Mr. Speaker, I am sorry about earlier. I know that you are fair. I did not mean to criticize you. I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Montcalm.

The consequences of foreign interference are quite real. They are real for security, for democracy and for the well-being of our communities.

Last March, the foreign interference commission heard testimony from several representatives of various communities about the impact that foreign interference can have on the lives of members of their diaspora. These representatives voiced their concerns about the authoritarian regimes that they said had the power to ruin their lives and the lives of their families.

For example, the Russian Canadian Democratic Alliance testified that many Russians in Canada have parents or other family members who stayed behind in Russia. The organization said that Russian diplomats in Canada were using video surveillance and social media to identify people protesting against Moscow.

One human rights activist said that members of the Iranian community in Canada wear masks, sunglasses and hats at protests so they cannot be identified. According to some sources, when activists travel to Iran, their cell phones are confiscated. They are persecuted and interrogated, and they fear for the well-being of their families, who are also pressured and interrogated.

Reports from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, or CSIS, also showed that China targeted the members of Parliament who sponsored a motion to recognize the genocide of the Uyghurs, a motion to which I moved an amendment that was adopted. A representative from the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project stated that Beijing is engaged in a systematic campaign of repression against this community. I am very familiar with the Uyghur community. Their word can be trusted. Uyghur Canadians have said that they could not share news of a joyful occasion with their family back home because communication had been blocked. He added that some Uyghurs in Canada do not even know if their family members are still alive or if they have died.

Other diaspora communities on Canadian soil have the same concerns. I am thinking, for example, of the Hong Kong, Tibetan and Taiwanese diaspora communities.

I asked my Liberal colleague a question earlier, but no one was able to give me an answer. On November 18, 2020, the House of Commons adopted a motion calling on the government to create a foreign agent registry. That was on November 18, 2020. The federal government did not begin public consultations on the creation of a foreign agent registry until March 2023. When I am told that these things take time because they are bills that have a real impact on people's lives, that is not true. The government did not start drafting a bill. It started the consultations in 2023, even though the motion was adopted in the fall of 2020. At that point, foreign interference had been known to be a problem for a long time, and yet the government still dragged its feet on this issue.

It is worth noting that the government did everything in its power to avoid a public inquiry into foreign interference in the election. As members will recall, it denied our requests over and over. After several months of the opposition hounding the government and the public losing all confidence in the so-called special rapporteur, the Liberal government was forced to give in and open a public inquiry. It took time. I even held a press conference with representatives from all the communities targeted by the Chinese Communist regime. We had Tibetans, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese people and Uyghurs there with us. Three days later, the special rapporteur decided to resign and a public inquiry was launched.

That inquiry is how we learned that although the member for Don Valley North initially claimed to know nothing about the help he illegally received from China during his nomination, he actually knew more than he publicly let on.

After denying the problem of foreign interference for years, delaying the public inquiry into foreign interference and then also delaying the implementation of a foreign agent registry, as suggested by my colleague, the member for Trois-Rivières, the Canadian government finally seems to recognize the problem. Yes, I did say “seems to”.

The Bloc Québécois thinks it was appropriate to expel the Indian diplomats identified by the RCMP as having played a role in the attacks on Canadian citizens. Nonetheless, I want to note that, today, we are seeing the extent to which foreign actors feel they can act with impunity in Canada. It is the detrimental consequence of successive governments, Conservative and Liberal alike, deciding to turn a blind eye for commercial or electoral reasons. The negligence of consecutive Liberal and Conservative governments has led foreign states to believe they are free to attack Canadian sovereignty and democracy.

On October 14, the RCMP confirmed that India was behind the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia on June 18, 2023. Diplomats from the Indian high commission allegedly hired criminals to assassinate this Sikh opponent. According to the available information, the Indian high commission was engaged in other clandestine activities, including intelligence gathering for the Indian government.

When Parliament resumed in the fall of 2023, the federal government finally reacted to the Indian government's interference when the Prime Minister publicly accused India of murdering Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. However, he did that without having any real plan for what to do next, particularly in terms of Canada's Indo-Pacific strategy.

Many people, including the Bloc Québécois, are wondering about the Prime Minister of Canada's highly questionable choice to level allegations against India the first day Parliament resumed in September 2023, but that is not surprising. The Canadian government does not seem to have a plan when it comes to foreign affairs or international relations in general. My colleague, the member for Montarville, has been disheartened to see this day after day, week after week, month after month, in short, since our work resumed in the House of Commons.

Most of the time, as parliamentarians, we get a sense that this government is making up its approach to foreign affairs as it goes. Back in 2015, members will recall, the Prime Minister said “Canada is back” in reference to Canada's place in the world. I think it would have been more appropriate to say that “Canada is in the back”. That is where we are today. We are in the back, unable to keep up.

We got proof positive of that today. A Quebec sovereigntist was the one who said it: Canada absolutely must get back to being a serious player on the international stage. As I said earlier, the foreign interference problem is nothing new. It has been out in the open for a long time, yet successive governments have really dragged their feet.

The first victims of this foreign interference are not necessarily Canada's democratic institutions. It is possible, but the very first victims of foreign interference are often opponents who sought refuge in Canada and in Quebec. They are people who thought they were safe. Now, they look at what is going on, watch the news, read the newspapers and they see foreign powers doing as they please on Canadian soil, even attacking foreign nationals who came here looking for a safe haven.

Some of my Uyghur friends used to ask me if I feared for my safety because I was banned from China as a result of my work with the Uyghurs. I have never feared for my safety, and I never would. I am a Canadian parliamentarian; they are not crazy enough to come after me. However, it is different for the people I work with such as the Uyghurs, people from Hong Kong, Tibet, Taiwan and so on. These people have family back in China. The Uyghurs are just one example. They are the brave ones. They are scared witless because they have family members who are stuck over there.

Today, when they turn on the TV, read the newspaper or listen to the radio, they learn that Canada is allowing foreign agents within its borders. Imagine how painful it must be, how frightened people in these situations must be. It is scary, what we put them through.

It is absolutely necessary that we have this debate tonight. The government needs to wake up and understand what foreign interference is. Yes, foreign interference in our elections is harmful, but the primary victims are real people. These are men, women and children who fear for their own safety and for the safety of their families. This government needs to wake up. The Conservatives need to act responsibly and in a non-partisan manner. This needs to be resolved.

When Quebec becomes a country, it will look to Canada as an example of what not to do as a country on the international stage.

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe

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