Lost his last election, in 2000, with 37% of the vote.
Communications Security Establishment October 27th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. None of the government ministers was able to confirm that no spying was done on members of the Quebec government and on the Quebec sovereignty movement. Their ignorance is probably due to the fact that the Communications Security Establishment reports directly to the Prime Minister and to him alone.
Can the Prime Minister assure us that members of the Quebec government and the sovereignty movement were not spied on by the CSE?
Communications Security Establishment October 26th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, does the Minister of National Defence not realize that the government cannot be content with a routine examination by the Privacy Commissioner, given the seriousness of claims that CSE apparently spied on members of the Quebec government, and in spite of the fact that the minister is already predicting a positive conclusion to that examination?
Communications Security Establishment October 26th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence.
On May 25, the Privacy Commissioner confirmed to the Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs that an examination of the operations of the Communications Security Establishment was being carried out. That exercise was to be completed in August. Yesterday, the defence minister alluded to that examination by the Privacy Commissioner.
Considering the recent disclosure of surveillance activities targeting members of the Quebec government, will the minister confirm that he asked the Commissioner to expand the scope of the examination conducted?
Federal Intelligence Agencies October 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I have a supplementary for the Deputy Prime Minister.
Are we to understand that the instructions the Prime Minister hastily gave this week-end were only aimed at reassuring the public following extremely serious revelations concerning illegal activities on the part of federal intelligence agencies?
Federal Intelligence Agencies October 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister.
Saturday, after a cabinet strategy meeting, the Prime Minister tried to minimize the extent of the revelations concerning the spying activities of federal agencies. He said that he was not interested in this kind of thing or in what happened under previous governments, including those under which he served.
Can the Deputy Prime Minister tell us what important piece of news her government has learned lately, which prompted it to give clear instructions putting an end to spying on citizens engaged in legitimate political activities?
Canadian Security Intelligence Service October 5th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, what is going on at CSIS? How can Canadians have confidence in CSIS when the president of the Security Intelligence Review Committee refuses systematically to answer legitimate questions from members of Parliament?
Canadian Security Intelligence Service October 5th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Solicitor General. Last night, while watching the Fifth Estate , Canadians were stunned to discover that the committee monitoring CSIS was aware of the activities of informant Grant Bristow long before what was recently revealed. Back in 1992, the department of the Solicitor General already knew about the illegal activities.
Will the Solicitor General explain why Mr. Jacques Courtois, chairman of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, said in his last public statement that he did not know that Mr. Bristow was working for CSIS?
Canadian Security Intelligence Service October 4th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, how can the Solicitor General rely on the Security Intelligence Review Committee to shed light on this issue, when its own chairman is being contradicted by CBC's findings?
Canadian Security Intelligence Service October 4th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Solicitor General.
The chairman of the review committee overlooking CSIS, Mr. Jacques Courtois, recently said that infiltration activities related to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers dated back to 1984, before CSIS was set up. However, according to CBC, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service relied on informant Grant Bristow to infiltrate that union in 1989.
Will the Solicitor General confirm that CSIS tried to infiltrate CUPW in 1989?
[English]
Supply September 29th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, through you, I would like to tell the hon. member for Scarborough-Rouge River that I share his views regarding the powers of the sub-committee he is chairing and the authority of Parliament to review all decisions made by government agencies.
The problem is neither with the Sub-committee on National Security nor with the hon. member for Scarborough-Rouge River, the problem is with the people who make up the review committee, SIRC, who, when they appeared before the sub-committee on September 13, hid behind a particular interpretation of section 54 of the act when refusing to answer the questions of members duly elected to this House.
This is the problem, a problem which will last as long as this Parliament: How to get answers from these people? This is why a royal commission of inquiry seems appropriate. Looking at what goes on in the United States before parliamentary commissions reviewing national agencies, we can probably say that if American witnesses were to behave the way our witnesses behaved before the sub-committee, they would be sent away for a while to think about it.