44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 8, 2023 11:00AM
- May/8/23 2:54:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in this chamber, it never ceases to amaze me how absurd the suggestions can be from the Conservative Party on this issue.
Of course we have regard for the member for Wellington—Halton Hills. Of course we have regard for the safety and security of all members in this chamber, so that we can exercise our constitutional responsibilities by representing our constituents and doing so free and clear from any foreign interference.
That is why we are putting in place all the authorities and the transparency that are necessary to do that. It is far past the time at which the Conservatives need to abandon their rhetoric on this. They need to roll up their sleeves and get behind the hard work, so that we can defend our democracy.
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- May/8/23 6:19:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister learned nothing or does not want to learn anything from these threats and the fact that Canadians found out about them.
Today, the House voted on a Conservative motion to create a registry of foreign agents, those people who are paid by dictatorships to influence and manipulate our policies here in Canada. The Prime Minister and his party voted against the motion. Why?
If a person wants to lobby for a food bank, they have to register. Why would we not ask the same from someone who wants to lobby for a foreign dictatorship? It makes no sense. These people who are paid to intimidate people and influence our politics can do so in secret. Everyone runs the risk of being approached by these same people because we do not know who they are. If a person working for Beijing or another dictatorship meets us in our offices, we never know if they are being paid by this government to do so. A registry like those that already exist in the United States and Australia would allow us to know who these people are. It is not a crime to work for a foreign government, but people should have to at least register so that we can know when that is the case. The Prime Minister, however, wants this to remain secret.
Our motion called for a public inquiry to get to the truth. The Prime Minister voted against that motion, choosing instead to appoint a former member of the Trudeau Foundation to conduct an investigation. Can we really trust the Trudeau Foundation, which has already received $140,000 from Beijing? All Trudeau Foundation board members resigned because of problems with that donation. The Prime Minister has appointed two people to investigate foreign interference, two people out of 40 million Canadians. According to the Prime Minister, no one in Canada was qualified to conduct this investigation except members of the Trudeau Foundation, which is funded by Beijing and with which the Trudeau family continues to have ties. Is there no one else capable of conducting this investigation in a country like ours? Of course there is, and that is why we need a public inquiry.
The Prime Minister voted against closing Chinese police stations. If the United States' FBI opened police stations in Canada, Canadians would be outraged, and rightfully so. It is unacceptable for another country, no matter the country, whether it is one of our allies or one of our enemies, to have a police station here. By definition, a sovereign country has the sole authority to use force legitimately and legally on its territory. Police stations must be managed by our system, by our governments elected by Canadians. We want to close Beijing's police stations and we want to do it now.
The primary responsibility of a prime minister is to defend his citizens against foreign threats. That is even more important than the economy and all other issues. Protecting our country and its citizens against foreign threats is the primary responsibility. What we are learning is that the Prime Minister did nothing to protect us. He does not want to do anything. It has been six months since Canada learned of these threats. The Prime Minister has done absolutely nothing to protect us and is incapable of doing so. We need a new government that will protect us, that will make Canadians the priority. That is just plain common sense, and that is exactly what I will do as prime minister of Canada.
Before I begin my remarks in English, I want to acknowledge the total hell that the hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills has suffered. I cannot imagine receiving a phone call from a journalist late one night to find out that family members on the other side of the world have been threatened for two years and that my own government knew about it, said nothing to me nor did anything to protect my family, and, worse still, allowed the perpetrator of these threats to remain in Canada and have immunity from our laws all of that time. It must have been the worst phone call he has ever received, but I have to say that the member dealt with this incredible hardship with grace, dignity and honour. All of us, and all Canadians, stand with him four-square.
What has the Prime Minister learned? Apparently, he has learned nothing. He finally kicked out the operative from Beijing, after two years of knowing about this. CSIS informed the Prime Minister's national security adviser in July 2021, two years ago. He did absolutely nothing. It was not until the media found out that he responded at all, and even then he said he was too afraid to kick this agent out.
This agent not only went after a member of the House, but also, sadly, may have targeted countless other families. The member in question told me, and I think he would not mind if I shared, that what bothers him most is that, while he has the floor of the House of Commons in order to raise these threats, many thousands of other patriotic Canadians of Chinese origin have faced exactly the same intimidation and threats. We hear the stories of members of Parliament, and some who were defeated, who knocked on doors only to have these Canadians in tears, asking them to go into the backyard and leave the telephones at the front of the house so that they could quietly relay the stories of the threats and intimidation they have received: knocks on the door from Beijing's agents and visits to family members who live in China itself, with veiled, and sometimes overt, threats that were not acted upon by the Canadian government.
Meanwhile, there have been foreign police stations on our soil. If the FBI opened police stations in Canada, there would be thousands of people out to protest them. It would be seen as a massive attack by our American friends on our own sovereignty. Are we are expected to accept it when it is by a hostile foreign dictatorship? Can anyone imagine a prime minister ceding law enforcement powers to a foreign dictatorship? The Prime Minister can claim he is offended by all this, but he has been briefed and has known about it for years, and he has done nothing except having his public safety minister go out and claim there is nothing to worry about and that the police stations were all closed. We find out now that this was false. At least two stations are up and running, and they have not even been visited by Canadian law enforcement authorities. How many other police stations are out there? How many other aggressive foreign operatives are harassing good, solid Canadian people? We need an answer to that question.
Why is it that the Prime Minister refuses to take action? Is it because he still admires the basic Chinese Communist dictatorship, as he so famously said? Is it because, as he said, he admired Fidel Castro? Is it because the dictatorship in Beijing gave $140,000 to the Trudeau Foundation? Is it because he now knows that Beijing interfered in two consecutive elections to help him win, and he is just as happy as a clam to have them interfere one more time to give him an advantage? Is he prepared to put his own electoral interests above our national security? Is that how bad it has become?
We know that he has voted against, in our recent Conservative motion, the creation of a foreign influence registry, which exists in the United States and Australia. It is necessary to register if one wants to lobby for the food bank; why should someone not have to make themselves know if they are taking paid interests from foreign dictatorships to manipulate Canadian politics today? It is just common sense, and that is why we want to bring it home. This would not apply to any particular race, group or nationality of Canadians; it would apply exclusively to people of any race who take financial payment from a foreign dictatorship, and that is something that can be done in a manner that is respectful of human rights.
The Prime Minister knows that, but he does not want the truth to come out. He voted against a public inquiry, instead relying on two former members of the Trudeau Foundation, a foundation that received $140,000 from Beijing, to do all of the so-called investigating. Out of 40 million people, he expects us to believe the only two people in all of Canada qualified to look into this matter are members of the Trudeau Foundation. That is not credible, especially when it was his own brother who facilitated the donation coming from Beijing.
The Prime Minister voted against closing the foreign police stations. Closing those stations was part of the Conservative motion that he and the Liberal Party voted against, and the Liberal Party voted against kicking out all the operatives who have been attacking our people. The Prime Minister has one principal, primordial responsibility, which is to protect the Canadian people and their democracy. He has put that job aside for the priorities, either ideological or financial, that are driving him in the other direction.
Conservatives, however, will not let up. We will continue to fight to close these foreign police stations. We will stand up against foreign interference in our elections. We will push for stronger laws to detect and prevent future interference in election campaigns. We will continue to call for, and, eventually, when I am prime minister, bring into place a full public inquiry so we can get to the truth in this scandal. We will, every day in every way, call for and demand the end to anyone who has been involved in setting up police stations on behalf of a foreign government. This is the least we can do. Remember that we will bring home control of our democracy, back to Canadians, not to any foreign government. We will bring home security to our country by removing Iran's, Beijing's or any other foreign regime's operatives who are harassing our people on the ground.
Let us make no mistake, as we go forward and do this work: We are not doing this on behalf a group of people who are simply members of some diaspora. Chinese Canadians are Canadians. Iranian Canadians are Canadians. They are good people, and I want to say to them that we are their allies in defending the reason they came here. I know why they came here; it is because they wanted to work hard, to contribute to this country and to be free from censorship and oppression. They wanted to live their lives and build their dreams, and they should have every right to do that. They are our people. They are part of our home. This is our land. This is our democracy. Let us bring it home for them and for everyone. I thank them very much for standing here as Canadians. We stand with them too.
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