Evidence of meeting #20 for Public Safety and National Security in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was c-8.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
—the Minister of Industry, under the Telecommunications Act, also has great powers regarding how the telecommunications sector is organized.
Conservative
Frank Caputo Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC
I have just one minute left, Minister. I'm sorry.
Liberal
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
I think what's been presented to you here is very coherent and in line with the policy across the country already.
Conservative
Frank Caputo Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC
Minister, why should Canadians trust you with these extraordinary powers, given your government's record?
Liberal
Conservative
Frank Caputo Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC
I'm talking about the government, not personally.
Liberal
Conservative
Liberal
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
It's about the responsibility that is given to that individual during the tenure of the government.
Our goal is to protect Canadians. This is our number one responsibility, and that's what we're doing through this.
Conservative
Frank Caputo Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC
Even when you sat at the cabinet table.... We have seen so many failures with this government, whether they be on Stellantis or the Emergencies Act. I don't know that Canadians have trust when it comes to balancing rights and protecting our infrastructure. That's why I believe in judicial authorization.
Liberal
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
I would like to answer that.
I think Canadians have already shown trust in our government, and that's why you're sitting on the right side of the table.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Jean-Yves Duclos
I think we'll stop here and invite MP Acan to the floor for six minutes, please.
Liberal
Sima Acan Liberal Oakville West, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for joining us today.
As we all know, this is our fifth meeting on Bill C-8. We heard from experts on the importance of this bill, and some of these experts are Canadian critical infrastructure leaders.
Throughout the study of this bill, we also heard Conservative colleagues claim that Bill C-8 will allow the government to kick Canadians off the Internet just for criticizing our government. We know this claim to be false, but can you please reiterate to the committee why claims such as these are not only inaccurate but also equally harmful misinformation that puts Canadians in danger?
Liberal
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
This is not about the content on the Internet, about free speech. This has nothing to do with what is discussed online. This is about the infrastructure of the telecommunications sector. This is about the towers, the wires. This is basically the mandate of the Minister of Industry, which is about protecting Canadians through protecting the critical infrastructure of the telecommunication networks across the country.
If I were the minister of heritage or the Minister of Justice, conversations would be different, obviously. It would be much more about the content online. It would be much more about the Broadcasting Act, everything linked to online harms or, potentially, the application of the Criminal Code. This is not the case.
I hear that colleagues want to make sure that there's certainty regarding that aspect. I'm willing to hear amendments that would make sense to all to make sure that we are clear about protecting people's rights online, but I just want to make sure that this very important legislation can pass.
I think the wisdom of the last Parliament was clear. It needed to be done. It was done. Because of a technical procedural aspect, this bill had to come back. Now we have to redo the entire work at a time when the world is more dangerous and more complicated. We just need to have the means to ensure the safety of Canadians through the Telecommunications Act.
Liberal
Sima Acan Liberal Oakville West, ON
Thank you, Minister.
From my perspective, an engineering perspective, I would say that the resilience of our economy is only as strong as the physical and logical layers of our telecommunications networks. Previous testimony from Bruce Power highlighted that a nuclear facility's security means little if the downstream system of systems, such as the power grid and telecommunications lines, remains vulnerable.
How does adding security as a primary policy objective in the Telecommunications Act empower your department to enforce the unified technical baselines necessary to protect these critical interdependencies?
Liberal
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
As I said, it is not only important because it's overdue. I mentioned, when answering our colleague Frank Caputo's questions, that we needed to make sure that we were putting this bill forward because it is a way to ensure the security of Canadians online. The Telecommunications Act, decades ago, didn't put that as a priority, so we needed to make sure that it was.
I think what is important, Sima, to remember is that we're the only one of the Five Eyes that doesn't have legislation like this at this point, and time is of the essence. That is why I think our allies expect us to do that. It is just good governance to do that. I think we should not politicize this bill; I don't think this is the right content or the right forum.
Liberal
Sima Acan Liberal Oakville West, ON
Minister, in your capacity as Minister of Industry, you met with the biggest industries. Could you tell us what priorities and concerns these key stakeholders have shared regarding the protection of our critical infrastructure from cyber-attacks?
Liberal
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
I think that when it comes to their expectations towards the government, they're expecting us to do our job and to pass this bill. The more they're able to have regulatory predictability, the better. This is because they will be able to address the risks and, basically, the investments required.
Right now we have a voluntary system, including a policy statement from back in 2022. That is important, but it doesn't give any form of teeth, if I can say that, to the government to make sure that it's complied with by the telecommunications service providers. That's an issue. I think the sooner we're able to pass this bill, the sooner it will be factored in by those in the telecommunications sector.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Jean-Yves Duclos
Thank you, Ms. Acan.
I will now give the floor to Mrs. DeBellefeuille for six minutes.