Procedure and House Affairs committee  My reaction as an intelligence professional and an employee of the service, speaking just generally of leaked intelligence, is that it's something we take extremely seriously. Obviously, protecting our sources, our operations and our tradecraft is essential to being able to condu

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, and I can add to that from a service perspective. In terms of resources, I think we face the reality that any organization does: We have to operate within the resources we're allocated. As the threat environment changes, we need to respond to that, and we've done that to mee

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm sorry. That really is outside of my remit. I would probably refer you to the Department of Public Safety, where I have colleagues who have been looking at this issue for some time.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Sure. Certainly, from a service perspective and mandate, any foreign influence activity is something we would be interested in and would investigate. That would potentially extend to party nominations outside of an electoral writ.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. It's a very good one. It is something that I suggest the government has been wrestling with for some time now, and it's not just in Canada. An issue that all of our allies face is trying to find a way to transition intelligence into evidence. Ultimate

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, absolutely. There is a provision within the protocol that allows for outreach to an individual who we think is being targeted by foreign influence activity. My understanding is that the decision can be taken by the deputy head of the agency, but I stand to be corrected on t

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm afraid can't speak to the specifics of those allegations. I can certainly assure the committee that when allegations of foreign influence activity are brought to SITE or brought to the service, they're taken seriously, they're looked at and, if necessary, they will be acted u

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No, I can't. I'm sorry. I know that the NSIA went a little further than I'm prepared to go, but I can't speak to specifics.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Again, I won't be commenting on any reporting or alleged media leaks.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I can't speak to specific intelligence I've seen on specific cases.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I can maybe try to answer that. Thank you for the question. Today, we're not prepared to validate any of the reporting that's been in the media or the alleged leaks.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The second part of that question is easier for me to answer. Certainly, during an election, and even prior to and after an election, the intelligence that's being gathered by the service and other agencies is shared with law enforcement, the RCMP and the commissioner of Canada el

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I don't think I would use the term “automatic”. Speaking for the service, when we receive information that points to foreign interference, we will investigate it. That is a certainty. As I said, our law enforcement partners would be exposed to the fruits of such an intelligence

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We would not be investigating it through the lens of the Criminal Code or crimes. We would be looking for foreign interference, which is defined in our act as deceptive activity on the part of a foreign state that is detrimental to Canadian interests. That's our threshold. It's a

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Sure. We're veering a little bit outside the scope of election security. Certainly, with the conflict in Ukraine, we've seen Russia using social media to promote its narrative of blaming the invasion on the aggression of NATO. That narrative is obviously counter to the one the