Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Nov. 5th, 2024

Evidence of meeting #131 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was elections.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

Bill C-65

Members speaking

Before the committee

Peter Loewen Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, As an Individual

Siobhán Vipond Executive Vice-President, Canadian Labour Congress

Duff Conacher Co-founder, Democracy Watch

Connor Bildfell Lawyer, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, As an Individual

Franco Terrazzano Federal Director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation

Sharon DeSousa National President, Public Service Alliance of Canada

Sasha Hart General Counsel, Public Service Alliance of Canada

1 p.m.

General Counsel, Public Service Alliance of Canada

Sasha Hart

Currently under the act, third parties are prohibited from using foreign funds, so we would agree with the CLC that the existing mechanisms under the act to prevent foreign interference, when it comes to third parties' work and contributions, are adequate. We believe that a simple clarification here to the current wording of the bill that allows third parties to receive contributions from other third parties—so long as all the third parties involved have reporting requirements, are reporting and are subject to the prohibition that they cannot use foreign funds—is sufficient to address the foreign interference concerns.

1 p.m.

NDP

Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC

Thank you very much, Ms. Hart.

The final question I want to put out there for Ms. DeSousa is this: Are there any final thoughts you want to share with us around what we should be focusing on when we look at the amendments? Is there any final piece of information you think all members should be aware of?

1 p.m.

National President, Public Service Alliance of Canada

Sharon DeSousa

I would just like to reiterate our main concerns. Once again, I just want to say that I think having democracy in Canada is very important. Ensuring that democracy is not influenced by “outside sources” is a wonderful thing. We just want to see clarification on those three items that we have presented. I think it's important to ensure that we, going forward, make sure that, 10 or 20 years down the road, the intent of this bill is not misinterpreted.

I thank the committee for their deliberation and hard work. I know it hasn't been easy, but we look forward to the next step in this phase.

1:05 p.m.

NDP

Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC

With that, thank you for your responses.

1:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Ben Carr

Thank you very much, Ms. Barron.

Colleagues, that brings us to the end of today's meeting. I remind you that Minister LeBlanc will be joining us on Thursday to further engage in our conversation about Bill C-65 as well as his mandate.

Thank you very much to the witnesses who made themselves available today.

With that, colleagues, the meeting is adjourned.