Public Safety Committee on May 28th, 2026

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

Well, we're not getting.... The minister wasn't all that offended. I think the minister takes my point. He would be found to be non-responsive. How about that? The minister would be non-responsive.

Minister, please be responsive. I am not trying to offend you, but I'm trying to drill down on this because this is darn important. You talk about Canada being a sovereign country. I am not talking about that. I am talking about whether China has to approve the release—not Canada, not sovereignty.

Does China have to approve the release, yes or no?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

I will repeat that Canada is a sovereign country, Mr. Caputo. We will determine—

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

Minister—

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

—based on convention, and that's what we have done here, whether to release the MOU or not.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

What are you trying to hide here? What is the government trying to hide?

You are not coming clean on this, Minister. You're not.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

Let me be clear again. I've answered this question a dozen times.

I will say that since 2010 we've had multiple MOUs on security with the Chinese government. They have never been made public, including—

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

When will you be clear, Minister?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

—I will say, incidentally, under Prime Minister Harper's leadership.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

You don't like yes-or-no questions, so I'll say this rhetorically because I won't get a yes or no.

Did Stephen Harper call China our greatest security threat? No, he did not. I'll answer it for you.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

Well, I can—

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

Did we have a foreign interference inquiry under Stephen Harper? No. I'll answer that for you.

Transparency demands that this be released. People in the House—let me be clear—people in this chamber potentially lost their seats because of foreign interference. Your Prime Minister, who appointed you and whom you answer to, said that this is the greatest “security threat”, and within less than a year he signs a secret memorandum of understanding with the very nation that he said was the greatest threat to Canada.

Then you come in here, and you won't even tell us—you will not give a clear answer—as to whether they have to sign off. I don't care about Canada.... If it's only about Canada, that's even worse, because then you're not providing the transparency your government has promised.

What is it, Minister?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

Mr. Caputo, in the last year, significant world developments—and I don't want to insult your intelligence—have taken place, where Canada needs to expand its trade relations. That is why—

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

Trade...? Trade relations...? This is about intelligence—

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

May I finish? You had your time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

I'm sorry. Please, could we...?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

It has to expand its trade relations. We are engaging in relations with a number of countries, including China. Having said that, the Chinese government does not dictate to us which documents are released and which are not. This is within the purview of the Canadian government, so I'm answering your questions very clearly. It is in the purview of a sovereign Canadian government, which has many years, over two decades, of convention, not to release these documents.

To answer your question with a yes or no, no, the Chinese government does not tell us or dictate to us or veto any release of these documents.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

Okay. It took us four minutes to get there, unfortunately.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

These are good clips, though—

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

I'm sorry. Please say it again. Say what you said.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

It's all right. Go ahead.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

No, please, let's hear it.

Let's hear it, Minister. What did you have to say?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

You got good clips, Mr. Caputo, so let's continue.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

No, I'm trying to get answers for Canadians. If you don't want to give them, that's your prerogative.

With that in mind, I will be giving notice of the following motion:

That, an order of the committee do issue for the government to produce the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Combating Crimes Between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China, signed in January 2026, provided that the document be provided to the clerk of the committee, in an unredacted format and in both official languages, within 10 days of the adoption of this motion.

This isn't about clips. This is about Canadians.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Thank you, MP Caputo.

That's a notice of motion that you will certainly share a printed copy of, which will then be translated and shared with other MPs.

That brings us to MP Sodhi for five minutes.

[Amandeep Sodhi, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to all of our witnesses for being here today.

Minister, there were some questions in the last round that you weren't able to completely answer. Is there an answer of yours that you'd like to complete? I want to give you a bit of time to do that.