Debates of May 2nd, 2023

Durham Region Public Transit Infrastructure

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Mr. Speaker, well, I have fantastic news for Durham Region to share today: 104 new electric buses and charging infrastructure, 8,000 tonnes of carbon emissions reduced per year and $74 million in federal support. That is $12 million in funding through the Canada community building fund and $62 million in financing through the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

This large investment in zero-emission buses will dramatically improve the public transit system that connects our region, making it easier to get around while improving air quality and helping fight climate change.

It is innovative federal financing like this that helps regional governments like Durham Region afford the needed updates to our public transit infrastructure. Unlike the Conservatives, our government invests in communities and infrastructure, demonstrating concrete action for a greener and more sustainable future.

It is a great day for Durham Region.

Keira's Law

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my eternal gratitude to my colleagues in this chamber who voted unanimously for Bill C- 233, also known as “Keira’s law”.

I express my heartfelt appreciation for Senator Dalphond, who sponsored my bill at the Senate, and senators, organizations and individuals who supported this fundamental change to the Criminal Code of Canada. This bill received royal assent last week.

We have all worked very hard to break the cycle of violence and empower those who are suffering. This legislation will strengthen laws surrounding domestic violence and coercive control.

For the very first time in the context of the Criminal Code, coercive control will be taken into account, because all judges will now be required to receive training on intimate partner violence and coercive control.

Electronic monitoring devices will also provide complainants with greater safety, security and peace of mind. This law sends an unmistakable message to violent intimate partners.

Democratic Institutions

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, for two years, the government knew that an agent for Beijing made arrangements to intimidate the family of a Canadian MP in response to a vote in the House of Commons.

The government knew about this two years ago, yet it kept the agent accredited, allowing him to continue threatening the MP's family and other Canadians of Chinese origin.

Why did the Prime Minister not take action?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is simply not true. It is irresponsible to suggest that our government would sit on such a matter.

Based on briefings that I received following yesterday's story, I know that steps have been taken to protect members when they could attract the attention of foreign actors because of the legitimate work they do in this place.

Our security agencies will continue to independently do this important work, and I have, indeed, been in touch with the member for Wellington—Halton Hills to reassure him on this.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he has reached out to reassure him on the subject. That might have been something to do two years ago.

Two years ago, in July 2021, the government had a CSIS document showing that an agent for the dictatorship in Beijing was arranging to sanction and punish the family of a Canadian MP because of how he voted on the floor of the House of Commons. Yet, for two years, this Prime Minister's government kept that agent accredited with diplomatic immunity, allowing him to abuse countless other Canadians of Chinese origin. How can we believe anything he says about protecting our national interests?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is simply not true. It is actually irresponsible to suggest that any government might sit on a matter of such seriousness.

Based on briefings that I received following yesterday's story, I know that steps have been taken to protect members when they could be in the spotlight of foreign actors because of the legitimate work they do in this place.

Our security agencies will continue to independently do this important work, and I have, indeed, followed up directly with the member for Wellington—Halton Hills to reassure him on this.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we can forgive the member for Wellington—Halton Hills for not feeling reassured. Nobody should feel reassured.

The Prime Minister says that my question was false. What was false in it? We know there was a July 2021 document, two years ago, showing that an agent for the dictatorship in Beijing was threatening the family of a Canadian MP because he had stood up for human rights on the floor of this House of Commons.

Now, normally that would be a criminal offence for anyone to do, but this individual has immunity granted by this government. Has the Prime Minister taken away that immunity and kicked the diplomat out of Canada, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think outside of this House, where there is extraordinary partisanship and sometimes personal attacks, most Canadians understand that no government of any stripe would see a direct threat on a member of this Parliament, and their family, and sit on it and not ensure anything was acted upon. It is simply unworthy of anyone sitting in this House to make those kinds of accusations. I can assure members opposite that we continue to take any threats seriously.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I have to confess that, until 48 hours ago, I would have agreed that no government would ever sit on threats of this nature over two years long. However, unfortunately, what we have learned is that it is exactly what this Prime Minister did.

The government knew, in July of 2021, that an agent acting for the dictatorship in Beijing, accredited to work at the consulate in Toronto, was threatening a family member of a Canadian parliamentarian, and the Prime Minister's government knew about it and did absolutely nothing. Why?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is simply not true. I spoke with the member for Wellington—Halton Hills earlier today and ensured that he got a briefing from our top security officials to ensure that he gets all the information he needs. A core part of CSIS's mandate is to provide briefings and take action whenever a threat exists, and those same top security officials have confirmed that whenever there is action to take, they do so.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, and yet he did absolutely nothing other than to hold a meeting with the MP after the information became public. The Prime Minister was not interested in protecting Canadians; he was interesting in protecting his political reputation.

The Prime Minister has the power to kick this diplomat out. Think of it: If a Canadian had threatened an MP or his family over a vote in the House, that Canadian would be in jail. This individual cannot be arrested because of diplomatic immunity granted by the current government, which is something the Prime Minister could take away any time he wants. Why is he keeping this agent in our country, threatening our people?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, what the member opposite is proposing is actually not the truth. We are actually continuing to work with our security agencies in ensuring that whenever threats arise against Canadians those security agencies take action. They offer briefings, offer support and offer information as necessary and as appropriate every step of the way. That is what our security agencies do to keep Canadians safe. To suggest that anyone in this House would see a threat to a colleague and simply sit on it is unworthy of parliamentarians.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have to admit that I do not understand what part of the Leader of the Opposition's questions was not true. I therefore support the Leader of the Opposition's questions.

I have a question for the Prime Minister of a country that China holds in such contempt that it sees it as an easy target. If the person responsible for Pierre Elliott Trudeau's legacy at the Trudeau Foundation were to be called in for questioning by the CRA, the committee or whoever, would the Prime Minister recuse himself from participating in any way—

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the Bloc Québécois leader that, here in Canada, we have robust institutions that ensure political interference in our judicial processes and our rigorous regulatory processes is neither facilitated nor allowed. In any of these hypothetical scenarios, legal processes would proceed as necessary.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, here we go again.

If a competent authority, be it the committee, the CRA or any other entity—who knows—were to look into possible irregularities on the part of the Prime Minister's brother, would he consider the possibility that he is not qualified to make decisions with respect to an independent public inquiry into Chinese interference?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, despite the best efforts of the leader of the Bloc Québécois over the past few weeks, one fact has not changed, not in all these weeks, and not in 10 years. That is the fact that I have had no direct or indirect involvement in the operations of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Beijing government targeted a member of this House and targeted not only the member but the member's family. The Prime Minister knew about this and did nothing. Frankly, I am disappointed. This goes beyond partisan politics. This is about the ability for people in this House to be able to vote their conscience. Why did the Prime Minister not inform the member that his family was being threatened? What will the Prime Minister commit to doing to make sure this never happens again?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it would be outrageous for anyone in this House to see a direct threat at an individual sitting in this House or to their family and do nothing and that did not happen. I will be absolutely unequivocal about that and that is why we were pleased to be able to offer a full briefing to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills so he could ask questions of the top intelligence officials and ensure that we will continue as institutions, as a government and as security services to do everything necessary to keep Canadians safe.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, honestly, that is hard to take. Clearly, this government could not care less about the damage caused by its inaction on foreign interference. Clearly, the Prime Minister must have known that the member's family was facing threats abroad.

What will it take for this Prime Minister to take action and immediately launch a public inquiry?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have been taking action since 2015.

When we hosted the G7 in 2018, we created a mechanism with our allies to fight interference. In 2019, we set up a committee of national security experts to safeguard the integrity of our elections.

We also created a committee of parliamentarians to examine security and intelligence matters, as well as a review committee within the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency.

We are still doing everything necessary with an independent expert responsible for looking into all matters related to—

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government has had 24 hours to get some basic facts about PRC diplomats targeting of MPs, but here is my question.

On September 10, 2019, the public safety minister issued a directive to CSIS ordering the service to inform the minister of any matter or action of interest to the minister.

When was the public safety minister or his office first made aware that a PRC diplomat, Mr. Wei Zhao, was targeting me or my family?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, as this is the first occasion that the member for Wellington—Halton Hills has risen since this matter was brought to the attention of the public and this chamber, I want to express solidarity to him and to his family. We will continue to work with him and all parliamentarians to make sure he and all parliamentarians get the support they need.

Since the outset, when we took the reins of government, we have been vigilant in fighting against foreign interference. We have put in place the people, the resources, the tools and the oversight, as the Prime Minister just said, to defend our institutions. We will do that work together.

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

Before we go to the next question, I want to remind hon. members that calling each other names is not parliamentary language.

The hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills.