Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, Canada Border Services Agency, CBSA, officials are legally required to apply legislation, including the membership provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, IRPA, passed by Parliament. They do so in an equal, impartial and consistent manner, in line with the law and the guidance of the courts, as well as based on comprehensive national guidance and management oversight…
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Mr. Speaker, the data was obtained using the CBSA's Corporate Administrative System, or CAS, and covers the period from January 1, 2012, to June 27, 2023. With regard to (a), in 2012, 161 recruits became border services officers, or BSOs, and since the introduction of the Officer Induction Training Program, or OITP, the CBSA has trained 3,269 recruits. Therefore, the CBSA has had a total of 3,430 …
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Mr. Speaker, since January 1, 2019, the Minister of Public Safety or the Minister’s office has not received any memorandums or briefing notes from Public Safety branches concerning prisoner transfers. The Correctional Service of Canada has a process in place to provide advanced notification to the Minister’s office about transfers involving high profile offenders. While this can include verbal bri…
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Mr. Speaker, the Royal Prerogative of Mercy, or RPM, also known as clemency, is the discretionary power of the Crown to grant pardons, remit sentences, and exercise other forms of clemency. Clemency can be exercised either by the Governor in Council under sections 748 and 748.1 of the Criminal Code, or by the Governor General under the Letters Patent, which is the document that bestows power to th…
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to repeat the answers I gave to my Bloc colleague a few moments ago. As we have always said, the country, Canadians and parliamentarians will benefit from a public process that will follow up on Mr. Johnston's reports and recommendations. This is an opportunity to collaborate on what kind of process will be launched, what kind of people will lead that process and what the m…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I share the interest of all parliamentarians in finding the right process and, as I have said, a public inquiry has never been ruled out. However, it is a matter of finding the right way to do the work in a respectful manner, while taking into account the importance of protecting highly confidential security information, in order to rebuild Canad…
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Mr. Speaker, on the issue of sharing information when a member of Parliament is being threatened as part of foreign interference, we acknowledged the problem and rectified it. The Minister of Public Safety has given instructions that, from now on, this kind of information and intelligence must be shared not only with the minister responsible but also with the parliamentarian concerned. We have mad…
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Mr. Speaker, what we are focused on is working collaboratively with the NDP. The member's colleague and I have had a number of meetings to talk about how we can implement the agreements in the supply and confidence agreement to make voting more accessible, exactly as our colleague identified. This is to ensure the greatest number of Canadians can participate in the democratic process, to deal with…
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Mr. Speaker, once again, I share our colleague's opinion on the need for swift action. I said it publicly and I repeat it now: Ideally, the opposition parties and the government will agree on a process by the end of next week. This work is being done in the interest of Canadians. I deeply appreciated the letter I received yesterday from the Bloc Québécois. I have had encouraging conversations with…
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned yesterday, the letter we received from the Bloc Québécois is an important step towards building a consensus about the right way to move forward. Our colleague put forward the idea of an independent public inquiry. Perhaps he did not hear when I clearly said that it is an option the government is considering. However, the process for this public inquiry must be properly …
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Mr. Speaker, I think the Prime Minister was clear in his response to a previous question today. Our government is looking to collaborate in a constructive way with opposition parties, to hear from experts and other professionals in this space, to design precisely those next steps forward since Mr. Johnston has decided to leave his position as special rapporteur. We think that Canadians would benef…
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Mr. Speaker, I was surprised to hear a Conservative member speak about inaction on this file because that is exactly what the Leader of the Opposition did for two years when he was the minister responsible for democratic institutions. Our government is the first government to take concrete steps to counter foreign interference in democratic institutions. We have strengthened these measures time an…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a bit rich for the Conservatives to talk about partisanship in their question. It was the Conservatives who decided to turn an issue as important as protecting our democratic institutions from foreign interference into a partisan issue. Moreover, when they were in government, they did nothing to counter the interference threatening our institutions at the time. We have taken act…
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Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister said a few minutes ago, we very much appreciate the suggestions we have received from the Bloc Québécois. They put forward strong names of credible people. I think it is a good start to a meaningful conversation. We also share the Bloc Québécois' concerns about acting quickly enough so as not to delay a public process. We look forward to working with the Bloc and…
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Mr. Speaker, we are not trying to hold up the process. We are trying to collaborate. For us, the letter we received from the leader of the Bloc Québécois is an important step in a constructive conversation. What is more, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency are continuing their work. My colleague, the Minister…
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Mr. Speaker, as I said at the start of question period, that has always been an option. I know that the Bloc Québécois will never form the government, but the Conservative Party is well aware that a public inquiry involving the most heavily protected national security information cannot proceed irresponsibly. I think that everyone would benefit from a substantive discussion on how to approach the …
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Mr. Speaker, it will not surprise members that I do not share some of the exaggerated premises of our hon. colleague's questions. What we have said, and members of the Conservative Party know this well, including the leader of the Conservative Party, who sat in government, is that this was designed and decided to protect national security information from public release. The Conservatives know tha…
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Mr. Speaker, it is telling is that our colleague opposite believes that it is petty politics for a government minister to say that he wants to consult the opposition parties and collaborate on such a crucial issue as protecting our democratic institutions. On the contrary, there has frankly been too much petty politics on this issue, including on the part of the Conservatives. We want to work toge…
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Mr. Speaker, I am encouraged by our colleague's comments about the kind of public inquiry that will have to be considered by the government and by the House of Commons. She specifically identified one of the challenges when it comes to top secret information, which is so classified in order to protect the safety of Canadians and those who work for our security agencies. Rather than simply repeatin…
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Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate the collaborative tone of the Leader of the Opposition. From the start, we have always said that a public inquiry was a possibility. Mr. Johnston did not recommend a public inquiry and explained why. It is a difficult decision to make in the circumstances for national security reasons. However, we look forward to working with the opposition parties to discuss th…
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Mr. Speaker, we look forward to working with our colleague from La Prairie, his leader and the other party leaders to strengthen Canadians' confidence in our democratic institutions. Mr. Johnston's departure gives us all an opportunity to bring down the partisan temperature and discuss how we can work together on the next steps in a public process. We look forward to talking with the opposition pa…
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Mr. Speaker, we think that a discussion about issues as important as protecting Canadian democratic institutions from unacceptable foreign interference would benefit from all of us lowering the partisan temperature. That is why we believe the decision of Mr. Johnston to leave the special rapporteur role gives all of us an opportunity to discuss what the next steps are in a public process. The oppo…
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Mr. Speaker, how unsurprising to hear that another of my ideas has been branded a waste of time. The Bloc Québécois leader refuses to receive reliable top secret information from our intelligence agencies. Furthermore, Mr. Johnston was invited to appear before a parliamentary committee, which he did, for more than three hours, during which he was asked no questions of substance on foreign interfer…
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Mr. Speaker, as everyone in the House knows, information from national security agencies must remain secret. Those circumstances exist in every one of Canada's allied countries in this important area. The good news is that we have offered the leaders of the opposition parties, including the Bloc, access to this information and the opportunity to judge Mr. Johnston's findings for themselves. They s…
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Mr. Speaker, I think my Bloc Québécois friend might be confused about who kept Canadians in the dark. The Conservative Party did absolutely nothing to address foreign interference, despite the fact that our intelligence agencies raised the issue publicly in 2013. Our government did the opposite. We implemented measures to counter foreign interference. We strengthened them every time the experts ad…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is well aware that the simple answer to his question is no. Mr. Johnston took the time to look at all of the documents and he interviewed a number of people who were directly involved in the matter of foreign interference. Mr. Johnston took his job seriously and worked independently to come to his findings. That is something that would also do some good in the House of Co…
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Mr. Speaker, we were disappointed but not surprised that the leader of the Bloc Québécois refused to have access to the most important and confidential information from CSIS. That would have given him a clearer picture of the facts in the whole matter of foreign interference. I, too, used to be an opposition member. I understand that sometimes the truth is hard for the opposition. However, this ti…
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Mr. Speaker, what was truly exposed for all to see was the Leader of the Opposition's credibility when he refused the government's offer to grant him access to highly sensitive information. He decided he would rather play partisan politics on an issue as critical as protecting our democratic institutions from foreign interference than get the facts so he could speak publicly and coherently based o…
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Mr. Speaker, since forming government in 2015, we have taken the threat of foreign interference seriously. We were the first government to put in place a suite of non-partisan measures precisely to strengthen our ability to respond to interference in our democratic institutions and also to inform parliamentarians about threats to democratic institutions and what the government is doing to counter …
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Mr. Speaker, as the government, we took action from the start to create authorities to review our measures to counter foreign interference in our democratic institutions. A committee of parliamentarians representing all parties and having access to the most sensitive information will evaluate all measures that are in place and make recommendations to the government on how we can further strengthen…
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Mr. Speaker, the only person here who is trying to hide the truth seems to be the Leader of the Opposition himself. The Privy Council Office offered him access to the most sensitive documents that the special rapporteur reviewed in order to reach the conclusions that were made public last week. The Leader of the Opposition refused, because he would rather play petty politics on an issue that affec…
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Mr. Speaker, I once again encourage the leader of the Bloc Québécois to accept the government's offer to access the most sensitive and specific details that Mr. Johnston and the committee of parliamentarians, which includes a representative from the Bloc Québécois and from each of the other opposition parties, had access to. I would encourage him to access all that information and get all the fact…
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Mr. Speaker, again, I invite my colleague from La Prairie to talk to his leader and convince him to take advantage of the government's serious offer to share highly sensitive intelligence, so that the leader of the Bloc Québécois and his colleague who sits on the committee of parliamentarians in charge of looking into precisely this type of issue can look at the very facts that Mr. Johnston and th…
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Mr. Speaker, our government has taken the threat of foreign interference seriously from the moment we formed the government. The former Conservative government was in power in 2013 when intelligence agencies detected the growing threat of foreign interference. The Conservatives, however, did absolutely nothing to strengthen our democratic institutions. We have done exactly the opposite since we fo…
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Mr. Speaker, perhaps my colleague opposite should consult his former boss, Mr. Harper, the former Conservative prime minister of Canada, who asked this individual, Mr. Johnston, to serve not only as the Governor General of Canada, but also as an adviser to the former Conservative government about an issue as important as a public inquiry into the Airbus situation. If they were confident that this …
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Mr. Speaker, all of Canada's national security allies are taking appropriate action to protect Canada's most secret national security information. I know the Bloc Québécois does not like that, but that is exactly how a responsible government works. However, we have accepted the special rapporteur's recommendations on the difficulties in order to share information with political leaders within the …
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Mr. Speaker, I did not realize that hiding information involved putting it in a public report from a Canadian intelligence agency. On the contrary, our government acted quickly to implement measures to counter foreign interference, including China interference. That did not exist before we formed the government. We will strengthen those measures. We have taken steps to ensure that no member of Par…
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Mr. Speaker, I am a former fisheries minister. Far be it from me to muddy any waters. What is very clear is that our government has decided to seek the advice of an independent expert, the Right Hon. David Johnston. Next week, Mr. Johnston will be tabling his report on this very issue, an independent inquiry into foreign interference. We look forward to reading Mr. Johnston's recommendations. I wo…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows full well that these directives are part of our government's ongoing efforts to counter foreign interference. We have said so publicly. The Prime Minister said so last week, and the Minister of Public Safety said it again this week. Threats or interference involving members or parliamentarians are completely unacceptable. We have taken the necessary measures to ensu…
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Mr. Speaker, we share my colleague's concern about accessible, affordable public transit. It is good for the environment, and it helps families in terms of commuting, getting to important jobs they need to attend to. I am looking forward to meeting later this afternoon with mayors from the greater Vancouver area regarding TransLink. It is an ongoing conversation. I will draw to my colleague's atte…
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague from Public Safety mentioned, we take these threats of foreign interference very seriously, particularly when they affect members of the House. That is precisely why we gave clear, specific instructions to the intelligence agencies. We did that to ensure that the intelligence agencies inform us when they become aware of such circumstances affecting MPs or senators. We …
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Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we are working to secure our democratic institutions. From the time we formed the government, we have worked to strengthen the mechanisms needed to counter foreign interference, something the Conservatives never did during their years in power. We constantly look for new ways to strengthen the existing mechanisms even further. Like our colleague, we are eagerly awaiti…
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Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what our government is going to do. We will ensure that the public interest is always protected. Our government has taken concrete action to counter foreign interference in our democratic institutions. I share my hon. colleague's concerns about the need to ensure that byelections will, like the 2019 and 2021 elections, be protected from foreign interference. We have pu…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Pontiac for her question. Canadians rely on public transit to get to where they need to be. That is why our government is investing $780 million to put 1,229 new electric buses on Quebec roads. This historic investment in partnership with the Government of Canada will, of course, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, support good jobs in Quebec's manufacturing…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague knows full well that Quebec has several tools to control immigration into Quebec. We also know that there are posters all over Quebec saying, “we are hiring”. On Monday, I was in Saint‑Eustache with ministers from the Quebec government. On the way from Saint‑Eustache to Ottawa, there were companies everywhere, in industrial parks, that need workers. We will work with…
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Mr. Speaker, we have said many times that we are a government that takes the threat of foreign interference extremely seriously. We have been announcing measures since we formed government, and we have enhanced them. As far as threats against members, senators or parliamentarians are concerned, obviously this is completely unacceptable. We gave a clear directive to the authorities and intelligence…
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Mr. Speaker, intergovernmental affairs allows me to work with the mayors of Canada's cities and towns. One thing I can say is that they want a partner who will help them with the housing crises in their communities. That is exactly what our government has done. I will tell members what we have not done. We have not decided that it would be a successful housing strategy to insult the mayor of Montr…
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Mr. Speaker, the government will continue to look for ways to increase Canadians' participation in the democratic process. We have a number of suggestions. The leader of the NDP and the Prime Minister, in the supply and confidence agreement, agreed to a number of elements that will improve access to voting. We are working on those kinds of issues, constructively, and the government has made it cle…
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Mr. Speaker, every minister in our government—and this should be true of every member of the House—agrees that we must work together to protect democratic institutions and to ensure that all members of the House, including our friend from Wellington—Halton Hills, are able to do their jobs as members of Parliament without foreign interference. This has always been a priority for our government. We …
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague seems confused. The person who did nothing to protect our democratic institutions against the already existing threat of foreign interference is the current Leader of the Opposition, when he was the minister responsible for democratic institutions. Since we formed the government, we have taken action. We will be announcing more action to strengthen the measures we in…
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