Mr. Speaker, I think we should bear in mind several aspects of the world situation, in other words, the geopolitical, strategic situation of Canada. As a nation with a population of 30 million and a member of the G-7, as a country with a fairly important position in the world, we have to consider not only Canadian industry but also the security of this country today and in the next century.
It would perhaps be useful, in a discussion about the Communications Security Establishment, better known as the CSE, to consider briefly Canada's foreign intelligence activities and the role of the CSE in this respect. First of all, I would like to explain what is meant by foreign intelligence. The term foreign intelligence refers to information on the resources, intentions and activities of foreign states, moral entities or individuals as they concern Canada's defence or the conduct of Canada's international affairs.
This may include information of a political, economic, military or scientific nature or indeed information related to the country's national security. We should also realize that, unlike many of its allies, Canada has no active foreign intelligence service. However, like most countries, Canada has set up a number of limited mechanisms for collecting and analysing information from other countries.
Earlier I mentioned the political context. Since the demise of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, there has been an increasing sense of instability. This is no longer the world we
used to know, where we had the Communists on one side, and the free world on the other, and when we knew who our enemies were. The world has changed considerably since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989.
I think that today we live in a world that is far more insecure, unstable and uncertain-when we look, for instance, at Eastern Europe-a world where there is a certain lack of cohesion. We have all these small republics, the conflict between Russia and Chechenya, the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the problems of reconstruction in Eastern Europe. There are very real threats, not only locally, but internationally.
We no longer have the kind of control over nuclear arms that we had at one time, and unfortunately, this uncertainty has caused some nations to cast envious looks at Canada and the West. That is why Canada is not necessarily immune to the changes that have been taking place during the past five years, and especially as a result of the events and disruptions in Eastern Europe. That is, as you know, the political reality we are all faced with.
There are economic challenges as well. More and more, a number of countries, some of which we may have thought of as friends, are showing a great deal of interest in Canadian industries. I would say that, these past few years, allegations of industrial spying in the pharmaceutical industry have been increasing. In Quebec, there have been blatant cases of Quebec interests being targeted. They were spied on because they had knowledge and technologies that some of our allies, who will remain nameless, wanted for themselves. It makes us realize that we have knowledge that the whole world is interested in having. Why not use it?
The same with the airspace industry. Many countries have shown an interest for Canadian companies such as Bombardier and de Havilland. I also hear that we have companies specialized in high technology and biotechnology. There is no doubt that an increasing number of foreign countries are interested.
So, we are not immune to change, nor to other countries wanting to obtain information from Canada unlawfully, if not illegally.
I think that Canada has prospered because of the security we enjoy in this country, good understanding and economic and political stability between provinces, co-operation between the industry and the Government of Canada. But this security must be maintained and that is why I think that a communications security establishment meets that need not only to look after our interests, but also to ensure that military changes or upheaval outside Canada do interfere with scientific and technological progress on the home front.
There is no question that the world we live in is not an easy one. Personally, I would rather live an a world where there would be no CSE, no CIA, no M-5, no KGB, and no foreign interest.
I believe some people, and this is often the case for the Bloc, have concerns, whether they are founded or not, about the existence of the CSE and other such organizations we have known in the past. But we have a role, an obligation to protect our industries. That is why the CSE is more interested in helping protect Canadian industries trying to develop in an increasingly competitive world.
There is Eastern Europe and then, there are emerging Asian countries. Again, there is interest in the new Canadian technologies, the aluminum and paper industries in particular, where Canada has held on to a certain tradition of supremacy. In an increasingly competitive international environment, we need an intelligence service like the CSE to make sure that information stays in Canada and that such countries do not disrupt the operation of our businesses.
Canada is also a multicultural country. More and more of our people come from other countries.
Since Canada is a welcoming country, we have people coming from various countries in Latin America, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe. Sometimes, people return to Canada and settle here to destabilize the country.
There are even well-known and not so well-known ethnic groups facing internal conflicts that have unfortunate repercussions at the national level.
I think that my time is up, but I would like to say, in conclusion, that we need an intelligence service like the CSE, whose main concern is protecting Canadians in the international community and, unfortunately, because of the geopolitical realities prevailing here as the century draws to a close.