Procedure and House Affairs committee  Okay. You were never briefed about foreign interference after John Baird took a job with a Chinese billionaire.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You were never briefed about foreign interference after that same Chinese billionaire donated $1 million to the National Arts Centre gala, while sitting next to the gala's honorary chair Laureen Harper.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Madam Chair, I'll turn the rest of my time to Mr. Turnbull.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Did you receive that report?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You were the deputy chief of staff at the time.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You don't recall.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Ms. Byrne, for coming here today. You noted in your comments earlier on that you didn't receive any information or read any reports regarding foreign interference, but—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Okay. In 2013, CSIS's public report identified foreign interference as an existing threat and one that was going to continue to grow in future years. Did you read that report?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You paint a very different picture of Stephen Harper than some of the other witnesses who have come before us today. A former intelligence officer said that Stephen Harper “became soft” on China and “agents of influence were capable of gaining access to him and changed the course of his decision-making.”

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's called NSIRA.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I have a point of order. On that point, Madam Chair, I made a statement, which I later clarified, and I apologized for the manner in which that was received. However, I'm curious why we even have to do this study if Mr. Cooper has already come to all these conclusions.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I've just been given what it is. I'm happy to concede to my colleagues on this, depending on what their position is on it.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Could we revisit this at the next meeting? In full disclosure, I'm not exactly aware of what Mr. Nater is talking about. Could we revisit it, or perhaps at the next meeting go in camera for five minutes to deal with it?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Perhaps Mr. Coteau is the best to weigh in on this, but I'm happy to hear from anybody. Just going back to the process that's fresh in your minds on how this process could be improved, for those who participated in the Zoom conference call that Elections Canada or the commission had at the beginning of this process, back in the summer, they basically said that the vast majority of the changes would take place after public consultation on the proposal.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Isn't that the centre of the planet?