SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 189

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 2, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 189 - May/2/23
Hon. Pierre Poilievre
  • May/2/23 10:20:43 a.m.
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I will remind the Speaker that we will decide what is relevant to our speeches and that he should not shut us down. We think it is an emergency when any member of Parliament faces threats against his family related to the votes conducted on the floor of the House of Commons. Nothing is more basic to our democracy than the ability of members to vote for their constituents' interests and to not have to vote in order to protect their family members from threats and violence.
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Context: House Hansard - 189 - May/2/23
Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)
  • 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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Context: House Hansard - 189 - May/2/23
Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)
  • May/2/23 2:50:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister is right that it would be outrageous for a government minister to know that a foreign agent was granted credentials by the government to carry out threats against an MP's family because of a vote held in the House of Commons. That would be outrageous. The only way we can know if it actually happened is if the minister tells us when he saw this briefing note or any related information showing that the MP's family was threatened. When did he learn of it?
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Context: House Hansard - 189 - May/2/23
Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)
  • May/2/23 2:51:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we do have to put the partisanship aside. It would have been a non-partisan act for the government to protect the MP's family, even though he is from another party. It would have been a non-partisan act to strip away the diplomatic immunity and kick this foreign agent out of country, yet the government did not do that. We now need to know the facts. The briefing note showing these threats occurred was produced in July 2021. When did the minister find out?
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Context: House Hansard - 189 - May/2/23
Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)
  • May/2/23 2:53:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the government knew that an MP's family was being threatened by a foreign agent and did nothing to kick that agent out, that is an outrage. The briefing on this incident is from July 2021. We need to know when the minister found out that these threats had been made against a member of the House of Commons and his family.
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Context: House Hansard - 189 - May/2/23
Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)
  • May/2/23 2:54:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is a question of the gravest importance. There is a member of Parliament, of the House of Commons, whose family has been threatened because of the way he voted here. How can we defend national security on the floor of the House of Commons if our family members are being threatened based on the votes that we cast? We need to know whether the government is protecting us against that, or we cannot do our work. Therefore, I will ask this one last time: When did the minister know that these threats were directed at this MP's family?
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