Privilege  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, with whom I have the privilege of serving on the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. I have always admired his sense of public interest and his perspective on our debates, which is very helpful. All the examples he just gave, such as the police stations and the Trudeau Foundation, and everything he said in his speech, show that democracy is under attack.

Privilege  Mr. Speaker, I was not in the House when the altercation occurred, and it is difficult for me to comment on something that I did not witness. However, we voted on the motion today and it was a favourable vote. This has not been a great day for democracy. It is terrible that we had to vote on that and that the vote was not unanimous.

Privilege  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques and congratulate him for his work on French-language science. Raphaël Glucksmann, chair of the Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, appeared before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics the other day and told us that the special committee held 300 meetings on foreign interference, that it put forward numerous options, and that it did nothing.

Privilege  Mr. Speaker, it is essential that we stand together. Solidarity is an interesting word. It comes from the word “solid”, so it has to be strong. Solidarity means standing united to achieve a common goal. I think that we need to determine what this common goal is, what protecting democracy means.

Privilege  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague. I am pleased to be working with him on the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. Yes, the machine is broken. It cannot see beyond its immediate surroundings. The machine is stuck and cannot think beyond its narrow confines.

Privilege  Mr. Speaker, we are certainly seeing a fundamental shift when it comes to foreign interference. China, Russia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates are involved. A number of countries today have new tools that they are using for nefarious purposes. However, today's debate is about China.

Privilege  Mr. Speaker, we are at the point where we have to request a special decision from the House to recognize that a sitting member of the House has been intimidated. That is something. We are talking about a direct attack on democracy. That is where we are. When did this start? The friends I meet on the street in Trois-Rivières on the weekend often tell me that we have been talking about this for weeks.

Democratic Institutions  Mr. Speaker, that is not what the resolution said. Last week, the Prime Minister blamed CSIS for failing to inform the member for Wellington—Halton Hills that he was the target of threats from China. That is false. CSIS warned the Prime Minister's Office as early as 2021. The top security adviser to the Prime Minister confirmed this to the member.

Democratic Institutions  Mr. Speaker, at their convention, the Liberals came up with a solution to the Chinese interference issue: stop the media from reporting on it. This was literally one of the resolutions that the Liberals passed last weekend. As they see it, the problem is not that China helped or threatened members and their families; the problem is that the media talks about it.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, it is not every day that we hear members waxing existential or philosophical. Unfortunately, that does not happen often enough in the House. All of that raises the question of why. Why are we here? Why are we taking action? Rather than reducing the question to a vague “how-to”, I want to ask the member the following.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, after hearing about Chinese police stations, interference attempts at universities and everything else, I wonder if my colleague is prepared to understand or actually accept the fact that there are regimes in this world that are ideologically and philosophically opposed to democracy and that the current Chinese regime is one of those regimes.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics recently heard from the chair of the EU Parliament's committee on foreign interference and disinformation. Raphaël Glucksmann told the committee that China's strategy was to sow chaos in the countries it targets.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, my heart goes out to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills. I would like to ask him this. The government's blunders are piling up. Just consider the Trudeau Foundation, the appointment of an independent rapporteur who is not independent, or the failure to notify the member in a case like this or to formally crack down on foreign interference.

Democratic Institutions  Mr. Speaker, speaking of newspapers, on Tuesday the Prime Minister accused The Globe and Mail of reporting false information when it said the government had been informed that an opposition member was the target of threats by China. Today, he is changing his story and confirming that the information exists and that CSIS had not shared it with the member.

Democratic Institutions  Mr. Speaker, this morning CSIS released its annual report. The report confirms the existence of Chinese police stations on Canadian and Quebec soil. It also confirms that China uses officers of its public safety ministry to intimidate the diaspora. Finally, it confirms that Beijing “may seek to influence electoral nomination processes...or influence policy positions of elected officials using covert tactics.”