SoVote

Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)

May/8/23 2:25:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister was so courageous, he would not be afraid to stand up to answer a question, would he? If the Prime Minister was so courageous, he might throw out Beijing's agent. A week after we found out as a nation that this agent had been threatening the family of a Canadian MP for a vote that he cast in the House, the Prime Minister has not thrown him out. In fact, he extends credentials to that agent, allowing him to operate with impunity from our laws here in our country. Will the Prime Minister show some courage, answer the question and kick this agent out today?

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Context: House Hansard - 192 - May/8/23

Mr. John Brassard

May/8/23 8:12:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, that is a very interesting question from the member for North Island—Powell River. I was listening intently to the member for Vancouver East the other day when she spoke about this particular issue during our opposition day motion, which was passed by all opposition parties and the government voted against it. Everyone that we have spoken to, every witness who has come to committee, has spoken about the need for a foreign agent registry and the ability for us to track those foreign nationals who are lobbying the government, who are meeting with ministers and who are perhaps attending cash-for-access fundraisers. Every single one of them has spoken about the need for a foreign agent registry. They have talked about examples like Australia and the United States that have implemented a foreign agent registry successfully. Every single one of them, despite the government's contention, does not feel it is racist at all to implement such a registry if it means that we are going to keep track of those agents and those regimes that are intimidating, inciting fear and doing things to our citizens that should not be done, as the government has an obligation to protect them.

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Context: House Hansard - 192 - May/8/23

Mr. René Villemure (Trois-Rivières, BQ)

May/8/23 10:59:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to ask my colleague a question, and I would really like to hear his personal opinion. The foreign agent registry he referred to a short time ago has been implemented in Australia. At the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, we heard testimony that this registry was not working, that there were flaws in it and that the objectives in question had not been achieved. I wonder if my colleague could comment on what he might suggest to ensure that such a registry achieves the objectives that are set.

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Context: House Hansard - 192 - May/8/23

Mr. Brad Vis

May/8/23 11:02:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since elected, I have really gotten to appreciate the hon. member's advocacy for the agricultural sector and his amazing hockey skills. To the question specifically, it is one I have actually been pondering for a number of nights. A report lands on the desk of a CSIS agent, stating very clearly that a member of Parliament has been targeted by a foreign government. What is that CSIS agent going to do? My understanding is that a security and intelligence officer would probably want to move that up the chain of command very quickly. A threat to a parliamentarian is a serious matter. The excuses given by the government so far, in the last week of discussing this matter, do not seem to add up. The fact of the matter is that this was likely brought forward to the Prime Minister. That is exactly why I asked the Prime Minister, today in question period, when he would stop misleading Canadians about what actually happened. We need some transparency on this matter. I hope the debate we are having over this question of privilege continues to expose the lack of concrete action by the government. In fact, in some cases, it may be that negligence was shown to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills by not taking the appropriate action to move forward and provide the protection required to him and his relatives in such circumstances.

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