The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - Full episode： June 13, 2017

00:00:00.000 Coming up on The Blueprint, first we're going to hear from Mike Lake, MP. He's going to talk about the Canadian Autism Partnership.

00:00:05.760 Then we're going to hear from Gord Brown, MP, who's going to talk about how we can better support thalidomide victims.

00:00:11.640 And I'm going to talk to you about the latest outrage when it comes to Chinese foreign investments in Canada and how it threatens national security.

00:00:20.280 You're listening to The Blueprint, Canada's conservative podcast.

00:00:23.760 Well, they thought they were going to have an easy day over there today, but not so fast, Mr. Speaker.

00:00:35.360 What is it going to take for the Prime Minister to have any respect for any laws in this country that may curb his out-of-control behavior?

00:00:46.860 And now, here's your host, Tony Clement.

00:00:49.100 And welcome to The Blueprint, Canada's official conservative podcast.

00:00:55.980 It's great to be your host, Tony Clement, Member of Parliament for Parry Sound Muskoka,

00:01:00.180 where we talk about the current issues that are before Parliament, some of the debates that we're having,

00:01:05.760 some of the contentious issues that Canadians care about.

00:01:09.420 And I'm very happy to have with me Mike Lake.

00:01:12.260 He's the Conservative Member for Edmonton...

00:01:15.100 Wetaskiwin.

00:01:18.260 Wetaskiwin.

00:01:19.440 Okay, that one's new.

00:01:21.840 Is that a new name?

00:01:22.600 That's a new...

00:01:23.600 Well, Blaine was the Member of Parliament for Wetaskiwin before, but this is a new riding Edmonton Wetaskiwin.

00:01:28.080 Well, Edmonton Wetaskiwin voters, I apologize in advance, but we've got a great MP in Mike Lake,

00:01:33.880 and he's doing a lot of work on a lot of issues, of course.

00:01:36.340 But one that we want to talk about today is the Canadian Autism Partnership.

00:01:41.340 Tell us a little bit about that and a little bit about how you came to be involved in this important issue.

00:01:47.100 Well, first of all, my son, Jaden, has autism.

00:01:50.580 He's 21 years old now.

00:01:52.200 He's been fortunate to grow up in Alberta where services have been pretty strong for people with autism, particularly kids with autism.

00:02:00.140 But not everybody in the country has the same opportunity.

00:02:03.140 And so not that long after I was elected, I realized that there was a sort of a platform that I had.

00:02:09.980 That wasn't what got me into politics in the first place, but that there was a platform that I had as a parent of a child with autism

00:02:15.180 and that there were a lot of Canadians in the same boat who didn't have access to the same services that Jaden had.

00:02:22.100 And so we worked for many years to try and bring the autism community together to come up with ideas.

00:02:29.040 Some of those years, you were the health minister.

00:02:30.740 I remember.

00:02:30.900 You remember some of the conversations that we had at the time and took some steps forward.

00:02:36.220 But we really took a big step forward in 2015.

00:02:40.700 So after doing some pretty cool things, stepping stones along the way in 2015, we started a Canadian Autism Partnership working group.

00:02:49.900 12 experts from across the country to put forward a plan for a Canadian Autism Partnership.

00:02:56.200 So these are experts in the autism research community and, I guess, representatives of parents and so on and that kind of thing?

00:03:04.540 Parents, stakeholders who would run organizations.

00:03:07.700 We've got some fantastic organizations, plus four top researchers, world-class researchers who work in Canada who are part of this partnership working group.

00:03:16.360 And so they came up with a plan of action, basically.

00:03:19.400 They did and submitted a business plan in the fall of 2016 and a budget ask for $19 million of the government of the day.

00:03:29.640 And interestingly, the Liberal members of Parliament, over half of their caucus, signed support letters for the Canadian Autism Partnership.

00:03:37.200 They wanted to see it happen at the time.

00:03:41.320 Even the minister herself, I think, eventually asked for it in the budget.

00:03:45.100 Now, tell us a little bit about what that $19 million would go to.

00:03:49.400 Like, what's the end goal that you want to see reached with that $19 million?

00:03:55.980 We want to see, you know, really, because most of the challenges are provincial in nature, you've got to respect jurisdiction.

00:04:00.760 So what this does is really it's a partnership of the organizations across the country.

00:04:05.480 So it's not a new organization or another competing organization.

00:04:09.000 Really, it's meant to be a partnership of all of the organizations working together, speaking with one voice, advising governments in their jurisdiction on things like early intervention or education or housing or vocation.

00:04:21.060 Or, you know, what happens when mom and dad die?

00:04:24.660 What happens to people with autism then?

00:04:26.520 Because this is a big concern for families living with someone with autism.

00:04:30.740 And this sort of expert partnership working to provide the best evidence base possible, scouring the planet for the best practices in all of these areas and advising governments.

00:04:44.260 So Canadian government's policymakers can make the best decisions they possibly can.

00:04:47.840 So that's it.

00:04:48.840 There's a lot of different things going on in different jurisdictions.

00:04:52.040 Some of it very, very progressive and innovative when it comes to autism in terms of incorporating autism people into our society and making sure that they have the right resources available to them.

00:05:07.640 Is that what we're trying to do?

00:05:08.940 Absolutely.

00:05:09.780 And, you know, autism is a challenge that faces people across a lifespan.

00:05:13.760 And, of course, it's a spectrum.

00:05:15.040 So people at different places in the spectrum have different challenges.

00:05:18.340 And we have to be careful that we make sure that we address those challenges.

00:05:21.360 But, you know, commonality that you would have is difficulty in social interactions and understanding, you know, what understanding the abstract, I guess, in a sense.

00:05:32.460 So something like a job interview for someone with autism, even at the higher IQ end, is very, very difficult.

00:05:37.560 You might have someone that can get a degree in engineering because they're really good at the math.

00:05:41.740 But that social interaction that helps them to get a job is something that's very, very difficult for them.

00:05:46.440 At that part of the spectrum, you deal with significant mental health issues as well.

00:05:50.160 So because people are just a little bit different, they might get bullied mercilessly.

00:05:55.100 But also because that social interaction is tough for them, they'd have a very difficult time dealing with that and understanding how to deal with it.

00:06:01.140 So you're getting bullied, but you don't know what to do about it, right?

00:06:04.180 We see in the employment market, 85% of people with autism are not employed.

00:06:09.000 And that's a challenge because there's incredible skills and abilities that if we can tap into those skills and abilities in terms of structure and order and those types of things,

00:06:16.000 a lot of things that other people don't even want to do, people with autism love to do those things.

00:06:20.800 And so Jaden, in his case, he loves to work in the library, he loves to sort things and sort books or, you know,

00:06:25.940 he loves doing laundry and sorting things and taking it to where it belongs or emptying the dishwasher, things like that.

00:06:31.960 Those are things that, you know, he'll cry when his shift in the library is done because he wants to keep working.

00:06:37.940 Wow.

00:06:38.240 Yeah.

00:06:38.440 Wow.

00:06:38.920 So tell us then where we're at, this autism partnership idea, you know, sort of, I know it came to the floor of the House of Commons.

00:06:47.200 So tell, set up that story about why it was important that it do so and what happened then.

00:06:52.240 For sure.

00:06:52.880 Well, it didn't get funded in the budget, first of all.

00:06:55.260 So that was the first thing that happened.

00:06:57.180 And it was interesting because I think that we took for granted that this was such a no-brainer that it would have all parties support

00:07:03.260 and would be something that the government would find room for.

00:07:06.040 It was only $3.8 million in a budget that's something like $25 or $26 billion in deficit.

00:07:12.520 So it seemed like a no-brainer.

00:07:13.800 So there's some surprise in the autism community and I think, you know, in the opposition parties that it didn't wind up in the budget.

00:07:20.920 So we moved an opposition day motion.

00:07:22.940 Now oftentimes those opposition day motions are really centered around the political issues of the day.

00:07:27.860 So this is a motion that you moved on behalf of the Conservative caucus.

00:07:31.240 That's what an opposition day motion is.

00:07:32.460 Exactly. Right, right.

00:07:33.000 So we get to choose a certain number of days, a small number of days that we get to choose the subject that gets discussed and then voted on in the House of Commons.

00:07:39.980 And so we were very intentional about making this motion non-political.

00:07:44.180 We didn't criticize the government in any way.

00:07:46.740 All we did was say, here's what autism is and lay out some facts about autism.

00:07:51.080 And here's what the Canadian Autism Partnership is.

00:07:53.520 Do you support it or not?

00:07:54.780 Of course, motions are non-binding.

00:07:57.060 But once a parliament decides that it's a good idea, that's a huge step to moving forward.

00:08:02.200 And we debated it on May 18th.

00:08:05.580 We voted on it on May 30th.

00:08:07.740 And I had done a lot of work talking to liberal members of parliament to get them on side.

00:08:12.820 And many, many, many of them had expressed that they were on side with it, in favor of it.

00:08:18.440 In the end, I think that for whatever reason, the liberals whipped their vote.

00:08:23.460 And only one liberal member of parliament voted in favor of it.

00:08:26.820 Every other one voted against it.

00:08:28.280 And every conservative, New Democrat, Elizabeth May from the Green Party, all of the national parties unanimously supported it.

00:08:34.600 It was a pretty shocking moment in the House of Commons, I've got to say.

00:08:37.680 It was.

00:08:38.300 It was.

00:08:38.700 When all of a sudden, these people who had gone to the photo ops, who had signed the, put their signature on to support this autism partnership, then turned around and voted against it.

00:08:49.500 Well, the month earlier is April's World Autism Awareness Month.

00:08:53.220 And World Autism Awareness Day is at the beginning of April.

00:08:55.500 And there's always an autism on the hill event.

00:08:57.800 And we had over a dozen liberal MPs show up for the photo op.

00:09:01.640 A few of them stayed for some speeches.

00:09:03.700 And then every single one of them voted against the Canadian Autism Partnership, which is, you know, supported by the vast, vast, vast majority of Canada's autism community.

00:09:11.840 And, of course, many, many other people.

00:09:13.640 So tell us a little bit.

00:09:14.680 I know there's been an incredible reaction to that from across the country.

00:09:18.400 So tell us a little bit about the reaction to that vote.

00:09:21.260 And then tell our listeners how they can become involved themselves in the wake of that vote.

00:09:27.640 Yeah, well, you know, we've been consistently posting on social media.

00:09:32.000 My handle on Facebook and Twitter is MikeLakeMP Instagram as well.

00:09:37.780 But, you know, posted the photo, for example, of the MPs all standing there with the banner on World Autism Awareness Day.

00:09:44.560 And I think we're up to 1,600 shares right now on Twitter, almost 600 retweets of that.

00:09:51.580 And if you read the comments, so many Canadians who are frustrated by the position, but also really encouraging in terms of continuing the battle here.

00:10:00.260 So what we're encouraging people to do is to take to social media, particularly social media.

00:10:05.020 Twitter is a great place because, you know, most MPs check their Twitter accounts.

00:10:08.480 And so tweet at your member of parliament, your closest liberal members of parliament in your region, and let them know how you feel about this.

00:10:15.800 Make sure that you email them and call them as well.

00:10:18.440 And we live in a democracy, Tony.

00:10:20.780 And if people speak up, I think that governments can change their minds.

00:10:25.220 Well, let's hope that they do.

00:10:26.920 Mike Lake, thank you for doing all that you're doing on this very important file.

00:10:30.480 It shows the compassion that you have as an individual and something that we as Conservative MPs share with you.

00:10:35.580 So thank you for doing it, and let's hope that we can make some progress on this issue in the very near future.

00:10:40.400 That's great to have the conversation.

00:10:41.520 Thanks, Tony.

00:10:41.940 Thank you.

00:10:43.100 Coming up next on The Blueprint, Gord Brown, MP for Leeds Grenville, talks about thalidomide cases and what we can do better.

00:10:51.800 You're listening to The Blueprint, Canada's Conservative podcast.

00:10:59.060 Browse all of our episodes at podcast.conservative.ca.

00:11:06.440 And now, back to The Blueprint, and your host, Tony Clement.

00:11:13.980 And welcome back to The Blueprint, Canada's Conservative official podcast.

00:11:18.880 I'm your host, Tony Clement here, and we have another segment for you.

00:11:24.140 A great guest to have on our show, Gord Brown, the Conservative Party's whip, the MP for Leeds Grenville.

00:11:31.200 Gord, welcome to the program.

00:11:32.440 Glad to be with you.

00:11:33.240 It's glad to have you on, because we're going to talk a little bit about thalidomide victims.

00:11:37.660 It's incredible that this issue is still rolling around out there after decades and decades.

00:11:43.120 But maybe give the audience a little bit of a background on thalidomide, what occurred many years ago, and why this issue is still an issue.

00:11:51.780 This was a drug that was given to women for morning sickness sometime in the period between 1959-1961.

00:12:01.080 So there were about 10,000 children born worldwide at the time who were born with deformities.

00:12:09.840 Many of these children did not survive childbirth.

00:12:13.100 Some of them were born with no legs, no arms, and other important organs.

00:12:18.180 Today, there are a number of them that are still survivors.

00:12:22.020 And over the years, there's been a number of compensation packages in Canada.

00:12:26.440 First of all, with the Brian Mulroney government in 1991, and again with the Stephen Harper Conservative government in 2015.

00:12:36.400 And there was a number of people who were not able to meet the criteria.

00:12:41.940 The criteria included providing a prescription that the doctor would have prescribed this drug to the mother.

00:12:50.220 But in addition to that, there was sample drugs given out by doctors.

00:12:53.920 So there's no record of those.

00:12:55.020 Oh, I see.

00:12:55.480 Many of these doctors now, 55 years later, have passed away.

00:13:02.220 Those records have not been maintained.

00:13:06.180 So the ability for those victims today to actually access those records is just not possible.

00:13:12.200 So there was an evidentiary threshold to get some of the compensation money from the government of Canada.

00:13:19.380 But it was very difficult to meet that test for some of the victims who genuinely were victims in this case.

00:13:26.240 Well, it's clear.

00:13:27.160 And one of my constituents came forward with this to me a year ago or so.

00:13:32.360 And he had been denied.

00:13:34.000 The company that the government, the program that then Health Minister Rana Ambrose brought forward, a company called Crawford Victim Services, was to carry out the dispensation of this support for these victims.

00:13:50.840 But because some of them were unable to provide that documentation, they were excluded.

00:13:55.320 So we estimate that there's about 25 to 30 or so of these still forgotten survivors of thalidomide.

00:14:03.760 So I've been fighting for these people for about a year now.

00:14:07.100 And I've met regularly with them.

00:14:09.360 I've asked multiple questions in the House of the minister.

00:14:14.280 And back in the fall, we took over the meeting when the minister was there on another topic, brought forward a motion,

00:14:20.540 and basically shamed the Liberal-dominated Health Committee into doing a study.

00:14:25.900 So about a month ago, they did the study.

00:14:28.740 They sought witnesses from the UK, witnesses who were victims.

00:14:33.020 Because this was a worldwide phenomenon.

00:14:34.500 The UK had a number of thalidomide victims as well.

00:14:36.960 Throughout the Western world.

00:14:38.200 There was about 10,000 babies born deformed in that period of time in the early 60s.

00:14:44.060 So there's still many of these victims still worldwide.

00:14:49.700 But in Canada, most of them have been compensated except for this small group.

00:14:54.160 There's been a number of programs.

00:14:55.540 W5 has done a program.

00:14:57.080 I've asked multiple questions in the House.

00:14:58.600 And then we got to the committee.

00:15:00.120 And the all-party health committee has written a letter to the minister of health,

00:15:05.460 encouraging her to loosen up the restrictions and allow these people to at least have an in-person interview.

00:15:12.120 They were not given the opportunity to have that.

00:15:14.600 And as well, there's now genetic testing.

00:15:16.760 In the UK, they've used this.

00:15:18.400 The UK model allowed for an in-person interview and to ensure that the people who otherwise would not get compensated get the compensation.

00:15:26.540 So this is kind of like you're just saying let's use the best practices around the world in this particular case.

00:15:31.340 The UK had an interview.

00:15:32.600 The UK had some genetic testing that was helpful in this regard.

00:15:36.540 And we should just sort of modernize that so that we're not missing anyone.

00:15:40.000 That's right.

00:15:40.560 Because we're trying to – the compensation is there for everyone who was affected by this.

00:15:45.540 There's still money in the fund.

00:15:46.840 Yeah.

00:15:47.140 There's people who have lived a complete life of pain, suffering, and discrimination.

00:15:52.640 They've not been able to, in many cases, been able to work or do sports or in terms of employment.

00:15:59.060 They can't carry out a lot of tasks.

00:16:00.420 So they were excluded from a lot of opportunities.

00:16:02.600 Right.

00:16:02.800 These people have paid a big price.

00:16:05.400 And they're all getting older.

00:16:06.660 And many of them who are still with us today are suffering from serious health complications, internal organs, as well as the visible physical deformities that they have today.

00:16:17.200 So we're asking the government to do the right thing.

00:16:19.680 Even the Liberal members of the committee supported the letter that went to the minister asking for her to go back, let these victims actually have the in-person interview, and do the right thing for these people.

00:16:31.120 I've been fighting for them.

00:16:32.060 And I'm really hoping that the government will do the right thing, but they sure are nowhere to do it.

00:16:36.940 I'm speaking with Gord Brown, Member of Parliament for Leeds-Grenville, who's been leading the fight on proper compensation for the forgotten victims of thalidomide.

00:16:47.440 Thanks, Gord, for being on the show.

00:16:48.880 So the committee's done its report.

00:16:50.780 The report has been filed with the government.

00:16:53.140 What's the status of things?

00:16:54.000 Well, the letter was just sent to the minister in the last week or so.

00:16:59.240 And so the minister now, at question period, has indicated that she will go back and look at that.

00:17:06.020 It's time for the government to do the right thing.

00:17:07.940 And if it had not been for some of my colleagues in the Conservative Party bringing this forward, as well as myself,

00:17:17.140 and working closely with our vice chair and critic of the health committee, both Colin Carey and Len Weber,

00:17:26.000 we would not be where we are today.

00:17:27.420 So we've come a long way.

00:17:28.600 The government should do the right thing.

00:17:31.900 And it's an opportunity for them to show the compassion that they say that they have for people who are in need in this country.

00:17:38.320 Well, this is the thing.

00:17:39.260 The money's there.

00:17:41.400 The program is there.

00:17:44.180 The need is there to be filled here, these forgotten victims.

00:17:49.240 And we're asking for a process by which, in a compassionate way, we can finally end this sad chapter.

00:17:57.800 I believe that these people are truly victims of thalidomide.

00:18:02.540 And the thing about thalidomide was it improved drug testing.

00:18:07.040 There are many people today who haven't dealt with the impact of bad testing of drugs because of this.

00:18:13.740 So the industry had to learn from this.

00:18:16.960 The whole drug testing regime worldwide changed after thalidomide.

00:18:22.460 So these are the people that have paid the price.

00:18:25.260 Governments around the world have been compensating them.

00:18:27.540 It's time for the Canadian government to do the right thing.

00:18:30.120 And at a minimum, give these people the in-person interview to show that they are, in fact, victims.

00:18:38.140 They were excluded without even an interview.

00:18:40.760 And the government, at a minimum, owes them that.

00:18:43.560 And you've been dealing with a particular constituent in your writing, but there are others that you know of or you've heard of, I'm sure.

00:18:51.460 There's about 25 to 30 people who were actually given denial letters from Crawford.

00:18:58.000 Right. And presumably this is across the country.

00:19:01.520 Yes, correct. From one end of the country to the other.

00:19:03.500 Well, and is there anything that the public can do, Gord, in this case?

00:19:07.340 Well, I would encourage them to get a hold of the liberal MPs and tell them they want their health minister to do the right thing.

00:19:17.280 There are a number of liberal MPs who have become advocates.

00:19:21.400 This is not, in my view, a partisan issue.

00:19:23.720 This is just the right thing to do.

00:19:25.680 They don't seem to want to do the right thing.

00:19:27.240 Let's hope they change their mind.

00:19:29.240 Well, I think it's really important because this is a case where I think MPs can have an impact.

00:19:34.520 And you have been leading the charge on this, and thank you for that.

00:19:38.540 But you have been able to find allies within the liberal government and elsewhere, NDP, who also feel very strongly about this.

00:19:45.820 Yes.

00:19:46.060 And I don't think the minister is too enthused when I get up to ask a question because she often knows it's coming her way.

00:19:53.260 But I think that it is important to show that we're not trying to make a partisan issue out of this.

00:19:57.920 This is something that we're doing for the victims because we have compassion for the victims.

00:20:02.260 That's right.

00:20:02.740 And there are a number of conservative members who are standing up for their constituents who are victims as well.

00:20:08.940 Well, I think that's very important.

00:20:10.520 And when do you hope to have a response?

00:20:13.200 This has been dragging on now for well over a year.

00:20:17.040 We've been at the committee.

00:20:18.300 We've asked multiple questions in the House.

00:20:20.220 There's been programs on television such as W5 with Kevin Newman who have done programs on this.

00:20:27.860 The minister has promised to get a response to the committee.

00:20:31.640 Let's hope it's a positive one.

00:20:33.100 Well, I think we can all hope for that.

00:20:35.220 And, Gordon, thank you for your leadership on this file.

00:20:37.660 Well, I'm sure the victims of thalidomide really appreciate the extra time and effort you've put into this.

00:20:44.000 And I know it's going to make a difference.

00:20:46.660 Thank you.

00:20:47.080 Thank you.

00:20:47.600 Thank you for being on The Blueprint.

00:20:49.200 Delighted.

00:20:51.740 You're listening to The Blueprint, Canada's conservative podcast.

00:20:59.060 Browse all of our episodes at podcast.conservative.ca.

00:21:02.660 And now, back to The Blueprint and your host, Tony Clement.

00:21:15.040 You're listening to The Blueprint, Canada's official conservative podcast.

00:21:19.580 I am Tony Clement, your host, member of Parliament for Paris, South Muskoka.

00:21:23.180 I want to talk a little bit about the curious case of a Chinese investment supported by the Chinese government

00:21:32.600 into a Canadian company called Norsat Technologies in British Columbia.

00:21:38.060 This has been occupying a lot of time in the House of Commons because what the liberals did

00:21:43.660 when they approved this deal going forward is that they did not do a proper and full national security review.

00:21:53.580 Here's the background.

00:21:54.900 Usually when there is a foreign takeover bid, a takeover bid by a foreign company,

00:22:01.420 particularly one that has strong ties to state-owned enterprises or a government,

00:22:07.440 that bid is reviewed on national security grounds when the target company, the Canadian company,

00:22:14.440 is involved in Canadian military or is involved in high information technology

00:22:22.400 that will perhaps deal with national security issues and privacy issues for Canadians.

00:22:28.620 In this case, Norsat is a technology company, a satellite company,

00:22:33.520 that has a number of Department of Defense contracts with the United States,

00:22:37.660 does a lot of contracting with the Department of National Defense here in Canada, and so forth.

00:22:43.480 So the usual process would be that you would review that through a full national security review.

00:22:49.620 The liberal government did an analysis of the situation and told the target company,

00:22:54.860 the Canadian company, that no national security review was necessary.

00:22:59.420 As soon as this got out into the media, we started asking questions,

00:23:02.600 and the liberals are denying what they in fact have done.

00:23:07.120 They're denying that they did not do a review when they haven't done a review.

00:23:11.780 They're denying that they told the company that no review was necessary when in fact we have the memo

00:23:16.260 from the target company to their investors or potential investors that no review was necessary.

00:23:22.020 So the first issue is the liberals are trying to talk out of both sides of their mouth at the same time.

00:23:27.020 The second issue, which I think is probably the more important issue,

00:23:30.000 is there should be a genuine and full national security review when you have an investing company

00:23:37.900 from the People's Republic of China that is obviously supported by the Chinese government.

00:23:44.420 This company also has been picking up companies all over the world, this Chinese company,

00:23:49.620 including in the UK, when they sought to invest in a UK company.

00:23:56.160 The British government in that situation did something that they've only done several times in the last 15 years.

00:24:02.400 They did a full national security review on the situation,

00:24:05.400 and they appended five pages of conditions before the deal could go through

00:24:10.560 to protect the national security of the UK, to make sure that there was no transfer of very important technology,

00:24:18.680 military technology or IT technology to Chinese interests or Chinese state-owned enterprises.

00:24:25.020 That's how the UK handled it.

00:24:27.180 In the contrast, the Canadian government isn't even going through that process at all.

00:24:32.400 It's not having the review, it's not attaching any conditions.

00:24:35.400 This has been an outrage in the House of Commons,

00:24:38.040 and just recently the U.S. Congressional Committee is now coming on board saying that they have concerns

00:24:45.520 because this target company that is being taken over by the Chinese state-owned interests

00:24:50.960 is also involved in the Department of National Defense in Washington, D.C.

00:24:56.740 So that's the situation that we face in the House of Commons.

00:25:01.080 It is something that we are going to continue to raise and continue to object to.

00:25:05.200 This story is not going away.

00:25:06.720 Reporters are continuing to find new information about how this company is involved in our national security needs,

00:25:18.180 how the investing company, the company that wants to take over,

00:25:22.340 has been involved in numerous situations where they have pilfered information technology

00:25:28.820 and have been caught at it,

00:25:30.200 and so is not considered a good actor when it comes to protection of information technology.

00:25:36.060 And so, listeners, we're going to keep asking these questions because it is very important.

00:25:42.660 I was at a committee, the National Security Committee, very recently.

00:25:48.240 We had before us the acting director of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service, CSIS,

00:25:56.900 and I asked him, you know, how are these decisions made?

00:26:01.200 When is it, what sort of evidence is used to decide not to do a national security review?

00:26:07.740 His answer was very telling.

00:26:09.260 He said, look, all we do is provide the evidence.

00:26:12.000 It's the government that makes the decision.

00:26:13.620 It's the cabinet that makes the decision.

00:26:15.540 So, when the minister responsible, Navdeep Bains, stands up in the House of Commons,

00:26:24.300 says, without batting an eye, that he is merely taking the direction from the experts,

00:26:30.900 and yet the experts are the ones saying, hey, don't look at us.

00:26:34.940 This was a cabinet decision.

00:26:37.240 You know something is afoot.

00:26:38.800 You know something is up.

00:26:40.100 And that's the situation we face in the House of Commons day in, day out on this particular issue.

00:26:45.080 So, yes, we are going to continue to ask questions.

00:26:47.840 We think it's important that the national security interests of our country, Canada,

00:26:53.000 are the ones that should be paramount.

00:26:55.100 We should not be having a situation where the interests of the Chinese government, 0.95

00:26:59.980 and by the way, this has nothing to do with the people of China,

00:27:02.660 and has everything to do with the government of the People's Republic of China,

00:27:06.340 the communist government of China.

00:27:07.780 We should not have a situation where their interests and their desires in some way overpower

00:27:17.940 our national security interests.

00:27:20.440 That is the issue before the House of Commons.

00:27:22.660 That is the issue that is being played out in Canadian media,

00:27:26.280 and we will continue to ensure that our voice is heard

00:27:31.740 and that we continue to demand that we have a full national security review in this context.

00:27:37.800 So stay tuned.

00:27:38.660 This issue is not going to go away.

00:27:40.580 I suspect there will be some more revelations in the future as well.

00:27:44.300 It looks like the target company, Norsat, may have another suitor, an American suitor.

00:27:49.520 So it will be interesting to see how the government responds to that.

00:27:53.620 But I have also heard through the media discussions that I have had

00:27:57.500 that the Hytera, which is the Chinese company, has very deep pockets,

00:28:02.040 probably buttressed by Chinese government support,

00:28:05.620 and I suspect that we will hear from them as well

00:28:08.460 because they are on an acquisition binge that can only be related to Chinese security

00:28:14.120 and national interests.

00:28:15.660 So stay tuned as we continue to ask the right questions

00:28:19.600 and protect Canadian interests, including Canadian national security interests.

00:28:25.020 This is Tony Clement signing off from The Blueprint,

00:28:29.060 Conservative Canada's official podcast.

00:28:41.220 Thank you for listening to The Blueprint, Canada's Conservative podcast.

00:28:45.660 To find more episodes, interviews, and in-depth discussions of politics in Canada,

00:28:49.760 search for The Blueprint on iTunes or visit podcast.conservative.ca.

00:28:54.100 Thank you.

The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - June 14, 2017

Full episode： June 13, 2017

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