44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 31, 2023 02:00PM
- May/31/23 2:34:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will do one better than a former CSIS agent. Current leadership across our intelligence agencies and across the public service continues to say that the best way to move forward is not with a public inquiry, which would have to happen behind closed doors. Many who testified at committees expressed that perspective. To remove it from the political realm, we asked an unimpeachable man of integrity, a former governor general selected by Stephen Harper, to look into these matters deeply and to make a determination as to whether a public inquiry was the right mechanism. He said—
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- May/31/23 2:35:20 p.m.
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The hon. member for Burnaby South.
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- May/31/23 2:35:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is not restoring confidence with the decisions he is making. We need confidence restored.
What will it take for the government to see reason? Last week, we learned that the special rapporteur's key legal adviser is a long-time Liberal donor. Is that this government's definition of ethics?
This afternoon, the Prime Minister can do the right thing and put the country's interests before his own personal interests. He can vote in favour of our motion to launch a public inquiry. Will he do that?
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- May/31/23 2:36:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, foreign interference is an extremely serious, fundamental issue for our democracy and our institutions.
That is why we implemented a number of measures, including committees of parliamentarians, expert committees, such as the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, a process during the election campaign and an independent expert responsible for assessing everything that we are doing and making recommendations. He found that the 2019 and 2021 elections were not compromised and he will continue his work.
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- May/31/23 2:36:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a real prime minister would never allow a foreign dictatorship to have police stations on our soil. The Prime Minister has known for at least six months that Beijing has these police stations here. I will ask him the following question.
How many agents of Beijing have been arrested here in Canada because of these active police stations here in Canada? In the United States, several such agents have already been arrested.
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- May/31/23 2:37:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition knows full well that it is not up to the police officers to direct the police in their operations. However, we have ensured that the RCMP is following up and investigating this foreign interference and these Chinese police stations.
In the meantime, the leader of the Conservative Party chooses to remain ignorant and refuses to accept briefings on the facts in the matter of Chinese interference. He made that choice because he wants to continue to make unfounded partisan attacks.
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- May/31/23 2:37:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what is not serious is that we do not have the laws to have the RCMP arrest these Beijing agents who created these police stations.
Why is it that the Americans have been able to arrest the Beijing agents who created the police stations in the United States? It is because they have laws. The Conservative Party has been calling for this for years, especially for the creation of a foreign agent registry.
Why is the Prime Minister protecting Beijing police stations instead of putting in place laws to arrest them?
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- May/31/23 2:38:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are in fact creating this foreign agent registry because it is the responsible thing to do.
However, the reality is that the opposition leader's decision to refuse access to the intelligence and briefings needed to get to the bottom of foreign interference demonstrates that he does not want to fix this problem. He does not want to defend the interests of the Chinese communities exploited and attacked by Beijing. The only thing he is interested in is making partisan attacks and continuing his personal attacks.
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- May/31/23 2:39:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is all an act with this guy. He would have us believe that if he committed me to secrecy and forced me to take an oath of silence, that would somehow close the Beijing police stations here in Canada. Of course, it would not. What we need is a strong law that will allow our police to arrest them.
The question is very simple. Why is it that the Americans have been able to shut down the Beijing police stations in their country and arrest the agents involved with them, while in this country, the Prime Minister has been able to do neither?
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- May/31/23 2:40:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, any serious politician in this place should understand how the Security of Information Act actually works, particularly someone who has sat in cabinet and who was Canada's minister of elections.
The reality is that if the member opposite does not understand how the Security of Information Act works, we would be happy to provide a briefing to him from officials to explain the Security of Information Act, so he can understand that it would be okay for him to take a briefing on the facts of foreign interference and so he can be better informed in his questions and his challenges to government.
The reality—
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- May/31/23 2:40:42 p.m.
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The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
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- May/31/23 2:40:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, they do not have to brief me on the laws. I have actually read them. Subsection 12(1) of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act says that not only would I be silenced from speaking about matters broadly, but I would be prevented from debating them on the floor of the House of Commons, which is exactly what the Prime Minister wants.
He is not going to get it. I will not be gagged. I will not be silenced. I will continue to seek the truth.
Here is the truth that I want him to finally speak to. We have known that there are foreign police stations operating on Canadian soil. We know the Prime Minister's government has given them tax dollars. How much did he give them?
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- May/31/23 2:41:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, hiding behind “a veil of ignorance” is very characteristic for a leader who has no interest—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- May/31/23 2:41:54 p.m.
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I am going to interrupt the right hon. Prime Minister. I got some complaints because there were some people shouting from this side when the opposition leader was asking a question. I am going to ask the same courtesy from both sides. I do not think it is that hard. It is not that complicated. When somebody is speaking, we do not speak.
The right hon. Prime Minister.
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- May/31/23 2:42:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, hiding behind “a veil of ignorance” is very characteristic for a leader who has no interest in actual facts. There is nothing stopping him right now from getting cleared, briefed, and disagreeing with the former governor general's conclusions if he so chooses, regardless of his opinions. He is entitled to those. He is not entitled to his own facts.
Please, I really encourage the Leader of the Opposition to get briefed—
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- May/31/23 2:42:49 p.m.
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The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
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- May/31/23 2:42:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all Canadians are entitled to the facts. That is why we want a public inquiry.
We know that Beijing gave $140,000 to the Trudeau Foundation. We know that when the scandal broke, he named Mr. Rosenberg to look into it. Rosenberg is with the Trudeau Foundation. When the scandal exploded further, he named Mr. Johnston, also a member of the Trudeau Foundation. What did he do? He named another judge from the Trudeau Foundation to look into the conflict of interest.
Is the Prime Minister afraid of a public inquiry because he has run out of members of the Trudeau Foundation to run it?
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- May/31/23 2:43:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while the Leader of the Opposition continues with his personal and partisan attacks, we are going to continue to—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- May/31/23 2:43:42 p.m.
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I am sorry. I have a question for all members to reflect on. I do not want anybody to shout the answer out. This is not a question I want answered. What part of “while somebody is speaking, we sit quietly and listen” do we not understand? Write me an email if you want once we are done, and you can explain it to me, because I do not understand it.
The right hon. Prime Minister, from the top, please.
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- May/31/23 2:44:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, we see that the Leader of the Opposition, on this very serious issue, has not nothing to offer other than partisan attacks and personal attacks, rather than actually dealing with the substance of this serious issue.
To deal with the substance of this serious issue, we have directed intelligence agencies to offer him secure briefings so that he can understand the facts underlying both the former governor general's report and the issue of foreign interference. He has simply refused because he does not want anything, like facts in particular, to get in the way of a good partisan argument.
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