Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister, thank you for being with us today. We very much appreciate it.
We're here to shed light on the intimidation of Mr. Chong, the member for Wellington—Halton Hills. Unfortunately, we're also here to shed light on your contradictions. We're hearing of all kinds of them from you and your colleagues these days. You say that briefing notes and emails were lost, and you simply plead ignorance within many ministers' offices.
You mentioned transparency earlier in your opening remarks. However, Minister, in every respect, you've been anything but transparent in the foreign interference file since day one. You are the Minister of Public Safety Canada. You are responsible for ensuring safety, and you have a duty to be informed and to gather information. To say that an email was lost, that you weren't briefed or that the note went missing: these aren't acceptable answers.
How can you explain why the person who should be informed first in a security matter in Canada was informed last instead?