QUESTION PERIOD — Foreign Affairs
Election Integrity
March 8, 2023
Government leader, The Globe and Mail has reported extensively on the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, or CSIS, documents which reveal the extent to which the Communist regime in Beijing interfered in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections — through financing, threats, intimidation, the denial of visas, disinformation campaigns and more — all to arrive at their preferred outcome of a Liberal minority government and to defeat the Conservatives.
None of this would come as a surprise to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister and his office knew about it, did nothing to stop it and kept it hidden from Canadians. We all know why — it’s because he benefited from it, leader.
Two weeks ago, the Prime Minister claimed the reports about foreign interference in our election had “so many inaccuracies.” Leader, what were these inaccuracies?
Thank you for your question, colleague. We can all agree, despite differences of opinion, that this is a serious matter. This government is taking this very seriously. Protecting our democratic institutions, preserving the integrity of our elections and ensuring that our system is resilient against attempts by foreign actors to interfere are all high priorities — and these are priorities for every member, I’m sure, in this chamber, every parliamentarian and, indeed, every Canadian.
The government is taking this seriously. There is no evidence, as a number of reports have indicated, that the elections were compromised. This was made clear in Morris Rosenberg’s report.
Indeed, the former Conservative national campaign manager Fred DeLorey is on record as saying that, without a shadow of a doubt, the outcome of the election “. . . was not influenced by any external meddling.”
That’s not the end of the story. The important questions are what steps are being taken both to protect our institutions and to understand the full extent of the actions that were taken, and what measures are being taken to combat them?
In this regard, the approach that the Prime Minister has announced to empower the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, or NSICOP, and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, or NSIRA, and the appointment of a special rapporteur are all measures designed to get to the bottom of this in a responsible and prudent way.
I was hoping that somewhere in there I would, at least, get you to allude to my question in your answer.
You say the government is taking this seriously — so seriously that the Prime Minister is refusing to answer one simple question: when?
Global News recently reported that senior staffers in the Prime Minister’s Office were briefed by CSIS — prior to the 2019 federal election — about a specific example of foreign interference by the Communist regime in Beijing. None of the responses we’ve heard from the Prime Minister have come even close to answering the serious questions posed to him about this — very similar to your answer here a minute ago.
It is shameful that his first instinct was to go after the CSIS whistle-blowers — and not the interference in our country. The Prime Minister’s announcement on Monday was completely insufficient. But he wouldn’t have said a word if reporters had not seen the CSIS documents.
Leader, when was the Prime Minister and his staff briefed by our national security agencies about these allegations of interference by the Communist Party in Beijing, and what information did they receive?
These are important issues. It is important that we, as parliamentarians, approach them in a responsible way.
Advice that is given, or information, from the security services of the Prime Minister is not something that the Prime Minister is going to divulge, and it is certainly not something that would be appropriate to divulge in this setting.
The fact is, the Prime Minister has announced that NSICOP — a committee of parliamentarians with security clearance — will be examining this issue, as they’ve examined in their important reports on foreign interference the question of the measures that are being taken by our institutions to protect ourselves. I commend to each and every senator to read the NSICOP report on foreign interference because you will see that the issue has been taken seriously by this government for a long time now.
In addition, colleagues, the imminent appointment of a special rapporteur will also have a role to play in advising the Prime Minister as to what further steps might be taken. I should add, again, that the former campaign chair of the Conservative Party recommended that the appropriate way in which to get to the bottom of this is indeed to empower NSICOP to do the work.
Government leader, with all due respect, this is not about whether Justin Trudeau and his friends in Beijing succeeded in influencing the outcome of an election. In response to the talking points from Fred DLlorey and the government trying to justify a bank robbery, even though you didn’t walk away with the loot, it doesn’t mean you didn’t attempt to break the law.
When news first broke last fall that the Prime Minister had received warnings from our intelligence community about Beijing’s interference in Canada’s elections, he denied, denied and denied. But every day for the past few weeks as more details come to light about numerous reports about the Prime Minister and his staff, the deniability has become far less plausible.
One such report from came from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, and, as you know, that committee does not, unfortunately, report to Parliament. It reports directly to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has very recently acknowledged that he actually ignored their recommendation in regard to foreign interference. These are the facts.
Yet on Monday, included in a stall-tactic list announced by the Prime Minister, there it is — none other than the same committee to report back on the same matter to a Prime Minister who has been ignoring them. Senator Gold, after lying about what he knew and has now admitted — and yes, the Prime Minister has lied. In the beginning he said these were lies, reports not founded in facts. Well, the facts have proven contrary.
Now my question is a simple one: How can the Canadian public trust this Prime Minister after he has blatantly lied on this issue?
I gather my opening comments had no impact on members of the opposition. These are serious matters that should be approached in a responsible way. Partisanship is one thing. Attributing and calling our Prime Minister a liar is an example of how irresponsible partisanship on serious matters that should concern Canadians contributes to undermining faith in the institution. I should add, it’s time for us to show real leadership in this debate.
It is time for all parliamentarians, including in this chamber, to show true leadership on this most important and delicate issue that involves several government departments and several agencies who are committed to keeping Canadians safe and secure. I commend them for their work.
We only have to look south, colleagues, to see how this kind of trash talking, whether it’s to our Prime Minister or to other leaders or institutions, can be corrosive and undermine the important fabric of our democracy.
I’m going to stop because there is more I could say, but, of course, the Senate Conservative opposition is independent of their leader, so we are told, so I will not take the opportunity to remind you of what the Leader of the Opposition has said about our Prime Minister, but I’m sure that you have all read it with interest. This is not the responsible way, colleagues, to deal with an important issue.
Senator Gold, what’s not responsible is a government that for eight years has done absolutely nothing to address foreign influence. We have a bill in this place calling for a foreign influence registry. It hasn’t moved an iota because independent senators don’t seem to be concerned about foreign influence.
Your government has done nothing and you have ignored calls from CSIS. Now we have the former director of CSIS, the former chief electoral officer and a democratic House of Commons parliamentary committee all requesting an independent public inquiry; and the Prime Minister continues to stall, and you’re lecturing us about partisan politics — please.
Senator Gold, what’s even worse about drawing conclusions that somehow we’re Americanizing our politics is that the funniest defence is you’re a bunch of racists because you care about the security of Canadians. That’s the best the Prime Minister has been able to give us.
At this time, the people most victimized and threatened by this foreign interference, people whose democratic rights are being trampled, are Chinese Canadians and other diaspora Canadians who are being influenced, cajoled and intimidated on our own Canadian soil, and they deserve better than that.
The defence of “It’s just partisan politics” just doesn’t cut it. Since you’re not going to recognize the Prime Minister lied about what he knew and when he knew it, will you at least recognize that he owes Canadians of the diaspora an apology for calling anyone who brings this issue up a racist, and he is doing harm by using such an important tool for political partisanship? When will he apologize to those Canadians?
What the Prime Minister is doing is working appropriately and responsibly to protect Canadians from foreign interference.
I will repeat, this is a serious issue. It should be dealt with responsibly, and it is not responsible to call a Prime Minister a liar. It is not responsible for the leader — someone who aspires to be Prime Minister of this country — essentially to say that the Prime Minister is working against Canadians in the service of a foreign country. That’s calling our Prime Minister a traitor and that’s reprehensible.
I accept the partisanship in Parliament, but I expect more on a serious matter.
Since we’re doing this, Senator Housakos, let us remind Canadians and senators that the accusation and the allegations of foreign interference are not new. The same person who is accusing our Prime Minister of working in the service of a foreign country and against the interests of his own country was the former minister of democratic reform, current leader of the Conservative Party. He held that position from 2013 to 2015. He was warned by CSIS and the Prime Minister’s national security adviser that Chinese interference was a problem. He did absolutely nothing. This Prime Minister is doing something and Canadians should be proud that the government is looking after its best interests.
