Government Orders
Madam Speaker, our colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue raises an important issue, namely the internal governance of the Canada Border Services Agency. The CBSA has gone through some difficult times, what with the Auditor General's report and the internal reviews of ArriveCAN. I have a great deal of trust in the current president of the CBSA, Erin O'Gorman. I got to know her when she was a senior …
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Madam Speaker, the member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo is in his first term in this Parliament, and he is correct that he would not have seen previous Parliaments that were not able to pass this legislation. However, we can conclude that this simple fact would behoove all of us to work collaboratively, as the committee did, and the support of the Conservatives at committee, for example, was impor…
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Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday and repeated again today, it is important to be very careful when publicly discussing intelligence in any detail. As the Prime Minister correctly pointed out, we are the only government that has brought in a series of measures that have evolved over the years to strengthen our ability to detect foreign interference. I have a great deal of confidence in our security…
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Madam Speaker, I have had the chance to work with our colleague, the House leader of the New Democratic Party, over a number of years. He is an experienced, dedicated parliamentarian. I might have even given him the title of “worker bee” as well. He has been, and his colleagues in his caucus have been, extraordinarily constructive in committee in improving this legislation. We worked happily with …
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Madam Speaker, my colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby again identifies what, for us, was a very constructive and positive effort from our colleagues at committee to improve the legislation. As I said, the New Democratic Party was a very steady and constructive voice in bringing thoughtful amendments that, from our perspective, strengthened the legislation. The member identified, for example, th…
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Madam Speaker, I understand why my colleague from Beauport—Limoilou would ask that question. When I look at the bill's timeline, I can see that it has been before Parliament for quite some time. That is probably one good reason to pass it speedily. The committee spent a significant number of meetings on this bill, during which our colleagues amended it. Our government recognizes the importance of …
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague from Edmonton West's enthusiasm to pass the legislation. We certainly share his sense of urgency. It has been before the House three times. This feels like the right time. I am confident that the third time will be the lucky one. It is too bad that we got to this point; as colleagues know, and my colleagues on the security committee know better than I do, t…
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Madam Speaker, the member identifies something that we have acknowledged: the presence of systemic racism in policing institutions and other governmental institutions. It is a concern that we share with her. Again, one of the constructive elements of the work done by colleagues at the committee, including the House leader of the New Democratic Party, was the ability to collect race-based data and …
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Madam Speaker, members, I hope, will agree that there is some irony in a member of the Conservative Party criticizing prorogation when its former leader, Prime Minister Harper, prorogued Parliament to avoid a confidence vote that would have likely replaced his government. He had to have a one-hour wrangle with the Governor General to ask for that unconstitutional and unprecedented request. I thoug…
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Madam Speaker, our colleague from Winnipeg Centre raises a very troubling and important issue. We acknowledge the presence of systemic racism in many aspects of the criminal justice system. The overrepresentation of indigenous persons, Black people and racialized people is a source of concern for all of us. It should concern all Canadians. It certainly is a concern that I share. As expressed by ou…
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Madam Speaker, our colleague, the Minister of Innovation, rightly raised an important issue. In his parliamentary or ministerial work, my colleague is someone who is very focused on the type of critical question he just asked. I think that the very fact that the commission will regularly release reports will reassure Canadians as to the importance of this aspect of civilian review, which will appl…
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Madam Speaker, I thank our colleague from La Pointe-de-l'Île. What a beautiful name for a riding. I am a little envious of the name of his constituency. Our colleague raises an issue that should be of concern to everyone. I, too, am concerned. I fully share our colleague's concerns about the importance of having border services officers who can serve people in both official languages, whether at t…
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Madam Speaker, dancing and weaving are not physical activities that I would pretend to be very effective in doing. What I thought I did, which I judged by the smiles of a number of colleagues in the House, including across the aisle from where I stand now, was point out a certain irony. “Hypocrisy” may be an unparliamentary word, so I would not propose to use that word, but there is a certain iron…
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Madam Speaker, our colleague from Beauport—Limoilou has raised another important issue. I completely share her concern regarding complaints that could land in her constituency office from people who did not really have appropriate recourse or a robust independent voice for the review and handling of those complaints. I hope that this bill and the independent commission that it creates, which will …
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Mr. Speaker, I will use the example raised by my colleague. Contrary to what he says, we are working with correctional services specifically to protect the safety of people who work in our correctional institutions. Along with my colleague, the hon. Minister of Public Services and Procurement, I had the privilege of visiting a model correctional institution precisely to talk with employees about i…
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Mr. Speaker, I salute the committee's decision to do a prestudy. We think that is very positive and will help our colleagues on the committee be able to judge what amendments are appropriate and how to deal with what is a series of complex legislative amendments. I certainly share the concern of our colleague from the NDP around the appropriate handling of the datasets to move a national security …
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moved that Bill C‑70, An Act respecting countering foreign interference, be read the second time and referred to a committee. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to rise in the House today to speak to Bill C‑70, which will enable the government to take other measures against the growing threat of foreign interference. The countering foreign interference act will strengthen the govern…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for focusing on what we think is also an important element, strengthening the Criminal Code provisions, as he properly noted, around sabotage. We are obviously conscious of the fact that with respect to lawful and peaceful protests, there has to be an intent to harm as part of the criminal amendment we are suggesting. From my perspective, if the attempt in the par…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Drummond, and I commend him and our Bloc Québécois colleagues for being open to working with the government to send the bill to committee so that we can look into exactly the kinds of issues that my colleague raised. Obviously, we took note of the bill introduced by our colleague from Trois-Rivières. It seems perfectly reasonable to me to find a way to ensure th…
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Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate the question from my friend from the Bloc Québécois. I was pleased to work with him and our opposition colleagues last summer to set up the Hogue commission. He knows very well that we are committed to sharing cabinet information with the commission, at an exceptional time that does not happen very often, as we did with Mr. Johnston. We will always be available …
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Mr. Speaker, the answer is yes. We will continue to be transparent and co-operate with the commission. I agree with my colleague. A judge as exceptional as Justice Hogue from the Quebec Court of Appeal is very well positioned to give Canadians confidence in our democratic institutions. Canadians need to understand that the government will always ensure that the commission has access to all the doc…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend knows very well that there is no obstruction at all. He should have a word with his House leader, with whom I worked very collaboratively all summer in setting up the Hogue commission. We agreed to all the details of the terms of reference, including the fact that solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidence were essential things that needed to be protected. Of cou…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend knows very well that there are internal investigations taking place with respect to this matter. A number of people were properly called before parliamentary committees, and they came to testify. Of course, he also knows that the RCMP is looking into this matter. He made reference to that in an overly dramatic moment as well. The member should have the decency to let th…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend does not serve to reassure Canadians when he exaggerates and distorts a series of elements that he knows are misleading. He knows that we have a rigorous correctional service system in which offenders are placed in appropriate, secure federal penitentiaries based on an assessment done by professional public servants. The most important criterion is, of course, the safet…
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague knows very well, decisions to list certain entities on the terrorist listing under Canada's Criminal Code are made based on the advice of security and intelligence services. We do acknowledge, and I think all Canadians understand, that the Iranian regime is one of the worst state sponsors of terrorism. We have taken a number of measures to deal with leaders in the Iran…
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Mr. Speaker, far from not taking this matter seriously, our government has done the exact opposite. Our colleague knows well that we have put in place a series of measures now, over a number of years, to deal with the very real threat that she identified of the Chinese government seeking to interfere in the democratic process in Canada. All political parties, and not just at the federal level, fac…
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Mr. Speaker, we obviously appreciate the enthusiasm of our colleague from Trois-Rivières. Still, he has some experience of how the parliamentary system works. He would not want me to talk about a bill on the Order Paper before it is introduced in the House. I would risk censure by the Speaker for violating members' privileges. That is something I would never do. I therefore ask my colleague for hi…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate our hon. colleague's question. I share her concern that the rights of all individuals must be respected. I think she will understand that there is a very small group of individuals, with perhaps violent criminal pasts or those who may be involved in terrorist activity, for whom releasing into the community would not be an acceptable option because of public safety. We wor…
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, I disagree with what my colleague said. He knows full well that we are the first government to bring in measures to counter foreign interference and we have improved those measures. Following expert recommendations, we adjusted the measures to strengthen them further. We have worked with our friends at the Bloc Québécois and other parties to help the commission and Just…
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Mr. Speaker, we agree with Justice Hogue that there has been an increase in foreign state actors, hostile state actors seeking to interfere in the Canadian democratic process. Obviously that takes place at the riding level. We also noted Justice Hogue saying that this was the case for a very small number of constituencies and that she was not able to draw definitive conclusions as to the extent of…
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Mr. Speaker, we think that Justice Hogue has done a very serious job in terms of understanding the extent and nature of foreign interference and helping Canadians understand also the tactics that foreign hostile state actors may use and how they seek to undermine the confidence of Canadians in democracy. We should be very careful before we take out-of-context specific things that Justice Hogue has…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-70, An Act respecting countering foreign interference. (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague for the question. As she is well aware, the government fully supports a buy-back program for military-style firearms. However, I do not share her pessimism about the next federal election. The good news is that we are already working to develop a buy-back program that will be in place this year and next. We made a commitment to buy back those firearms, and that i…
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Mr. Speaker, I will repeat once again that we absolutely intend to keep the commitment we made to Canadians to buy back these weapons that we banned. We will continue to work in a very specific way to ensure that the commitment we made a number of years ago to implement an effective buy-back program is kept. We are not going to stop until we finish this work.
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Mr. Speaker, we absolutely will review the facts that my hon. colleague has presented. Obviously, I share his concern over this situation. As I said, I will be pleased to follow up with the Canada Border Services Agency. I look forward to it.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I was not aware of the facts of a particular case. If he is asking if we are in favour of that kind of waste, I think I share his opinion. The answer, of course, is no. I would be happy to talk to the Canada Border Services Agency to see if it is possible to find an alternative.
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Madam Speaker, allow me to repeat what I said in English a moment ago: My colleague knows that an internal investigation is being conducted by the Canada Border Services Agency. Its purpose is precisely to determine the amounts of money that may have been misused. We have to wait for the facts before demanding repayments. We fully understand and share Canadians' concern about the importance of tre…
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Madam Speaker, just because my colleague on the other side of the aisle repeats something does not necessarily attach it to the facts. The facts in this case are well known. One thing he said that is entirely factual is that the RCMP is looking into this matter. That is why I would urge people to be careful before they invent and ascribe things to what is an ongoing police investigation. Our gover…
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Madam Speaker, again, my friend on the other side simply asserts a series of things that he knows very well are not accurate and attempts to connect a series of dots that simply cannot be connected. He should stick to the basic facts. The RCMP, following information that was given to it by the Canada Border Services Agency, has decided to look into a series of allegations. It obviously takes its w…
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Madam Speaker, I had a chance earlier in today's question period to answer that question, and I am happy to do it again. Our government has worked with the Auditor General's Office and with parliamentary committees. There is an internal investigation being conducted by the Border Services Agency. All these investigations will, unlike some of our friends on the other side, establish the facts of wh…
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Madam Speaker, we have said, continually, and we will say it again, if people have misused taxpayers' money or have misappropriated public funds, of course efforts will be undertaken to recuperate that money. That is what a responsible government does. However, a responsible government allows the internal reviews and audits, which are under way, to determine exactly what money might be subject to …
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague knows very well that the idea that the government has not been transparent is untrue. I know he wants to repeat that, but he knows very well that it not the case. We have worked with parliamentary committees. We have worked with the Auditor General. We completely agree with the idea that all those who have obtained taxpayers' money in an inappropriate way should be…
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Madam Speaker, the same question begets the same answer. We have said from the beginning that the government has welcomed the scrutiny of parliamentary committees. We have worked with the Auditor General and have implemented her recommendations. My colleague, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, has changed the way that these contracts are awarded and the oversight provisions. We will …
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Madam Speaker, there was a lot of good news in the budget, as the House knows. Some of the good news is that the government and my colleague the Minister of Justice are committed to making changes to the Criminal Code, specifically to target those who steal cars, as my colleague described so well. We are having meetings and discussions with our key partners to prevent car theft. We will continue t…
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Mr. Speaker, as my hon. friend knows, there are internal audits being conducted by the CBSA. The RCMP is looking into this matter. The Auditor General has done a report, and we have accepted the recommendations; my colleague from public services and procurement has changed many of the rules around these types of contracts. We have also said from the beginning that anybody who abused taxpayers' mon…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend knows that there is a series of internal audits being conducted with respect to this matter. He referred to the RCMP, which is also seized with many of these issues. They took a certain action yesterday, which we heard about in the House as well. The hon. member should have some confidence that those who have abused taxpayers' money will face the consequences; if taxpay…
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Mr. Speaker, as I have told our colleague before, he is well aware that investigations are under way, including an RCMP investigation. Internal audits are also under way. My colleague, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, changed certain rules in response to the Auditor General's report. Furthermore, we have always said that anyone who abuses taxpayer money will have to face the conseq…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend knows that the government always works collaboratively with Parliament. We have done so in many cases. In fact, parliamentary committees have also looked into this matter, and government officials have been, of course, available to answer all of their questions and provide documents. As my colleague the Minister of Public Services and Procurement made clear, there are i…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague has just repeated his previous question. I will give him the same answer. This government always takes the use of taxpayers' money extremely seriously. We have said that, if taxpayers' money has been misplaced or mishandled, of course, the government will ask for that money to be returned and take the appropriate steps to recuperate that money. My colleague may have …
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend knows that the government takes that very worrisome rise in criminality very seriously. I had a very good conversation last week with my counterpart in Ontario, the solicitor general. We agreed on a series of measures that we can continue to do together with local police forces; the Ontario Provincial Police, which is doing important work in this area; and, of course, t…
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