44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 30, 2023 10:00AM
- May/30/23 11:31:42 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we first called for an independent public inquiry as a result of the allegations of foreign interference in Canadian elections. By “we”, I mean the opposition parties.
According to Jean-Pierre Kingsley, former chief electoral officer of Elections Canada, a public inquiry is necessary and essential to reassure Canadians.
I would like to hear what my colleague, the leader of the official opposition, has to say about that, because, after all, Mr. Kingsley is telling us that Mr. Johnston did not even consult Elections Canada senior officials in the course of his investigation.
If foreign interference into elections was the main reason to call for a public inquiry, why did Mr. Johnston's investigation not include Elections Canada? I would like to know my colleague's thoughts on that.
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- May/30/23 1:45:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it sounds like there is still a sense of soreness on the other side that they did not win in the last election, so now they are trying to come up with excuses or any sort of rationale that they can blame, as opposed to it being their platform or other issues related to the Conservative Party. I will provide a quote from an article for the member, just so that he is aware. It says, “The U.S. Ambassador to Canada says the question of whether or not foreign election interference is happening is less important than whether it’s been successful, and he hasn’t seen any proof that alleged interference attempts by China in Canada’s elections have managed to affect the results.”.
I know the member thinks very highly of the American counterparts. Maybe he would recognize that at least this particular individual is right. Maybe that would give the member a little more sense of comfort in recognizing that the Conservatives were not defeated because of foreign interference, but because of the campaign period itself.
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- May/30/23 1:52:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am not usually one to correct the member for Winnipeg North, but he did say that members of the Conservative Party were mad that they lost the last election. I would like to correct him. They lost the last three elections, to be truthful.
The member also mentioned that this was first highlighted when Stephen Harper was prime minister and led the government, and there was nothing really done. The Conservatives were informed of foreign interference and did nothing.
Could the member highlight why he thinks it was the case that they did nothing and did the opposition at the time demand a public inquiry?
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- May/30/23 2:37:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since we found out that there was Chinese interference in the election process, the government has been acting as though it is in charge of elections. It is acting as though Parliament does not have a say and democracy falls under the exclusive authority of the Prime Minister.
It is pretty crazy that the majority of parliamentarians elected by the majority of the population have less clout than an unelected rapporteur, a friend of the Prime Minister who was appointed by the Prime Minister and reports to the Prime Minister.
Will the Prime Minister finally launch an independent public commission of inquiry, as the majority of elected members of the House are asking him to do?
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- May/30/23 5:37:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. It is a very important issue for me. I understand what he is saying.
We as a government put in place a special independent rapporteur, someone who is very distinguished. The independent rapporteur did deliver a report and there is a second report to follow.
At the same time, we as a government must act. We must put in place a foreign agent registry with the proper guardrails, as I stated in my prior answer. We do have committees, NSICOP and NSIRA, that are doing good work, and a number of other initiatives are going forward. We must be sure that Canadians have confidence and trust in their democracy.
We know that the 2019 and 2021 elections were not impacted by foreign interference, as has been ruled in reports. They stated that the outcome was fair and that the outcome was decided only by Canadians.
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