Thank you.
I know there have been reports by CSIS back in 2010 and 2011 that were made public—I think I can count eight of them—showing concern to the previous government, and Harper in particular, who was in retention of some of these activities and being cautioned not to engage and not to provide some of this support that is being provided to the universities today.
I'll cite this from one report:
While the vast majority of foreign investment in Canada is carried out in an open and transparent manner, certain state-owned enterprises...and private firms with close ties to their home governments have pursued opaque agendas or received clandestine intelligence support for their pursuits here.
This is from the 2010-11 CSIS public report. The following year, Harper signed a deal with Huawei to participate in major Canadian telecommunications projects.
Now, that hardly seems like a recent threat. It's fair to say, then, that the economic espionage has been a threat for well over 10 years. Some unclassified versions of these reports are sent directly to the PM before being tabled in Parliament. It is fair to say that then PM Harper would have known of the security risks and proceeded anyway.
We know these threats. We've taken some steps to try to unwind them. Your cautionary tale—both of you—is important here. It's critically important to ensure that we proceed appropriately and effectively.
Would you agree that this was going on for some time, long before this government?