Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: Thank you for the question, senator.

I want to thank the members of this chamber for allowing me the opportunity to be here to take your questions.

Senator, in direct response, I believe firmly in the significance of the work of the National Security Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians. This is a committee that was set up and established by our government for the purposes of working across partisan lines with all parliamentarians, including senators from this chamber.

The work of this committee has produced concrete recommendations which I had been acting on expeditiously including the creation of a national coordinator to fight foreign interference, as well as moving forward with the creation of a foreign agent registry, but in the right way given some of the concerns expressed to me directly vis-à-vis diaspora communities and the like.

With regard to your specific concerns around the makeup of that committee, I do commit to relaying your concerns to the government, but I do agree that it needs to have broad representation as was originally envisioned when we set up this committee.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, we welcome today the Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety. I wish to remind colleagues that questions to the minister must relate to his ministerial responsibilities.

Pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on December 7, 2021, senators do not need to stand. Questions are limited to one minute and responses to one-and-a-half minutes. The reading clerk will stand 10 seconds before the expiry of these times. Question Period will last one hour.

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Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: Thank you, senator, nice to see you again in this chamber. I do recall my appearance from a year ago. I am more optimistic than you in the progress we have made around the creation of a foreign agent registry.

As you have seen, we have been conducting robust public consultations on how best to create that new legal instrument to promote transparency around what is legitimate diplomatic activity while at the same time deterring and ferreting out any foreign activities which go beyond the conventions of legitimate diplomacy and may spill over into foreign interference.

It is my sincere hope that as a result of the consultations in which I observed a strong consensus on the need for the creation of this bill that we are able to create it in a way that is consistent with the concerns that have been expressed to me by diaspora communities who are the targets of foreign interference and consistent with the principles of the Charter.

Tracing back to our first exchange, senator, I think we have made significant progress, and I believe that next year at this time we will have a registry in place.

Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: Thank you for the question, senator.

The road to reconciliation is truly challenging. We have a plan founded on relationships with Indigenous communities and based on good faith. I think we need to continue with a plan of engagement that will result in meaningful initiatives.

Take, for example, the Aboriginal Community Safety Planning Initiative. We have already announced the reopening of Indigenous police services in the James Smith Cree Nation in Nunavut and in the Siksika Nation in Alberta, so there are precedents on which we can build future initiatives.

The government also intends to introduce a new bill to recognize that Indigenous police services are an essential service, just as they are in non-Indigenous communities. I am working with Indigenous leaders on that.

Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: The senator poses perhaps one of the most thought-provoking questions that we are confronted with, in addition to climate change and other global phenomena.

It is something I am seized with, as is the Government of Canada. I think our vision has to be that Canada will be the safest and freest country in the world, where people can live out their lives in digital and virtual space. That obviously has an interplay with artificial intelligence.

There is an important role and a conversation in the way in which the government is going to work with innovators in that space. There are important legal questions. There are ethical questions. There are practical questions about the impacts of artificial intelligence on jobs and the economy. We all have to be united in making sure that Canada is at the leading edge of that debate because we have the most talented workforce in the world. We can and will play a formative role in those discussions.

Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: With all due respect, senator, I’m pretty sure I spoke directly with the families from Portapique when I was in Truro. I think I was one of the first ministers in the federal government to meet with the families in person to express my condolences. I know this is an extremely difficult time for these families.

I was there to support the families when the Mass Casualty Commission published its final report. That’s why, earlier today, I announced the creation of a Progress Monitoring Committee. I have full confidence it will ensure that the final report’s recommendations are fully implemented. We have appointed retired Justice Linda Oland, a person with a great deal of experience in the judicial field and a resident of Nova Scotia. With her leadership, and together with the other stakeholders, we can fulfill the vision of the Mass Casualty Commission, because the time has come to reform the RCMP.

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Hon. Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety: I thank the honourable senator for her leadership on this bill and her collaboration.

The short answer is yes. We will make the necessary investments to ensure the implementation of this bill. We are currently holding discussions and we will move forward as soon as possible.