Debates of May 1st, 2023

Democratic Institutions

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely unacceptable for anyone to be subject to intimidation, particularly a member of the House of Commons and his family. We are following up on the reports that came in today. I have asked various security experts to follow up on this. This is something that we always need to take seriously and that is exactly what we are doing.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, members of Parliament cannot vote in the interests of Canada while their family members are being threatened as a consequence of those votes. It is unacceptable, as the Prime Minister said, which is why it is so strange that he accepted it.

His government produced a briefing note that exposed these threats to the MP's family two years ago, yet the diplomat who worked to punish a Canadian MP's family is still in Canada, when the Prime Minister could have expelled him. Why did he not expel this diplomat?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely unacceptable for any Canadian to be subject to intimidation by a foreign power, particularly threats against family and against families of members of Parliament.

That is why, as reports came out this morning, I immediately asked officials to follow up on these reports to get to the bottom of this. I also asked for outreach, both from the political side and the official side, to the member in question. We will continue to make sure this is taken extremely seriously.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is just false. He did not immediately take action. He took action after the media found out about it. His government has known that a Canadian MP had his family threatened because that MP voted for human rights in the House of Commons. He knew about that for two years, and he did exactly nothing.

Furthermore, the same diplomat who orchestrated these threats against the MP's family still works in the Toronto consulate at Beijing, even though the Prime Minister has the power to expel him. Will he expel him today?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as the reports were made public this morning, we followed up immediately with top officials to get all the information on this file on happened, who was informed and who was not informed, to make sure that we are following up in an appropriate way.

This is absolutely unacceptable, and it should not have happened.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, yet he did accept it for two years. The same briefing note indicated two years ago that Beijing saw Canada as uniquely vulnerable to its interference because we have no foreign interference laws to stop them. The laws that exist in the United States and Australia to force those paid by foreign dictatorships to register are not in existence here in Canada.

CSIS warned him about this in the summer of 2021. On what date will we get a foreign influence registry to protect Canadians against these abuses?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as a government, we put in place many mechanisms to ensure that Canadians and our institutions are protected from foreign interference, and we are continuing to step up to add more. We brought in NSICOP, an oversight committee of parliamentarians, and NSIRA. We created an elections integrity committee composed of top civil servants, and we are right now looking to establish a foreign agent registry, making sure, through consultations with potentially impacted communities, that it is done the right way.

That is what we will continue to do to keep Canadians safe.

Public Safety

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is more administrative and bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo to conceal his inaction. It is now required that one registers if one lobbies for the food bank, but it is not required to register if one does paid work on behalf of a foreign dictatorship to influence Canadian politics.

Let us move over to police stations. The Prime Minister's public safety minister claimed that all Beijing's police stations have been closed. Today, two of those police stations said that they are open, and they are operating right here in Canada. Why is the Prime Minister allowing a foreign dictatorship to run police stations on our soil?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP is taking action against these foreign police stations. This is something we need to see, and I have tasked the minister to make sure that it gets done.

Democratic Institutions

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, according to Pascale Fournier, former CEO of the Trudeau Foundation, his predecessor, Mr. Rosenberg, is caught up in the infamous Chinese donation of $140,000. He personally talked to donors through an organization with ties to the Chinese regime. He personally sent a receipt to an address in China. He then publicly claimed this was a donation from a Canadian company. Imagine: The man appointed by the Prime Minister to look into interference in the elections was personally up to his neck in Chinese interference.

I guess the Liberal investigation into interference is just a charade. Is that it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as everyone in the House knows full well, for 10 years I have not had any direct or indirect involvement with the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. As a government, we have taken meaningful action over the past few years to combat interference by the Chinese and others. We will continue to do the work to ensure the security and safety of Canadians, their institutions and their democracy.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is a charade.

First, to investigate foreign interference in the election, the Prime Minister appointed Mr. Rosenberg, a former member of the Trudeau Foundation who was involved in a case of Chinese interference. Next, to investigate Chinese interference, more specifically, the Prime Minister appointed David Johnston, another former member of the Trudeau Foundation. The entire Liberal investigation into Chinese interference is being carried out by two old boys from the Trudeau Foundation, which is directly linked to a case of Chinese interference.

How can the Prime Minister ask Quebeckers to have any faith in that? When will there be a real, independent and public commission of inquiry?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our former governor general David Johnston is responsible for determining whether a public inquiry is needed and what the terms will be for a potential inquiry. We turned to an independent expert to determine how to assure Canadians that everything is being done to combat interference and that we will restore confidence in our institutions and the integrity of our democracy.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, disturbing new information from CSIS reveals that China views Canada as a high-priority target and employs incentive and punishment tactics targeted at elected members of this House as well as Chinese Canadians. This interference threatens the safety of members of Parliament, Chinese Canadians and their families in China. Enough is enough.

When will the Liberals finally launch an independent public inquiry on foreign interference in Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have had various mechanisms and programs in place for several years to counter foreign interference and to ensure that we are doing everything we can against Chinese interference. We will continue to use the tools we have, while also seeking out additional tools. We know that Canadians take this issue seriously, and I want to assure them that our government also takes it very seriously.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that clearly shows that this Prime Minister does not understand how much this is damaging our democracy. Media reports came out today confirming that Canada is a high-priority country for foreign interference from the Chinese government.

MPs, their families and even their staff are being targets of incentives and punishments. Canadians deserve transparency, and the government has refused, every step of the way, to call a fully public inquiry. Why does the government fail to bring forward the one thing that will restore trust in our democracy?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, from the broad range of experts who have looked into this, there are multiple opinions on whether an open public inquiry is actually the best tool to restore confidence in Canadians. That is why we tasked an independent expert and our former governor general, David Johnston, to look at all the tools we have to counter foreign interference, to look at the concerns Canadians have and to choose the best path forward. If he chooses a public inquiry, we will absolutely move forward with a public inquiry. We will take up the right tools necessary to restore Canadians' confidence.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has to answer these questions. He has known now for two years that the family of a member of Parliament was harassed and threatened with other penalties because of how he voted on human rights in the House of Commons. For two years, the Prime Minister did nothing to protect the family or to punish the Canadian-based Beijing diplomat who orchestrated the entire attack against that family.

Could the Prime Minister confirm whether the responsible diplomat from Beijing will be expelled by the end of the business day today?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure every member in this chamber that we take—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

The hon. Minister of Public Safety has the floor.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I assure every member in this chamber that we take the reports that have surfaced recently very seriously. In fact, I reached out directly to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills to share my concerns. I told him that I have instructed CSIS to provide him with an update.

This government will continue to take concrete actions to combat foreign interference, including allocating $49 million in budget 2023 to protect all Canadians from foreign interference. This is not a partisan issue. We should do this work together to protect all parliamentarians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is time for the Prime Minister to stand up and do his job. Stand up for once—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

Order, please. I want to remind hon. members to speak through the Speaker and not directly to each other.

The hon. Leader of the Opposition has the floor.