QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Public Safety
Le Service à la Famille Chinoise du Grand Montréal
May 31, 2023
Good afternoon, minister. The so-called Montreal police stations that Senator Housakos has maligned is the Service à la Famille Chinoise du Grand Montréal, an organization that has been providing community services to Chinese Canadians in Montreal for nearly 50 years. You have said the so-called police station at the centre has been shut down, but you have not provided any information about when it operated, what it did, what was objectionable about what it did, who was involved and, most importantly, how the centre can recognize such activity so that it does not happen again. Minister, when will you clear the good name of the Service à la Famille Chinoise du Grand Montréal so they can continue to do the good work they have been doing for nearly 50 years?
I want to thank you, senator, for the question. The first and most important principle I would underline is that — and I hope this is a sentiment that we all share — any foreign interference should be both held accountable and condemned, as it is contrary to the Canadian national interest. Our government has put into place the tools that are necessary to deal with that scourge as it becomes increasingly pervasive and complex.
My job as the Minister of Public Safety is to advocate for the new tools that our security establishment is advocating for, as well as ensure that we bring along Canadians who may be marginalized or stereotyped — because it is they who, at times, have been the victims of foreign interference. I want to assure you, as I have in the past, that we will continue to have that dialogue going forward.
In regard to the so-called police stations and the foreign interference activities that have been reported in relation to them, as you know, the RCMP has made public statements that they have disrupted those activities in the past. In any ongoing investigations going forward, questions should be directed to them because they are conducting those operations in a manner that is independent from the elected government — consistent with constitutional principles.
