I think there definitely need to be real deterrents, whether it's through criminalization or some other penalty that you have if you are involved in foreign interference.
When I speak about 2017 and how deeply they were in foreign interference, there was a senator who had allegedly shared classified information with China. They had all kinds of concerns of that nature.
If we're going to have a foreign registry, that's one thing, because a foreign registry will be good for the people who, because of their occupations—lawyers and people like that—will want to comply with the law. As long as there are not huge exemptions, as there are in other things, it will have some effectiveness so people will comply with the law.
There are people who will choose not to comply with the law. They need to be deterred and deterrence means penalties, whether it's criminal, whether it's monetary, but there need to be real deterrents. That's crucial.
You definitely need to do something about providing more ability. On problem number one with the surveillance and intimidation of the diaspora, I was really happy to hear the RCMP testimony this week. We need to work with the communities so that they feel confident they can come forward. Then when people are taking action and they are trying to intimidate people in the community, there should be actions taken against them. That's critical.
In the last couple of years in the work I do, I meet a lot of young Chinese people who say that their parents are dissidents. Their parents say, “I'm scared of what you're doing because either our family back home or we will be intimidated.” We need to be able to create space for Canadians who are harassed and intimidated to be able to come forward.
There are a number of measures and, as I said, I have a document that I would be happy to share with the committee. To me, yes, you're trying to shed more light on this, but please, to all parties, go above partisanship and focus on a strategy that can undermine foreign interference. It is in our national interest.