Thanks, Ms. Romanado.
First of all, I want to acknowledge and appreciate the testimony of Deputy Minister Stewart. He's absolutely correct. That information was not shared with me, as I previously testified and, I believe, the director of CSIS also testified.
We recognize that there is certain information that needs to be shared in a far more timely way. I was very concerned when I learned by reading in The Globe and Mail that a threat had been made against a member of Parliament and his family. The reason I was very concerned about that is I think we all share a responsibility to make sure that the people who do our important work can do it safely. Had I been aware of that information, I would have insisted that very assertive steps be taken in order to provide that member with all of the support and protection he needed for himself and his family. I think that is our first priority. Frankly, that's what most concerned me.
I can tell you that since becoming aware of this breakdown in information..... Again, I'm not making an excuse for it. It's simply an explanation.
I was not aware that CSIS had a secret they thought they should share. I was never made aware that they had that information. Frankly, the simplest remedy for that would have been for someone at CSIS or Public Safety to notify me, as the minister, that there was information I needed to see and actually get me into a secure location to do that.
The new minister of public safety who succeeded me in that role, Mr. Mendicino, issued a ministerial directive that all such information should be and must be brought to the attention of the public safety minister. That is the first step.
I will also tell you that I now work in an area, Ms. Romanado, that deals with a lot of top secret and classified information. I will tell you from my experience now as the Minister of National Defence that there is a very robust system. I am briefed by the Communications Security Establishment chief, by the CDS and by the commander of CAF's intelligence command, General Wright. I'm briefed on a weekly basis very comprehensively.
In addition to that, if there is other information that needs to be brought to my attention, the CDS, the deputy minister, the chief of CSE or even their CRO—employed at CSE—deliver those documents to my office in a secure environment. That information is being shared in a very robust and very regular way. Most importantly—God bless the military—they are meticulous about their record-keeping. Every document that's put before me is recorded with the date and time, what was shared and who shared it. That makes us all responsible for it. I think it also remedies a situation that previously existed with CSIS.
Finally, I would also point out that the Prime Minister has now created a national security council. It's a cabinet committee that will be very routinely briefed on top secret and classified material, not just so that the government can be aware of it, but so that action can be taken.
I think that's ultimately our responsibility in dealing with this classified material. It needs to be appropriately shared so that appropriate actions can be taken in response to it, such as the threat that was made against a member of Parliament. That needed to be actioned immediately. It's important that that situation be remedied. We've taken some very significant steps.
As you know, over the past several years, our government has taken a number of steps to improve the oversight and accountability of national security matters. We've seen very significant progress in the past few months.