THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, DEFENCE AND VETERANS AFFAIRS

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

OTTAWA, Monday, April 15, 2024
(52)

[English]

The Standing Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs met this day at 4 p.m., in room C128, Senate of Canada Building, the chair, the Honourable Tony Dean, presiding.

Members of the committee present: The Honourable Senators Boehm, Cardozo, Carignan, P.C., Dagenais, Dasko, Deacon (Ontario), Dean, McNair, Oh, White and Yussuff (11).

Participating in the meeting: Ariel Shapiro and Anne-Marie Therrien-Tremblay, analysts, Library of Parliament.

Pursuant to the order of reference adopted by the Senate on Thursday, February 10, 2022, the committee continued its study on issues relating to national security and defence generally.

TOPIC: Disinformation and cyber operations in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine

WITNESSES:

Global Affairs Canada:

Tara Denham, Director General, Office of Human Rights, Freedoms and Inclusion;

Kelly Anderson, Director, International Cyber Policy.

Communications Security Establishment:

Sami Khoury, Head, Canadian Centre for Cyber Security.

As individuals:

Anthony Seaboyer, Director, Centre for Security-Armed Forces and Society, Royal Military College of Canada.

Svitlana Matviyenko, Associate Professor, Critical Media Analysis, School of Communication, Simon Fraser University.

Aaron Erlich, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, McGill University.

Jean-Christophe Boucher, Associate Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Calgary.

Anatoliy Gruzd, Professor and Co-Director, Social Media Lab, Toronto Metropolitan University.

Marcus Kolga, Director, DisinfoWatch and Senior Fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Tara Denham and Sami Khoury each made statements and, together with Kelly Anderson, answered questions.

At 5:01 p.m., the committee suspended.

At 5:10 p.m., the committee resumed.

Svitlana Matviyenko, Aaron Erlich and Anthony Seaboyer each made a statement and answered questions.

At 6:07 p.m., the committee suspended.

At 6:17 p.m., the committee resumed.

Jean-Christophe Boucher, Anatoliy Gruzd and Marcus Kolga each made a statement and answered questions.

At 7:18 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the chair.

ATTEST:

Ericka Dupont

Clerk of the Committee