44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 12, 2023 10:00AM
- May/12/23 11:36:15 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as we are all keenly aware, a Canadian passport is one of the most reliable travel documents around. We can celebrate our history here in the House and across Canada in lots of ways, and we can also ensure that our passports are secure.
I think we might be losing sight of the main objective. Our passports have to be secure, which is exactly the task we set out to accomplish. We will keep commemorating Canada's history without compromising the safety and security of Canadian travellers.
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- May/12/23 11:36:55 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister claims that he was unaware of the threats against the member for Wellington—Halton Hills in 2021. No one believes that, but let us say that it is true.
This morning, The Globe and Mail reported that CSIS had a file as thick as a brick against the expelled Chinese diplomat: taking of photographs, tracking dissidents for the Chinese regime, interfering with the staff of Liberal ministers to distance them from pro-Taiwan movements.
According to the paper, Global Affairs Canada and the Prime Minister's Office knew all that since 2020. Why did they wait until Monday to expel this diplomat?
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- May/12/23 11:37:31 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, of course we are taking the issue of foreign interference very seriously. Of course we will never accept any form of foreign interference in our democracy.
That is why, after much reflection and evaluation of all the different potential consequences, we decided to take action based on principle and pragmatism. After summoning the ambassador, we decided to expel the Chinese diplomat in question and that was the right decision.
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- May/12/23 11:38:11 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure that the member for Wellington—Halton Hills is reassured.
The Liberals are once again asking us to not only believe that they knew nothing about the threats against the member for Wellington—Halton Hills in 2021, but also that they were not aware of the diplomat's other reprehensible actions, which were known about since 2020. We are even supposed to believe that the Liberals were not aware that CSIS had had the diplomat under close surveillance since 2019.
To be blunt, the Liberals have been exposed. They obviously do not want to shed light on or take action against Chinese interference. When will they launch an independent public commission of inquiry?
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- May/12/23 11:38:46 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if my colleague has been following everything that has been done on this file over the past few weeks, then he knows very well that a special rapporteur has been appointed, former governor general David Johnston. He is doing his work and we are going to let him do that. He will make his recommendations shortly.
The Minister of Public Safety is following this file very closely. Given the facts that have come to light, we decided to declare the diplomat in question persona non grata. That was the right decision.
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- May/12/23 11:39:21 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for three years, the current government knew that a diplomat in Beijing's Toronto consulate was spying on Chinese Canadians and sending information back to Beijing's secret police. At the same time, the government knew that the very same diplomat was targeting a sitting member of Parliament and for three long years it did nothing.
Either the current Prime Minister is grossly incompetent or he just does not care about protecting Chinese Canadians from Beijing. Which is it?
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- May/12/23 11:39:56 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when a foreign government comes at one of us, it comes at all of us.
While Conservatives try to politicize and play partisan games, we are taking real action to keep Canadians safe. We have a government here that cares, a government that looks out for our Canadian values with empathy. We want to ensure that all members of Parliament move forward, working together with our families, friends or neighbours facing those very values.
In conclusion, I would say this to the members opposite: Let us all consider our responsibility to our citizenship versus our responsibility to our politics.
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- May/12/23 11:40:37 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that answer is an insult to Chinese Canadians. This government expelled one Beijing diplomat after they got caught doing nothing.
It gets worse. According to national security sources, CSIS has provided this government with a list of other Beijing diplomats identified for expulsion because of the threat they pose to Chinese Canadians.
How many names are on that list?
How many more warnings from CSIS is this government ignoring?
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- May/12/23 11:41:08 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we take the issues of foreign interference extremely seriously.
In fact, we took this issue so seriously that we started implementing measures as soon as we took office, something I would like to remind Canadians that Conservatives never did.
The Leader of the Opposition said, and members want to heckle because they do not want to hear the fact that the Leader of the Opposition actually admitted this, that when he was the democratic minister, he actually did not do anything to deal with foreign interference because he did not think it was in his political interest.
We do not believe in that. We are going to take action to protect our democracy.
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- May/12/23 11:41:48 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it seems that the foreign affairs minister is too embarrassed to answer these questions.
We have learned that Beijing diplomat Wei Zhao has been under intense CSIS surveillance for three years. We know he was targeting a member of Parliament two years ago. It took a front-page story in The Globe and Mail for the government to finally act by expelling the diplomat this week.
What else have we learned? We have learned that her department has known about it since 2020.
Why did the Prime Minister allow this agent to operate in Canada under diplomatic cover for three years? How many Canadians were victimized?
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- May/12/23 11:42:24 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think my colleague forgot to pay attention yesterday and listen to what was happening in committee.
Jenni Byrne, Pierre Poilievre's chief strategist, his confidante, the person who thinks of everything necessary—
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- May/12/23 11:42:41 a.m.
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I want to remind members that we cannot mention the names of members in the House.
The hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs.
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- May/12/23 11:42:47 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, allow me to repeat that. Jenni Byrne, the official opposition leader's chief strategist, his confidante, the person he trusts, told the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday that when the official opposition leader was minister of democratic institutions, he did nothing about foreign interference.
We are not going to take any lessons from our Conservative colleagues, and we are going to be there to act in the interests of Canadians.
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- May/12/23 11:43:16 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is pathetic.
The Globe and Mail article is what led to the diplomat's expulsion, even though the Department of Foreign Affairs knew about this for three years. We are talking about her department.
More shockingly, we now know that the Department of Foreign Affairs has had, since 2020, and I quote, “a list of diplomats that could be considered for expulsion because of their involvement in foreign interference and 'threat' activities outside of their regular diplomatic duties”.
There has only been one expulsion, even though there is a list of Beijing operatives who continue their dirty work in this country under diplomatic cover, because the Prime Minister refuses to act.
When will the Prime Minister take the threat seriously and protect all Canadians from the threats of diplomats, who are still in their posts just because they want to be?
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- May/12/23 11:44:03 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when I was in opposition as the critic for public safety and we were watching the horrors that happened to Mr. El Maati, Mr. Almalki and Mr. Nureddin, and we were reviewing the recommendations of Justice O'Connor and Justice Iacobucci, and there were critical calls, then, for the government to act, to create an oversight committee of parliamentarians that could look into every aspect of security and intelligence, the Conservatives refused to act.
Even in the wake of those tragedies, they refused to move, year after year after year.
When our government came in, we made sure that happened, and that is why they can see every piece of intelligence.
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- May/12/23 11:44:43 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Ontario's Greenbelt is a world-class program that protects critical farmland, wetlands and forests, yet the Ontario premier, Doug Ford, thinks the Greenbelt is a scam.
Well, do we know what else some people think is a scam? Inviting developers to donate to one's daughter's wedding is a scam. Handing over the Greenbelt to these Conservative-connected donors is a scam.
When will the federal government take action under the Impact Assessment Act to prevent the corrupt Doug Ford developers scam from further selling out our environment?
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- May/12/23 11:45:23 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we can be proud of in this place is that we put in a national urban park, Rouge National Urban Park, which is an amazing jewel for our city.
It is something that we have worked on and that we protect. It has species that are very important and endangered, and that we protect within that space.
We have started a study, through the Impact Assessment Agency, to make sure that we are taking into account all possible impacts on that park and we will always be there to support our urban green spaces, which are so important to us.
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- May/12/23 11:46:01 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, according to a media report, nurses are leaving the public health care system in droves and returning through private job placement agencies.
The health care crisis is getting worse under the Liberals' watch. Poor work conditions, low wages, forced overtime and high patient-to-nurse ratios are causing burnout. The structural problems must be addressed, and budget 2023 missed the mark.
Will the Liberals work with the provinces to ensure that nurses get the respect, resources and support they need so that patients can get the care they deserve?
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- May/12/23 11:46:37 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that this week is National Nursing Week. I would like to thank every nurse from coast to coast to coast, including our Minister of Seniors. Nurses absolutely do the most important work, and it is a very thankless position sometimes, so I would like to thank them.
To the substantive question, nurses deserve fair wages. They deserve a safe environment for work, and they deserve better work conditions. This is why budget 2023 is investing $198.6 billion into our health care system, including better wages for those who care for the most vulnerable.
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- May/12/23 11:47:20 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in recent days, many Canadians have expressed deep concern over the developing political crisis in Pakistan. This is in the wake of the violent arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.
Thanks to our strong people-to-people ties, most Canadians have a family member, friend or neighbour with deep links to Pakistan. There is real concern about what this arrest means for loved ones overseas and for the region generally.
Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs tell the House what the Government of Canada is doing about these events?
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