Hon. Denise Batters: Minister, with every avenue your government employs to fix this Beijing interference scandal, all roads lead to the Trudeau Foundation. The Prime Minister chose Morris Rosenberg to report on foreign election interference. He was the Trudeau Foundation CEO at the time of the infamous Beijing donation. His conclusion? Nothing to see here.

The Trudeau Foundation was invisible in Special Rapporteur David Johnston’s 55-page report. Johnston, himself a Trudeau Foundation member, concluded he’d replace the public inquiry Canadians want with more “Special Rapporteuring.” To counter questions about his close ties to PM Trudeau, Johnston sought an independent legal opinion from another Trudeau Foundation alumnus, Frank Iacobucci. And the two security committees tasked with this scandal? NSIRA has two Trudeau Foundation alumni, including the chair, while the lone senator on NSICOP is also a Trudeau Foundation alumnus.

Given this pattern, why should Canadians trust they will get the answers they deserve on this shocking interference scandal?

Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: With regard to any foreign-interference activities, whether in regard to the so-called police stations run out of Beijing or any other materialization of foreign interference, those are, as you know, questions that are best put to the RCMP, senator. I would say this: There is $49 million in Budget 2023 which will give them additional resources to help protect communities from that. The Conservative Party should support the budget. They don’t.

The second thing is that, regarding the registry, as I had already explained, we are taking decisive action on that front and will pass the piece of legislation as quickly as possible, but we have to bring Canadians along, including diasporas who are victims of and targeted by foreign interference.

The last thing I’ll say is that we are moving forward with the reforms that are necessary to fight foreign interference. You know that I just signed off on a ministerial directive to ensure we are getting properly briefed on the elected side of government. That is a step we took that, frankly, the Conservatives did not take the last time they were in government; they also did not take any of the other steps I have highlighted in the way we are fighting foreign interference.

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