SoVote

Mr. Gary Vidal (Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, CPC)

May/9/23 11:34:50 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to ask my colleague from Cariboo—Prince George to comment briefly on the facts of the timing of all this. We heard from the member across the way that he wants to talk about facts, so let us do so. We started on Sunday night, when the member for Wellington—Halton Hills was informed of this potential threat to him and his family. That story came out in the media on Monday. On Monday and Tuesday, the government side deflected; there was no comment about anything. Finally, on Wednesday morning, the Prime Minister and the public safety minister said that this report never made it out of CSIS. I think by the end of the day or early the next morning, the member for Wellington—Halton Hills was in fact informed that this report had made it to the PCO and the national security adviser's office. The Liberals deflected for a couple more days. They were going to summon the ambassador to have a conversation, and finally, we end up with this operative, as he is called in many reports, being expelled from our country. What we are trying to accomplish in this parliamentary privilege motion is actually getting to the truth, and we have the goal of getting it to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs for a deeper study. Could the member for Cariboo—Prince George talk about how this changing set of facts and narratives affects this?

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Context: House Hansard - 193 - May/9/23

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

May/9/23 12:29:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, just to pick up on the member's last points, people who are following the debate should be very much aware of the facts. The fact is that, whether the Conservatives want to agree or disagree, the Prime Minister first found out about this just last week. He took immediate action. Within a week, we now have a diplomat being expelled from Canada. Back on March 12, we talked about establishing a foreign influence transparency registry. On March 15, we put in a special rapporteur, who could well come back suggesting that we have a public inquiry. The Prime Minister says that if that is the recommendation, that is what we will accept. Would the member not acknowledge that the Prime Minister found out for the very first time last week, as he has indicated?

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Context: House Hansard - 193 - May/9/23

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

May/9/23 1:05:44 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, maybe the member can explain why it is that the Conservatives intentionally choose to ignore the fact that the Prime Minister did find out last week and, as I indicated, a number of actions were taken virtually immediately, one of which led to a diplomat being expelled from Canada within a week. I would suggest that is action. Why do the Conservatives continue to want to make this a political issue by spreading misinformation?

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Context: House Hansard - 193 - May/9/23

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

May/9/23 1:58:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there have been a number of actions that the Prime Minister has actually taken. This is what I find incredibly offensive. The members in the House are honourable members. There is no member, either the member who has just spoken or another Conservative member, who has given any sort of evidence whatsoever that shows that the Prime Minister is not telling the truth, yet they continue to spread misinformation, which causes more damage than I think members realize. Would the member not acknowledge that the Prime Minister found out last week and that we have taken virtually immediate action, which ultimately led to a diplomat being expelled from the country?

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Context: House Hansard - 193 - May/9/23

Mr. René Villemure (Trois-Rivières, BQ)

May/9/23 2:57:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday the government finally expelled the Chinese diplomat involved in intimidating the member for Wellington—Halton Hills and his family. The government did that yesterday, not in 2021, when it found out what was going on. In other words, the Chinese diplomat was not expelled for threatening the member in 2021. He was expelled because his threats have been making headlines for the past week. The Liberals' main concern is not that an MP was threatened; it is that the public knows they did nothing. That is one more reason they cannot be trusted to shed light on Chinese interference. When will there be an independent public inquiry?

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