SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 235

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 19, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 235 - Oct/19/23
Mr. Francis Drouin (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.)
  • Oct/19/23 6:47:40 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, obviously the Government of Canada takes any allegation of foreign interference extremely seriously. The minister has personally engaged with Chinese counterparts on this issue, as the hon. member well knows, and we will never tolerate any form of foreign interference in Canada. As my hon. colleague is aware, in May of this year, after careful consideration, we declared persona non grata Mr. Zhao Wei, who held the position of consul at the consulate-general of the People's Republic of China in Toronto. In August, our government publicized information about a disinformation campaign on WeChat that targeted the member of Parliament from Wellington—Halton Hills. This campaign centred on spreading false narratives about his identity, including commentary and claims about his background, political stances and family heritage. We assessed that it was highly probable that China played a role in this campaign, and we raised strong objections about this activity with China's ambassador to Canada. Over the past year we have also raised strong objections with China's ambassador regarding the overseas police stations in Canada and demanded their closure. The RCMP has reported that these stations are no longer operational, and the RCMP is the right authority to act on that, not politicians. Foreign interference emanating from China and other countries is a significant danger to Canada's sovereignty, prosperity and social fabric. We will continue to do everything that is necessary to protect Canadians from this threat. Canada will continue to uphold global laws that have ensured global stability since the end of the Second World War, and we will continue to work with our allies on this. Canada remains firm in our resolve that defending Canada's democracy is of the utmost importance. We have stated time and time again that foreign interference activities in Canada are in violation of Canada's sovereignty and are unacceptable. The government, our government, will continue to choose the most effective tools from the wide range of options at our disposal to properly combat foreign interference. As the hon. member knows, there is an ongoing public inquiry on foreign interference with a focus on examining and assessing interference by China, Russia and other actors, in our last two federal elections. Our government has also established a national counter-foreign interference coordinator and office within Public Safety Canada, which includes oversight for economic security. As he knows, budget 2023 allocated $13.5 million for this purpose. The same budget allocated $48.9 million to the RCMP over three years to help protect Canadians against harassment and intimidation from authoritarian regimes. We will continue to work with allies. The fact that there is foreign interference, whether it is in Canada, the U.S. or other allied countries, is not new. We must continue working with our allies. We will continue to work with our proper authorities, like the RCMP, whether they are CSIS, CSE or our other security agencies across Canada, to ensure that foreign interference is not present in Canada, but we must continue working with our allies across the world.
513 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 235 - Oct/19/23
Mr. Kevin Vuong
  • Oct/19/23 6:52:23 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is as if the Liberal government thinks Canadians do not know any better and that, if its members repeat something enough times, Canadians will just believe it. The reality is that there are Canadians, whether of Iranian heritage, of Chinese heritage or of a number of diaspora communities, who are at risk, have been intimidated or are being threatened. They have raised those concerns, and all they have been met with is a lot of rhetoric, a lot of good talk and no action.
87 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border