Senator Plett: A year ago, leader, I actually received an answer to one of my written questions on the Senate’s Order Paper concerning foreign interference — it doesn’t happen very often. I asked how many Canadians had contacted the RCMP’s National Security Information Network regarding foreign interference. The answer was that — in 2021 alone — over 11,000 calls and emails were received, from which 682 tips were forwarded to the National Security Programme. In January 2022 alone, the RCMP received 873 calls and emails.

It seems to me that for some time now the RCMP has needed more resources to investigate foreign interference, including the harassment and intimidation of Canadians by Beijing’s Communist regime.

Would the RCMP have received this funding if the Prime Minister didn’t need to look as though he is taking the matter seriously?

Senator Dalphond: I understand that our policies may be similar to United States policy. John Kirby, the United States National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, said last Tuesday that U.S. foreign policy supports expanded human rights throughout the world. He said that they:

. . . are never going to shy away or be bashful about speaking up for those rights and for . . . individuals to live as they deem fit, as they want to live.

He added, “And that’s something that’s a core part of our foreign policy, and it will remain so.”

Is that the case for Canadian foreign policy?