Juno News - May 01, 2023


Poilievre spars with Liberal MPs after new reports reveal that China targeted Canadian MPs


Episode Stats

Length

8 minutes

Words per Minute

126.461334

Word Count

1,125

Sentence Count

71


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 The Prime Minister has to answer these questions.
00:00:02.100 He's known now for two years that the family of a Member of Parliament
00:00:07.260 was threatened for harassment and other penalties
00:00:12.120 because of how he voted on human rights in the House of Commons.
00:00:16.660 For two years, the Prime Minister did nothing to protect the family
00:00:20.420 or to punish the Canadian-based Beijing diplomat
00:00:24.600 who orchestrated the entire attack against that family.
00:00:28.920 Can the Prime Minister confirm if the responsible diplomat from Beijing
00:00:34.500 will be expelled by the end of Business Day today?
00:00:38.900 Mr. Speaker, I assure every Member in this Chamber
00:00:41.540 that we take the reports that have surfaced recently very seriously.
00:00:45.660 In fact, I reached out directly to the Member for Wellington-Halton Hills
00:00:49.880 to share my concerns.
00:00:51.900 I told him that I have instructed CISA to provide him with an update,
00:00:55.140 but this Government will continue to take concrete actions
00:00:58.180 to combat foreign interference,
00:01:00.080 including the $49 million that we have allocated in Budget 2023
00:01:04.700 to protect all Canadians from foreign interference.
00:01:07.740 Mr. Speaker, this is not a partisan issue.
00:01:09.800 We should do this work together to protect all parliamentarians.
00:01:12.800 The Honourable Leader of the Opposition.
00:01:14.980 Mr. Speaker, it's time for the Prime Minister to stand up and do his job.
00:01:19.220 I just want to remind the Honourable Members to speak through the Speaker
00:01:41.360 and not directly to each other.
00:01:42.780 The Honourable Leader of the Opposition.
00:01:43.960 Will the Prime Minister finally stand up for this country and its people
00:01:50.600 against a foreign dictatorship that has been interfering in our land for far too long?
00:01:55.660 Yes or no?
00:01:56.660 Mr. Speaker, this Government has been doing the concrete, tireless work that is necessary
00:02:07.240 to combat foreign interference, to protect our democratic institutions
00:02:11.680 by creating new powers, adding more resources for all of the security and intelligence agencies
00:02:17.500 that are there to protect our communities, our institutions,
00:02:20.820 and most importantly, Canadians, Mr. Speaker.
00:02:23.140 I encourage the Conservative politicians on the other side of the aisle
00:02:26.780 to get behind what is a nonpartisan cause and protect Canadians.
00:02:31.340 The Honourable Leader of the Opposition.
00:02:33.520 Well, at least I got a direct answer.
00:02:34.980 I asked if he would stand up, and of course, he did not stand up.
00:02:38.440 Which is very clear, this Prime Minister knew for two years
00:02:45.180 that Beijing thought Canada was uniquely vulnerable to its bullying and interference
00:02:52.120 because we do not have anti-foreign interference laws,
00:02:56.300 unlike the Australians and Americans.
00:02:58.920 And yet, for two years after his intelligence bodies warned him of that,
00:03:04.820 he did absolutely nothing.
00:03:06.920 Will he stand up and do his job now?
00:03:11.200 The Honourable Deputy Prime Minister.
00:03:18.200 Mr. Speaker, at a pretty young age,
00:03:25.240 I personally learned what it was like to be targeted by an authoritarian communist regime.
00:03:34.380 As a Ukrainian-Canadian, I have always known that authoritarian communist regimes
00:03:43.260 particularly target diaspora communities here in Canada.
00:03:49.300 That is wrong, Mr. Speaker.
00:03:52.060 And you know what makes it easier to target Canada and Canadian democracy
00:03:56.620 when we are divided, Mr. Speaker?
00:03:58.660 The Honourable Leader of the Opposition.
00:04:02.040 Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has to stop hiding behind his ministers.
00:04:06.300 The vacation is over.
00:04:07.660 He has work to do.
00:04:09.500 He wants to talk about taking partisanship out of it.
00:04:12.200 You know what would have been a non-partisanship, one non-partisan thing to do?
00:04:15.500 To recognize that a Conservative MP, or that any MP for any party,
00:04:22.180 had his family threatened because of a vote casted on this floor
00:04:27.520 and to take immediate action against the diplomats that did those threats.
00:04:33.580 That would have been the non-partisan thing to do.
00:04:36.620 Why didn't he do it?
00:04:39.720 Honourable Parliamentary Secretary.
00:04:48.720 Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment,
00:04:52.340 and it's uncharacteristic of me to express my outrage
00:04:55.500 at what has happened to the member for Wellington-Halton Hills,
00:04:58.940 and it could be any one of us in this House who is targeted for actions that we have taken.
00:05:04.840 It is an outrage, and we should all express that collectively.
00:05:09.420 This Prime Minister will continue to work for Canadians,
00:05:13.020 for Canadian democracy.
00:05:14.440 We will continue to stand together
00:05:16.120 and make sure that any foreign interference will never be tolerated.
00:05:20.300 If a diplomat has broken the Vienna Convention,
00:05:23.380 he or she will be expelled.
00:05:24.880 You have the Honourable Leader of the Opposition.
00:05:28.940 The Prime Minister is running out of ministers to hide behind.
00:05:34.200 While he sits there and smirks,
00:05:36.720 we have a country that is under foreign influence
00:05:40.300 by a dictatorship that has actually opened police stations in this country.
00:05:46.760 Now, according to a report just out today,
00:05:50.640 there are two police stations run by Beijing
00:05:54.560 operating in Montreal as we speak.
00:05:58.240 Will the Prime Minister stand up now
00:06:02.080 and tell us how he will close down these police stations?
00:06:05.720 Mr. Speaker, I assure the Conservative leader and all members in this chamber
00:06:15.300 that the RCMP have taken concrete action to disrupt and shut down police stations,
00:06:20.560 and if more open up, they will remain vigilant and do the work.
00:06:24.400 Mr. Speaker, they will do that underpinned by the investments which are earmarked in Budget 2023,
00:06:31.420 which, again, the Conservatives have said, without even reading the document,
00:06:35.380 that they will oppose.
00:06:36.920 So if they are really interested in protecting Canadians from foreign interference,
00:06:40.680 and that is something we should all be united behind,
00:06:42.940 then they should support Budget 2023.
00:06:45.540 Mr. Speaker, I don't know why the Prime Minister is so afraid to stand up.
00:06:53.340 Maybe it's because he's ashamed that he did absolutely nothing for two years
00:06:58.700 after knowing that a Canadian MP was threatened by a foreign dictatorship.
00:07:03.000 He didn't even send the offending diplomat home,
00:07:07.160 and now he's been exposed for it.
00:07:09.220 Then he puts up a whole myriad of ministers to hide behind,
00:07:12.980 one of whom claimed before that the Chinese police stations were closed,
00:07:16.600 and we learned now that they are open.
00:07:19.460 Given that we can't believe his minister,
00:07:21.800 why doesn't the Prime Minister stand up and speak for himself?
00:07:25.220 When will he close these stations?
00:07:27.020 Mr. Speaker, of course, as a leader of the opposition well knows,
00:07:40.480 because he was here.
00:07:41.200 The Prime Minister stood in his place and answered five times those questions.
00:07:44.720 The ministers of this House also answer questions.
00:07:47.740 And let me say, Mr. Speaker, without equivocation,
00:07:51.380 that the attacks that are taking place on democracy,
00:07:53.780 be it by Russia, be it by China, by any authoritarian regime,
00:07:58.960 are something that we must stand in unison against, Mr. Speaker,
00:08:03.020 that the attack on one member of this Democratic House
00:08:06.140 is an attack on every single one of us.
00:08:08.460 We cannot direct, we cannot direct, Mr. Speaker,
00:08:11.880 our security and intelligence,
00:08:13.460 but we can sure stand up for democracy.
00:08:23.780 We cannot direct, Mr. Speaker,