One important point I'd like to make is that interference in a democracy and the integrity of our democratic systems need to be taken into consideration in matters of violent extremism. That's unquestionable.
On the other hand, I think that it also has to be taken into account between election periods. We might have to do something to enhance the crisis management system. This would enable all of the stakeholders to cooperate when there are things like massive disinformation campaigns right before elections. It's a key issue.
Our intelligence agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, has for some time now been willing to identify certain countries that have been interfering in our systems and processes. That's something new in the Canadian intelligence landscape.
It's a major task, and one that people need to know about. I'm not yet convinced, Mr. Van Popta, that all of the members, or even Canadian society generally, are fully aware of these issues. I'd like to suggest that one option worth considering would be to give Canadians a better explanation of these matters, because while our front line is the law enforcement agencies, we may well ask who is in the second line?
So I believe that it's essential to make Canadians more aware of these issues so that they can be front-line responders, with the law enforcement agencies backing them up. Allow me to make a comparison. It's as if we entrusted teachers with the entire task of educating our children. It doesn't work. The front-line workers in children's education are the parents. I would say that the same is the case for national security as it relates to disinformation and foreign interference.
Thank you.