Public Safety committee  Thank you for your invitation. I will make my opening remarks in English, but I will be happy to answer your questions in both official languages. I've written, as many of your know, at length about the CBSA and the RCMP on accountability and governance within the intelligence community.

Natural Resources committee  My concern is that we didn't sufficiently investigate the rather opaque financial and ownership structures that have currently been laid out. These are not subject to full disclosure under the current Canadian legislation in the way they would be in the United States, which provides less opportunity for Canadian authorities to flag potential suspect issues.

Natural Resources committee  I'm particularly concerned about ensuring we have a level playing field in Canada when it comes to foreign direct investment. My concern is that the Canadian process may not be sufficiently robust and adequate to flag from the outset potential issues with regard to a level playing field for all investors.

Natural Resources committee  That is correct. That is my only area of expertise here, since I'm not an expert on the forestry industry. I'm on expert on financial crime, and I have significant expertise in financial crime. I do have concerns both about the process and the structures in place.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm going to shorten my speech, which will be in English. I will, however, welcome your questions in both official languages. My overall concern here is to ensure a level and competitive playing field for foreign direct investment in Canada and that the investment we see here may not meet that test.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I believe that statements made over recent days and the way some of the communication has shifted with regard to Member Chong are highly problematic, and that in itself I think is reason to understand that, as I've reinforced, the legislative framework in place in our national security posture is insufficiently robust.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  As I mentioned in my testimony, I would remind you that there are already teams integrated into national security in all of Canada's major cities. They've dealt effectively with counterterrorism and are doing a good job on their investigations. They could be provided with the resources and mandate needed to carry out an investigation into foreign interference.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Ms. Normandin, You've just raised a very important question. I wrote an entire book about that, called Intelligence as Democratic Statecraft, which has a chapter on exactly how Canada operates, and the positive and negative aspects of the existing system. In Canada, the sharing of information is definitely a problem.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The matter of concern is public record. It shows that the Canadian framework is not sufficiently robust to lay out clear rules as to what is and is not acceptable, both while in office and when out of office. Rather than looking back, the valuable work the committee can do is to make sure that we lay out much clearer rules and lay out clear penalties for violating those rules, whether they're being violated by Canadians, by foreigners or by accredited diplomats in Canada.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  As I testified to before the Canada-China committee, I believe elite capture is a significant challenge. This is elite capture by China—both by pecuniary interests and by companies and law firms that are related to elite capture. As I have just stated, I believe this is the major reason for significant resistance and active lobbying against the foreign agent registry that has been proposed.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm afraid there isn't sufficient information in the public domain to be able to draw conclusions, but concerns about the relationship and consequences in terms of the extradition of one individual, for instance, are a matter of public record.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Cooper, open-source documentation raising concerns about this donation dates back to 2016, so we have had ample time to have an honest discussion, which I think people are not prepared to have. It is also why people are resisting a foreign agent registry, because of the number of Canadian elites who would get ensnared in such a registry.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  These are very serious matters in a parliamentary democracy. There are many options available to the government today if it wants to show that it is serious about defending Canadian democracy. We need to decide: Are we standing with the tyrants or are we standing up for Canadian democracy?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Other open-source evidence is problematic with regard to John Baird in terms of financial matters and Jean Charest, which has been documented, as well as the former ambassador and cabinet minister Mr. McCallum. We can see from the evidence you have provided that, if we triangulate that, there are multiple attempts to target the same individuals in different fashions.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, thank you for the invitation to come today. The Chinese Communist Party's ultimate goal is to constrain Canada's capacity to make sovereign decisions. Foreign interference is fundamentally a matter of Canadian sovereignty. Too many Canadians and MPs are taking democracy for granted.