Justin Trudeau

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, we know Canadians need to have confidence in our institutions and in the integrity of our elections and our democracy.

That is why we are going to choose an independent expert to look at the entire landscape around foreign interference in Canada and make sure the measures we have implemented since 2015 are doing the job we want them to do. The expert will also decide whether we need a public inquiry or whether we need other mechanisms to ensure everything is being done and to give Canadians confidence.

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, as the national security advisor and I stated last fall, we have no information on federal candidates receiving money from China. That continues to be the case today.

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, it has been clearly established that ministerial responsibility is an important responsibility. That is why we are always willing to participate in the work of committees, including by sending the minister responsible for democratic institutions and the foreign affairs minister to committee tomorrow.

I want to quote someone: For hundreds of years, ministerial responsibility has been a key principle in the House and at committees.

The member for Carleton said that. We entirely agree with what he said several years ago.

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I know that Canadians have many questions about that. That is why we proposed mechanisms to allow independent experts to ensure that everything is being done.

Everything was done to protect our institutions and our elections from foreign interference. Obviously, this includes work done by parliamentary committees. That is why the minister responsible for democratic institutions and the foreign affairs minister will appear before committee tomorrow.

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs has already heard from Elections Canada officials, the director of CSIS, the chief of the CSE, the deputy commissioner of the RCMP, the deputy minister of foreign affairs and—

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I have answered that question many times. I know there are other important questions Canadians have for the Conservative leader.

Just recently, Conservative Party members dined with a far-right German politician. Christine Anderson and her party's far-right, xenophobic, anti-science, pro-Putin views are well known.

The Leader of the Opposition's carefully crafted condemnation, which neither he nor his MPs will repeat, will not cut it. It is time he gave Canadians real answers and apologized.

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, as the national security advisor and I said last fall, we have no information that any federal candidates received money from China. That remains the case today.

[Women and Gender Equality, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Vancouver Granville for his hard work and his advocacy. Here in Canada, universal access to abortion is guaranteed and protected under the Canada Health Act, but we know that in Canada there are still those, even in the House, who would like to resurface the debate on the right to abortion.

This cannot be ignored, and we must remain vigilant. We will, on this side of the House, always unequivocally stand up for women's fundamental right to choose.

[Women and Gender Equality, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, we know that even as we celebrate International Women's Day today, trans women in particular are facing extraordinarily dangerous degrees of hate and violent acts. That is why we continue to reinforce that everyone has the right to live free from violence.

Since 2015, we have taken real action to end gender-based violence in our communities by developing our first federal strategy to prevent gender-based violence and making historic investments to prevent and end gender-based violence. We know we have much more to do, including to protect trans women, and we will do that.

[Women and Gender Equality, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, on this International Women's Day, and every day, our hearts are with survivors and families of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. Addressing this ongoing violence requires living up to our goals as a country and all the calls for justice. We are taking a whole-of-government approach, supported by an over $2-billion investment in concrete measures to keep people safe and a $4-billion investment to support indigenous housing needs. We know there is more to be done, and we will continue to do it urgently.

[Democratic Institutions, March 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians can well see that there are important partisan and political considerations overlaying all these exchanges in the House, which is why Canadians want us to be able to step back as a country and see what actually happened, who actually was doing their job to protect against foreign interference and was everyone doing the right things.

That is why pulling forward an independent expert to oversee the work that is being done to ensure everything that needed to be done was done and was done properly, and that it continues to be done, is going to be important, and that is what we are proposing.