping this agent in our country, threatening our people?
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- May/2/23 2:27:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, what the member opposite is proposing is actually not the truth. We are actually continuing to work with our security agencies in ensuring that whenever threats arise against Canadians those security agencies take action. They offer briefings, offer support and offer information as necessary and as appropriate every step of the way. That is what our security agencies do to keep Canadians safe. To suggest that anyone in this House would see a threat to a colleague and simply sit on it is unworthy of parliamentarians.
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- May/2/23 2:28:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have to admit that I do not understand what part of the Leader of the Opposition's questions was not true. I therefore support the Leader of the Opposition's questions.
I have a question for the Prime Minister of a country that China holds in such contempt that it sees it as an easy target. If the person responsible for Pierre Elliott Trudeau's legacy at the Trudeau Foundation were to be called in for questioning by the CRA, the committee or whoever, would the Prime Minister recuse himself from participating in any way—
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- May/2/23 2:29:07 p.m.
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The right hon. Prime Minister.
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- May/2/23 2:29:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I can assure the Bloc Québécois leader that, here in Canada, we have robust institutions that ensure political interference in our judicial processes and our rigorous regulatory processes is neither facilitated nor allowed. In any of these hypothetical scenarios, legal processes would proceed as necessary.
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- May/2/23 2:29:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, here we go again.
If a competent authority, be it the committee, the CRA or any other entity—who knows—were to look into possible irregularities on the part of the Prime Minister's brother, would he consider the possibility that he is not qualified to make decisions with respect to an independent public inquiry into Chinese interference?
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- May/2/23 2:30:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, despite the best efforts of the leader of the Bloc Québécois over the past few weeks, one fact has not changed, not in all these weeks, and not in 10 years. That is the fact that I have had no direct or indirect involvement in the operations of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.
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- May/2/23 2:30:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Beijing government targeted a member of this House and targeted not only the member but the member's family. The Prime Minister knew about this and did nothing. Frankly, I am disappointed. This goes beyond partisan politics. This is about the ability for people in this House to be able to vote their conscience. Why did the Prime Minister not inform the member that his family was being threatened? What will the Prime Minister commit to doing to make sure this never happens again?
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- May/2/23 2:31:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it would be outrageous for anyone in this House to see a direct threat at an individual sitting in this House or to their family and do nothing and that did not happen. I will be absolutely unequivocal about that and that is why we were pleased to be able to offer a full briefing to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills so he could ask questions of the top intelligence officials and ensure that we will continue as institutions, as a government and as security services to do everything necessary to keep Canadians safe.
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- May/2/23 2:31:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, honestly, that is hard to take. Clearly, this government could not care less about the damage caused by its inaction on foreign interference. Clearly, the Prime Minister must have known that the member's family was facing threats abroad.
What will it take for this Prime Minister to take action and immediately launch a public inquiry?
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- May/2/23 2:32:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been taking action since 2015.
When we hosted the G7 in 2018, we created a mechanism with our allies to fight interference. In 2019, we set up a committee of national security experts to safeguard the integrity of our elections.
We also created a committee of parliamentarians to examine security and intelligence matters, as well as a review committee within the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency.
We are still doing everything necessary with an independent expert responsible for looking into all matters related to—
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- May/2/23 2:33:02 p.m.
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The hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills.
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- May/2/23 2:33:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government has had 24 hours to get some basic facts about PRC diplomats targeting of MPs, but here is my question.
On September 10, 2019, the public safety minister issued a directive to CSIS ordering the service to inform the minister of any matter or action of interest to the minister.
When was the public safety minister or his office first made aware that a PRC diplomat, Mr. Wei Zhao, was targeting me or my family?
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- May/2/23 2:34:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as this is the first occasion that the member for Wellington—Halton Hills has risen since this matter was brought to the attention of the public and this chamber, I want to express solidarity to him and to his family. We will continue to work with him and all parliamentarians to make sure he and all parliamentarians get the support they need.
Since the outset, when we took the reins of government, we have been vigilant in fighting against foreign interference. We have put in place the people, the resources, the tools and the oversight, as the Prime Minister just said, to defend our institutions. We will do that work together.
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- May/2/23 2:34:36 p.m.
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Before we go to the next question, I want to remind hon. members that calling each other names is not parliamentary language.
The hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills.
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- May/2/23 2:34:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the directive of September 10, 2019, is clear. It says:
The Service has a duty to inform the Minister of any such matter as is relevant to enable the Minister to fulfill the Minister’s accountabilities as outlined in the CSIS Act.
In general terms, the Minister expects to be consulted or informed regarding any action on which a Deputy Head would normally involve his or her Minister.
My question, again, is very simple. When did the public safety minister or his office first become aware that a PRC diplomat was targeting a member of the House and their family?
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- May/2/23 2:35:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague across the aisle for highlighting the directive that this government has put in place to ensure transparency and accountability around decisions, which are taken independently by our non-partisan professional public servants when it comes to which classified information is made public and which must remain classified to protect the people who work in that space.
This is not a partisan issue. We must all work together to defend the institutions, the communities and, most important, the parliamentarians who serve those institutions to protect our democracy.
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- May/2/23 2:36:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what a gutless response. What if that happened to that minister's family? I have the same question. When did he know?
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