Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Dec. 2nd, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Chris Bittle]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 16 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3), the committee is meeting on its study of foreign election interference.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the Standing Orders.

Members are all here but have the option to attend via Zoom. I would ask all in-person participants to consult the guidelines written on the cards in front of you. There's a short video; please consult it. This is important for the health and safety of everyone here, especially our interpreters.

I remind you that all comments should be addressed through the chair. For members in the room, if you wish to speak, raise your hand. If you end up on Zoom for some reason, use the “raise hand” feature.

I would like to welcome our first panel.

From the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Nicole Giles is the senior assistant deputy minister and deputy director of policy and strategic partnerships; from the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Sébastien Aubertin-Giguère is the associate assistant deputy minister and national counter-foreign interference coordinator.

You must both have extensive business cards.

You have five minutes each to make an opening statement, but I believe only Monsieur Aubertin-Giguère will make a statement today.

You have five minutes, please.

[Sébastien Aubertin-Giguère, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister and National Counter Foreign Interference Coordinator, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My name is Sébastien Aubertin‑Giguère, and I am the national counter foreign interference coordinator at the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

[The Chair, Liberal, Chris Bittle]

There's no interpretation.

Okay. If you could, please start again.

[Sébastien Aubertin-Giguère]

My name is Sébastien Aubertin‑Giguère, and I am the national counter foreign interference coordinator.

My responsibilities include coordinating government-wide initiatives to counter foreign interference, addressing transnational repression and overseeing the implementation of the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act, or FITAA.

In recent years, the Government of Canada has taken significant steps to strengthen its ability to detect, deter and counter foreign interference in our democratic institutions.

FITAA received royal assent in June 2024 as part of Bill C-70. The act establishes an independent commissioner and a public registry of foreign influence activities. It's designed to strengthen transparency in public affairs and protect Canada's democratic institutions from undue foreign influence.

Under the FITAA framework, individuals or entities who enter into arrangements with foreign principals and undertake activities intended to influence governmental or political processes—at any level of government—will be required to publicly register these activities. They include foreign influence efforts targeting federal, provincial, territorial and indigenous government decision-making, policy development and legislative processes.

Transparency is at the heart of this initiative to empower Canadians with the right knowledge. There are three key pieces that need to be in place for the act to come into force.

First, we need to establish the office of the foreign influence transparency commissioner, or FITCO, including the appointment of the commissioner and the supporting staff.

Second, regulations must be developed to set out detailed requirements for registration, exemptions and compliance.

Finally, there is the development of a secure IT solution to support the registry and the case management behind it.

Work is under way on all aspects, and we're working towards bringing the act into force as soon as possible.

There's a dedicated transition team in place at Public Safety Canada to establish FITCO. We have permanent space identified, and it's currently being retrofitted, but we have interim space that's available right now to ensure continuity of operations.

The appointment process of the commissioner is governed by the act, which requires consultations and approval by resolutions of both the House and the Senate. Potential candidates have been identified, and we have moved forward with the necessary steps to confirm suitability. They need a top secret clearance, and there's a due diligence process required prior to formal consultations with the House and Senate leaders, reflecting the sensitivity and importance of the role.

Regulations are needed to set out detailed requirements for the information that must be disclosed to the commissioner, how the registry will operate and the processes for enforcement and oversight. We're working to deliver a fully integrated, robust registry to support and provide the infrastructure and tools to effectively administer the act.

Lastly, we're working closely with national security partners and other government departments and agencies to develop compliance and enforcement policies that are clear and effective. Clear enforcement mechanisms will ensure compliance and maintain public confidence in the registry.

I look forward to your questions about this important initiative.

[The Chair, Liberal, Chris Bittle]

Thank you so much.

I will now turn to questions.

We'll go to Mr. Cooper from the Conservatives for six minutes, please.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Thank you to the witnesses.

I'll start with assistant deputy minister Aubertin-Giguère.

With regard to the foreign influence registry, the Liberal government promised to get it up and running no later than June, one year after Bill C-70 received royal assent. It's six months later, and as you noted, we don't have a registry in place. We don't even have a commissioner appointed.

In the face of that, when can we expect the registry to be up and running? You said “as soon as possible”, but what exactly does that mean?

[Sébastien Aubertin-Giguère]

All the necessary elements need to be in place for the law to come into force, so it means essentially that you need an office and the necessary staff. You need the IT solutions and the regulations in place before it comes into force. All of these elements are being worked on right now. We're very close to the finish line.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

I appreciate that, but we've had a series of dates. First, it was June. Well, actually, it was before the next election, but at the latest in June, one year after royal assent. We had an election. It wasn't in place. June came and went. There was no commissioner, no office and no registry.

The Minister of Public Safety said in the summer that a commissioner would be appointed by mid-September. You've said we don't have a commissioner. We don't even have a final candidate selected by the government yet. The minister also said that the registry would be in place in December, but as you noted, certain steps have to be taken, including—among other things—leaders of recognized parties being consulted about the commissioner who was supposed to be in place in mid-September.

We've had date after date promised and date after date missed, so I ask again: What is the timeline?

[Sébastien Aubertin-Giguère]

The initial timeline was based on the expectation that there would be an election no later than October 2025, but the early election made us revisit the timelines.

The minister stated publicly that he has identified the preferred candidate, and we're working toward completing the necessary consultation steps. That's all I can say at this point. All the necessary elements for the delivery and implementation of the act are being worked on, and we're very close to the finish line.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Okay, thank you. You're not able to provide a timeline. Is it fair to say that you can't provide a date? Can you provide an approximate date? Is it six months? Is it a year? Do you have any insight with regard to that?

[Sébastien Aubertin-Giguère]

I am not in a position to commit the minister to a specific date. I can say that we are very close to the finish line, and the minister's statements reflect his desire to have this implemented as soon as possible.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Okay. Now, with respect to the consultation process for a commissioner, did you say the minister has selected a candidate or has a preferred candidate? Can you just clarify what you said?

[Sébastien Aubertin-Giguère]

I just want to say what the minister has said. He has identified a candidate, a very high-quality candidate.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Thank you for that.

Has the consultation process with leaders of recognized parties begun with respect to this individual?

[Sébastien Aubertin-Giguère]

Has it been done?

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Has it commenced?

[Sébastien Aubertin-Giguère]

No, not yet.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Not yet. Okay.

There's still a lot of work to be done, because the minister said all the way back in June that he was very close to the finish line, and here we are six months later.

Now Ms. Giles, I want to ask you this: Were any accredited diplomats on CSIS's radar for interference-related activities in the lead-up to or during the 2025 federal election?

[Nicole Giles, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister and Deputy Director, Policy and Strategic Partnerships, Canadian Security Intelligence Service]

Thank you, Mr. Cooper, for the question.

Part of our responsibility is to be constantly vigilant and to be constantly monitoring and examining any potential acts of foreign interference that might be occurring on Canadian soil. Part of our job is to ensure that we are scanning, that we're monitoring and that we constantly have our eye on whether there are any diplomats or any other individuals in Canada who could be perpetrating activities that are not allowed.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Can you answer on whether any such accredited diplomats were identified as being involved in interference-related activities in the lead-up to or during the 2025 election?

[Nicole Giles]

During the 2025 election—or GE45, in our nomenclature—one thing done differently by the SITE task force—the task force for security and intelligence that was brought together to provide advice to the government and to Canadians during the election—was to have weekly technical briefings for the media and Canadians on foreign interference threats that were identified. No threats were reported as part of the process that emerged from diplomats during the election. There were two potential incidents of foreign interference identified and reported through the technical briefing process.

[The Chair, Liberal, Chris Bittle]

Thank you so much.

You're over time, Mr. Cooper.

We'll now turn to Madame Kayabaga from the Liberals for six minutes, please.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

I would like to welcome our witnesses.

I'm going to start with you, Mr. Aubertin-Giguère.

Our law enforcement agencies at the federal, provincial, territorial and indigenous levels play an essential role in countering foreign interference. Recently, we've seen a law enforcement demand for lawful access to be updated. I'd like to hear your view on lawful access in relation to defending Canadians against hostile foreign actors.

[Sébastien Aubertin-Giguère]

That is not my file, but I can say that for the legislative proposals in front of Parliament, it is quite essential for law enforcement agencies to have modern tools to be able to access information lawfully and address the threats.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Obviously, you think this tool would be really important to help address foreign interference.