Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would say that the focus of CSIS over the last number of years has been to publicly engage in talking about foreign interference. We're using all platforms available to us, including parliamentary committees. Whatever decision is made to continue these discussions, CSIS will be engaged actively in contributing to the discussion.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The specific information and the specific facts it mentions remain classified throughout the operation, yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Transmitting specific information is probably an activity that contravenes the act. On the other hand, I have to say that in my experience, you have to think about how people can use that information without giving all the details. That's a conversation we need to have.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I understand the need for committee members to have very specific answers regarding certain points. On the other hand, I have to say that it is not just a matter of giving information and washing your hands of it. Indeed, you have to work with people and determine how they can use the classified information.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The very specific information could not be conveyed directly.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The purpose of foreign interference is, again, to push the agenda of a foreign country. As we have mentioned, it takes many different forms. Absolutely that could include engaging candidates, engaging staff and engaging people of different parts of Canadian civil society. As we have said, everybody, potentially, depending on their position, could be subject to foreign interference.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We brief many parliamentarians across party lines and across different levels of government, as I mentioned before. We also continue to publicly speak about foreign interference. We have publications that exist specifically in terms of foreign interference. A guide is available in multiple languages to help people understand very concretely what foreign interference is and what they could do about it.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That is one of the things I talked about earlier, that we need to continue to work on.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The process is not as clear as that. The person who has classified information has certain means to convey certain lessons or to give advice. The same goes for the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. I had the opportunity to testify before another parliamentary committee with Minister Mendicino a few weeks ago. In response to that same question, I said I believed it was an important tool. CSIS has been doing this for several years. We talk publicly about foreign interference.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. I'm not sure I have the same information about some of the things that have been mentioned, particularly in relation to the funding of the convoy by a foreign state. That is not the information we have. Having said that, it is very relevant to talk about lessons learned from other countries.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  In terms of the foreign interference writ large carried out by the PRC and, as we have seen, by Russia, disinformation is one of the very specific tools being used. That is why, as an intelligence service, we have very rigorous processes to ingest information, challenge that information, validate it and assess it.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you for this question, which has several parts. I would quickly reiterate that CSIS is currently conducting an investigation with its partners into the source of this information, for the reasons I gave earlier. I repeat that the service operates within a democracy. So it's very clear that people have to be given the right to speak out, and there are ways to speak out.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'll start answering in French. This is one of the key elements of this whole issue. Foreign interference is very complex and covers a whole spectrum of activities, from diplomats who will speak openly to advance their country's interests, which is perfectly acceptable, to a whole category of activities that fall into a grey area, because they are a little more veiled or because they will be carried out clandestinely later on, and then become foreign interference.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That is a very good question. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, this is something that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service focuses on a great deal. Members of ethnocultural communities in Canada are often caught in this vice. These are the people who are the victims, the people who are pressured to practise this foreign interference.