Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Before I begin, I'd like to thank Ms. Blaney. She mentioned that she had an opportunity to meet with local firefighters and local fire chiefs. I know she's been a great supporter of my bill, and I want to thank her for that, because she has been advocating for her firefighters in her communities, and she has a lot of fire departments in her very large constituency.
Thank you, Ms. Blaney, for that.
She also brought up a really important point. She said two words: intention and impact. When we think of the word “impact”, we need to remember that everything we say and everything we do has consequences.
In my intervention earlier today, I asked a question: What is it we want to achieve and what is our objective? Well, depending on what we want to achieve, there are different tactics we can use.
With respect to the public inquiry, we didn't say it wasn't a good idea. The special rapporteur will establish the best way to proceed. On the other hand, we know that a public inquiry has its limits. It will be called an independent inquiry because those conducting it will not be parliamentarians, but will be appointed by the cabinet. The same thing goes for the rapporteur: The Prime Minister will appoint them. On the other hand, it's well known that those undertaking a public inquiry can't have access to secret documents.
So it has its limitations, but that doesn't mean it's not a good idea to go down that road.
Our committee is also validating the information. We've already heard from many witnesses. We want to call several more. Some key witnesses have clarified a lot of things, but we have others we could call. The Prime Minister announced today that he will appoint a special rapporteur as soon as possible, in the next few days. He announced it today at a press conference. So we'll find out who that person will be. As soon as we know, the committee can decide to pursue its studies. Otherwise, we don't know.
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians is also being asked to conduct a review to assess the state of foreign interference in federal electoral processes. The committee has stated that it will begin this review.
With respect to that committee, I want to make sure that everyone is aware of its mandate. The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act authorizes the committee to review:
a) the legislative, regulatory, policy, administrative and financial framework for national security and intelligence; b) any activity carried out by a department that relates to national security or intelligence, unless the activity is an ongoing operation and the appropriate Minister determines that the review would be injurious to national security; and c) any matter relating to national security or intelligence that a minister of the Crown refers to the Committee.
Madam Chair, it's very important to note that the committee members are drawn from both Houses of Parliament, all have top-secret security clearance and all are bound to secrecy in perpetuity under the Security of Information Act.
The committee members take an oath or solemnly declare that they will obey and comply with the laws of Canada, and that they will not disclose or misuse information obtained in confidence in the course of their responsibilities relating to the committee.
On this basis, the members of this committee are able to receive classified minutes and materials related to the committee's work, which is very important.
In fact, since 2017, the year the committee was formed, a number of members from all political parties have served on it. When we look at the committee members, they have clearly included some outstanding parliamentarians. Right now, someone I would call an expert sits on the committee. Ms. Normandin served on it from 2019 to 2020.