Mike Lake

[Business of Supply, May 4th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, he is referencing the point of order. The fact of the matter is that if we are looking at that particular point, and there is something else that you should apologize for but, on a technicality, said it was not on the record, on that particular point, you said the Prime Minister had a briefing on Monday and then you said that the member got the same briefing two years ago.

The member did not get the same briefing that the Prime Minister got, and then you put it on the member and asked—

[Business of Supply, May 4th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, there are four main elements of the motion. There is some preamble, which is really important, but the four main elements speak to things that should be universally supported. I think Canadians across the country will support them and I am glad to hear that the NDP and Bloc support them as well.

The four elements are: creating a foreign agent registry similar to Australia and the U.S.; having a national public inquiry, which seems like common sense given the circumstance that we are in right now; closing down foreign run police stations, which should be a pretty easy thing for us to agree on; and, finally, expelling the People's Republic of China diplomats responsible for and involved in these affronts to Canadian democracy.

Hopefully, we can all agree on those things.

[Business of Supply, May 4th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I do not normally get this fired up in here. There is a lot of people who get very fired up in here, but usually I try to avoid my hockey side, in a sense.

However, to the hon. member's point, I came in today expecting to discuss a motion that I thought would be unanimously supported. If we take a look at what is in the motion, including the measures on the registry and on closing communist China-run police stations in our country, I thought we would have common agreement here. I did not expect to come in and be heckled and mocked by Liberal members of Parliament, especially members of the Liberal leadership team.

I am hoping, again, that we can move forward with this conversation in a more constructive way and get to the heart of what is a very thoughtful motion that hopefully everybody in the House can support.

[Business of Supply, May 4th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, that is one of the most ridiculous questions I have ever heard in the House of Commons. We are talking about a member of Parliament who is serving in the government.

We all wish we were serving in the government, but we are not. There is one government. There is one Prime Minister. All of this has happened under that Prime Minister's watch. The government has known for two years about this situation and it has done absolutely nothing.

That member should be ashamed to get up in the House and ask that question.

[Business of Supply, May 4th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I am splitting my time with the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.

Let us look at the context of the conversations we are having right now. There is a member of the House of Commons, a colleague who is well respected by members on all sides, whose family has been threatened and who clearly did not know about the situation.

Earlier in the debate, the hon. member for Winnipeg North said that the member for Wellington—Halton Hills knew about it for two years. He then asked if the member had done anything on the issue. How is he supposed to do anything on the issue?

Here is the situation. There was a general briefing. The member for Kingston and the Islands said that dozens of members of Parliament received these general briefings, which highlights the fact it was a general briefing.

The member for Wellington—Halton Hills said that at no point was he ever informed that Wei Zhao was targeting he and his family. Meanwhile, to be clear, this individual, Wei Zhao, has not been expelled by the government even though it has known about this for two years. He was absolutely free to travel across the country and gather information that he could use against the member and his family, and the government has done absolutely nothing about it.

It is not a stretch for us to imagine what that would be like. This is not about any one specific person, because Canadians of Chinese origin across the country have been victims of this. Their families in the PRC have been victims of this. The government, despite the fact it has known about it for two years, has done absolutely nothing about it. Then hon. members have had the absolute gall to stand in the House today and blame the member for Wellington—Halton Hills for this.

It is very rare for members of Parliament from the Conservative Party, the Bloc and the NDP to agree on anything, but it is very clear today that we are in vast agreement on this. I think it is mind-numbing for all of us to think that the government, the party in power that was elected by Canadians, as unfortunate as we might think that is, is not on the same page when it comes to defending Canadians. Rather, it has come into the House today with a very clear strategy of sowing chaos and blaming the member of Parliament for Wellington—Halton Hills.

I think most of us are probably going to change the talking points, notes and speeches we have come here with because of the tone set by the two parliamentary secretaries, two members of the Liberal Party in the Liberal leadership team, who have come into the House with a very deliberate strategy. They have apologized for some of it, but they continue to get up and continue in that same vein.

I hope, from this point on, that the tenor of the debate will change today. I hope I see it in the questions I will asked by the Liberal members during my Q and A. Hopefully, we can move forward, as an entire House of Commons, in solidarity with the Chinese Canadians living in every corner of our country, including several members of the House who have been targeted by the Communist dictatorship in Beijing, regardless of their political stripe, and support this very important motion.

[Business of Supply, May 4th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I will point out that the hon. member, in his defence, mentioned coming in 15 seconds before the member for St. Albert—Edmonton stopped speaking. I will point out that it was the precise moment that chaos descended on this conversation. It was his question for the hon. member for St. Albert—Edmonton that triggered the condescension and mockery among his colleagues over here. It was his question where he talked about the member's being "supposedly affected“, which he apologized for unreservedly but reservedly a few minutes ago, and that was what triggered the other parliamentary secretary to the House leader, though it is hard to keep track of the parliamentary secretaries to the House leader over there, the member for Winnipeg North, who then said to his laughing colleagues that the member is not credible, talking about the member for Wellington—Halton Hills.

[Business of Supply, May 4th, 2023]

That is what you said. I am not going to get into a heckling match, because that is how we got into this challenge in the first place.

There were about four members at the time, including those two members, who were laughing as the conversation was happening specifically related to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills and the—

[Business of Supply, May 4th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, continuing my comments, if we actually listen to what the member for Kingston and the Islands said, he said, “if Conservatives were bothered by it”. That was the caveat he added when he mentioned that just a few minutes ago—

[Business of Supply, May 4th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, the member for New Westminster—Burnaby kind of touched on this as a long-serving member of the House. I want to also express my solidarity and my admiration for the Conservative member for Wellington—Halton Hills, whom we have been talking a lot about this morning. Perhaps members from all sides can recognize the important contributions that member has made over the years to this place and to our country.

I also want to recognize that the member of Parliament for Vancouver East gave a very heartfelt and personal speech as well today, which might have been a bit missed because of some of the chaos going on because of some of the comments made earlier by two Liberal members of Parliament, which I am going to get to in a second.

Quite honestly, I am astonished we are even here today. I am astonished, because when I take a look at the language in this motion, I just cannot believe that any of this at this point in time has not already been done. I cannot believe that we do not have a foreign agent registry. It is astonishing that we have not had a national public inquiry started on the matter of foreign election interference. I cannot believe that we have the People's Republic of China operating police stations right here in Canada. I certainly cannot believe that the diplomat in question and others have not been expelled from our country at this point in time, this far into this process.

However, even more so, I am astonished that, despite all of the things I was prepared to say, I will probably talk very little about them today because of the way this debate started.

When the hon. member for St. Albert—Edmonton stood to open this debate today, immediately members from the Liberal Party started to heckle and mock, laughing about the situation. I will point out that both of the members I will refer to are parliamentary secretaries to the House leader of their party. They are both in their party's leadership. They have been around this House for a long time. To hear the member for Kingston and the Islands in a question refer to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills as "supposedly affected by” the situation, to me—

[Business of Supply, May 4th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, because the hon. member used the phrase “to correct the record”, to correct the record myself, the hon. member used the phrase “supposedly affected” in regard to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills today.

He now has a chance to stand up and apologize.