QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Public Safety
Foreign Influence in Canadian Elections
March 30, 2022
Minister, last week, your colleague the Minister of Foreign Affairs was asked during a House of Commons committee meeting if she believed that Canada experienced foreign interference by state or state-backed actors in last year’s federal election. Minister Joly declined to answer, saying the matter was under the purview of the Minister of Public Safety.
So I will ask this of you, minister: Do you believe Canada experienced foreign interference by state or state-backed actors in the last federal election? If you agree that it took place, where will you lay the blame for this interference, and what will your government do to take action and prevent this in the future?
Senator, first, thank you for asking that question because it allows me to emphasize to you and to all members of this chamber that we are operating in an environment of heightened threats to our national security, including when it comes to foreign interference.
I would urge you, all of your colleagues in this chamber and indeed all Canadians, to be very much “eyes wide open” about what those threats are and how they have created a more complicated environment. We need to be sure that we are providing all of the tools and resources necessary to our national security apparatus so that we can mitigate those threats.
I also want to provide you with my assurance that all of the agencies that operate within my portfolio, as well as other portfolios, are on it. We’re very alive to these concerns. We need to be sure that we’re vigilant about mitigating those threats, and we need to do this work together.
Our commitment is to work with you and all parliamentarians to make sure we protect our national security.
Minister, that’s very reassuring, actually. I appreciate that answer. It’s a good first step to recognize foreign interference and influence in various institutions in this country by various nefarious states around the world.
Would your government be supportive of a foreign influence registry, as proposed in Bill S-237 tabled in this chamber, that would force agents acting on behalf of foreign states and trying to influence our institutions and our democracies to register in the proposed registry so they are transparent and accountable?
I certainly think that’s an idea that merits study. I would say to you, senator, that, look, for a variety of reasons, including Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, we should be on high alert and expect that Mr. Putin, his regime or other hostile state actors could very well take the steps of retaliating by attacking our national security interests, be they here or abroad, including through the use of foreign interference.
I agree that this is a pressing and urgent issue and that we have to be vigilant and that we should be open to considering all of the tools so that our national security apparatus can protect our national security both here and abroad.
Honourable senators, time for Question Period has expired. I’m sure that all senators would like to join me in thanking Minister Mendicino for being here with us today. We look forward to seeing you again here in the near future.
May I say, Your Honour, that I was told I would have to sing the national anthem when I came in, but it occurs to me now someone may have been pulling my leg. It was an honour to appear before you, and I look forward to doing it again. Thank you very much.
