Procedure and House Affairs committee  I found it astounding that the former clerk of the Privy Council would suggest that Canada forfeit its sovereignty and appoint an Australian or a British member to this much-needed public inquiry. It's just astounding to me that he would suggest that even facetiously or half-seriously.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Well, I enjoyed listening today.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. I think it's important. The first thing I would recommend to you is to show less deference to security officials who appear before you at parliamentary committees like this. I was particularly shocked by the Bloc Québécois deference to security officials, because if they had any understanding of the history of Canada's security services, they would know that there was a McDonald commission of inquiry struck that showed that, in Quebec, the former RCMP security service was responsible for a slew of illegal activities that resulted in the creation of CSIS itself.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon. Three weeks ago, I reluctantly appeared before this committee to try to say something of value that might help you and Canadians navigate reports about Chinese interference—a matter that I once spent a lot of time reporting about as an investigative journalist.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's a big question. Let me try to answer it this way. There's a great deal of misinformation about CSIS itself. I wrote a book painting a rather unflattering portrait of Canada's spy service. There should be some sort of inquiry on one of my key findings, because it points to the fact that CSIS itself—and I don't want to be hyperbolic here—can be considered a bit of a threat to our national security.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I wrote a piece many years ago about the protections that should be afforded to whistle-blowers who come forward to share, in the public interest, information that is in the public interest, but I have some difficulties with the construct that The Globe and Mail source is a whistle-blower.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Before I address that question, I think it's important for the committee to note that I think you should also invite Eva Plunkett to appear before the committee to provide you with some context. Of course, the inspector general's office was closed, shuttered, by a previous administration, largely because Ms.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, I think this is quite an important and crucial point. Intelligence services don't collect evidence; they collect information. That information is not tested in the way that police evidence is tested in courts. It is not tested as rigorously as is evidence that is collected by police.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon. I have been a reporter and writer for almost 40 years. For much of that time, I was an investigative reporter at CTV, CBC, The Globe and Mail and The Walrus magazine. I have written a lot about intelligence services. That work led to a book called Covert Entry: Spies, Lies and Crimes Inside Canada’s Secret Service.