That's a great question.
I didn't perfectly know the word for “threshold” en français in my response to Ms. Gaudreau. That's what I was talking about in terms of level. We have to make sure the level is not ridiculously high and totally disconnected from an election campaign.
I think the protocol's panel of five had no clue how elections are run and the importance of foreign-language social media channels. The voters in a dozen or so ridings in Canada who were subject to intense misinformation and pressure don't watch The National, CTV or Global. They are drawing their news from channels controlled by a foreign entity. Without the ability to even alert them.... Some of the messages I saw, Ms. Blaney, about me...I probably wouldn't have voted for me. The panel knew this, but I don't think they had a comprehension of swing-type ridings. If you suppress a few thousand or 5,000 votes, it's a completely different election. That's what I believe happened. It wasn't just on WeChat, for example.
The questions I've left the committee.... I certainly believe what I've read in the papers, not what the SITE panel and others told me. What I've read in the papers certainly met the threshold of at least warning all the parties. At least warn the people who were security-checked about what happened in the previous election and what the Prime Minister was briefed on—certainly in the case of Mr. Chong, which was just a month or so before the election.
I'll go back to Mr. Duguid's questions. Remember that Parliament dissolved when the Speaker was taking the government to court over the Winnipeg lab. We had the Uyghur genocide motion. We had a number of issues that, even publicly, the ambassador of China was commenting on. Knowing now that there were a lot of briefings at a level I certainly think met the threshold, there needs to be a discussion about who established the threshold, willful blindness, potentially, and the political education of the panel, in order to let them know that, in these swing ridings, it's crucial there's no social media manipulation by many countries.
I alluded to that in my remarks. The panel said they were aware of interference operations by several countries at the beginning, but none that were of serious concern. That's how they started the tone with the parties. I think that was inappropriate.