March 6, 2023

Bonjour tout le monde. Je suis accompagné des ministres LeBlanc, Mendicino, Rodriguez et Joly.

On est ici aujourd’hui pour parler des mesures de notre gouvernement pour protéger notre démocratie et nos institutions contre l’ingérence étrangère.

In the last couple of weeks, Canadians have been hearing and reading a lot about the issue of attempted foreign interference, particularly from China, in our elections.

There have been questions raised about our democracy, our national security agencies, our Parliament, and even our sovereignty.

These questions strike us to our very core as Canadians. 

Les Canadiens portent attention à ces questions parce qu’ils savent que de protéger notre démocratie, c’est extrêmement important.

We all agree that upholding confidence in our democratic process, in our elections, and in our institutions is of utmost importance.

This is not, and should never be, a partisan issue.

I understand that people want answers and Canadians deserve reassurance.

I will get to the details in a moment, but today I am announcing that I will be appointing an independent special rapporteur who will have a wide mandate and make expert recommendations on combatting interference and strengthening our democracy. 

But first, I want to lay out some of what we’ve been doing and will do further to continue to protect our democracy and our institutions.

What we’re facing

In Canada, we believe deeply in the values of freedom, openness, and dialogue. These values are not universally shared by every government around the world.

Indeed, I don’t know if – in our lifetime – we’ve seen democracy in a more precarious place.

Many state actors and non-state actors want to foster instability, here and elsewhere, to advance their own interests.

We have long known, as an independent report confirmed again last week, that the Chinese government, and other regimes like Iran and Russia, have attempted to interfere not just in our democracy, but in our country in general, whether it’s our institutions, our businesses, our research facilities, or in the daily lives of our citizens.

This is not a new problem, but before we came into office, there was no dedicated process to counter foreign interference in our elections.

We saw the impacts of foreign interference in places like the United States and in France during their elections in 2016 and 2017.

These threats evolved and continue to evolve. We took big steps to protect the integrity of our democracy.

Things we did, in response to the changes we saw around us.

Because that’s what responsible leadership does.

Lors des deux dernières élections, en 2019 et 2021, un groupe non partisan de hauts fonctionnaires a déterminé que des tentatives d'ingérence n'ont pas compromis les résultats de nos élections.

This Panel is part of a mechanism, a Protocol, that we created in early 2019 so that independent expert public servants can communicate clearly and impartially with Canadians during an election, in the event of incidents that threaten the integrity of the federal election.

After 2019, the Panel and the Protocol were reviewed by James Judd, former director of CSIS.

And after the 2021 election, the Panel and the Protocol were again reviewed, this time by Morris Rosenberg, former senior deputy minister under both Conservative and Liberal governments.

Both independent reviews made recommendations that we’ve studied closely.

Between the 2019 and 2021 elections, using Mr. Judd’s recommendations, we updated the Protocol and strengthened it.

We are now reviewing Mr. Rosenberg’s recommendations and Minister LeBlanc is working on an implementation plan for as quickly as possible.

Today, all political leaders agree that the election outcomes in 2019, and in 2021, were not impacted by foreign interference.

Tous les chefs des autres partis sont d’accord que l'issue des élections de 2019 et de 2021 n'a pas été impacté par une ingérence étrangère.

But even if it didn’t change the results of our elections: any interference attempt, by any foreign actor, is troubling and serious.

Attempted interference is something that’s been happening for a long time, in Canada, and in many other countries around the world, but how it happens is evolving, including with the rise of technology and social media.

This is why, since 2015, we have taken big steps to protect the integrity of our democracy.

Our actions so far

In 2017, we created the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians so that Top-Secret-cleared MPs and senators can look deeply at these issues.

Le Comité des parlementaires sur la sécurité nationale et le renseignement réunit des représentants de tous les partis reconnus à la Chambre des communes, ainsi que des représentants du Sénat.

Ils détiennent tous une cote de sécurité de niveau très secret de manière à pouvoir examiner les activités de nos organismes de sécurité nationale et du renseignement.

NSICOP has examined foreign interference in the past and tabled a comprehensive report to the public and to Parliament.

This report focused on the period between 2015 and 2018. They also looked at the classified report reviewing the work of the Panel in the 2019 election.

In 2018, we passed legislation to strengthen elections financing laws to keep foreign money out.

And when we hosted the G7 Summit that year in Charlevoix, we established the Rapid Response Mechanism as a way for the G7 to respond to diverse and evolving foreign threats to democracy.

In 2019, we brought in our Plan to Protect Democracy. This plan included the creation of the Panel of independent public servants that I mentioned earlier.

It also included the creation of the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, which is made up our top security agencies, and advises the Panel on potential threats.

On a aussi créé l’Office de surveillance des activités en matière de sécurité nationale et de renseignement. L’OSSNR, NSIRA en anglais, est un organisme qui examine les activités liées à la sécurité nationale et au renseignement entreprises par le gouvernement.

Et, l’année dernière, on a déposé une nouvelle mesure législative pour protéger notre cybersécurité.

These are only a few examples of what our government has done to address foreign interference since 2015. And we’re working on doing more.

But we have to make sure that we are taking responsible steps without jeopardizing the work of our intelligence community and non-partisan officials to keep Canadians safe.

Next steps – NSICOP + NSIRA

Today, I spoke with David McGuinty, the head of NSICOP, and with Marie Deschamps, the head of NSIRA.

I underscored that Canadians need to have faith in their institutions and deserve answers and transparency.

I talked to them about undertaking urgent work on the issue of foreign interference, within their mandates.

Aujourd'hui, j'ai parlé avec David McGuinty, président du CPSNR, et avec Marie Deschamps, présidente de l’OSSNR.

J'ai souligné que les Canadiens doivent avoir confiance en leurs institutions et qu'ils méritent des réponses et de la transparence.

Je leur ai parlé d'entreprendre des démarches de toute urgence dans le dossier de l'ingérence étrangère dans le cadre de leur mandat.

NSICOP includes representatives from all recognized parties in the House of Commons, plus representatives from the Senate.

They all already have Top Secret security clearances so they can review the activities of our national security and intelligence agencies. 

NSICOP has already received the classified version of the report reviewing the work of the 2021 Panel and will be updating their last report reviewing foreign interference, with a focus on our elections.

When our democratic institutions are under attack, it is Parliamentarians, it is elected officials, who should be stepping up to protect those institutions.

This is why we created NSICOP and gave them the tools to review these matters and report their findings and recommendations to Parliament.

NSIRA is an external and independent expert body designed to review the collection and use of sensitive intelligence by government, including all of our national security agencies, and ensure they are meeting the high standards Canadians expect of them.

They are well placed to determine how the system is working across intelligence agencies and government departments, what information flowed or didn’t flow properly and why.

They also produce reports publicly to Parliament.

Next steps – Special rapporteur

Despite all of this I know that there are people out there who don’t believe his is enough. And I get that.

This is why we’re trusting this work with someone impartial.

In the coming days, we will appoint an eminent Canadian to the position of independent special rapporteur who will have a wide mandate to make expert recommendations on protecting and enhancing Canadians’ faith in our democracy.

In the coming weeks, the independent special rapporteur will be responsible for informing the work of NSIRA and NSICOP and any other existing processes like Elections Canada, to identify any gaps in our system.

The independent special rapporteur will make public recommendations, which could include a formal inquiry or some other independent review process.

Dans les prochains jours, on va nommer un éminent Canadien au poste de rapporteur spécial indépendant qui sera doté d’un vaste mandat afin de formuler des recommandations spécialisées sur la protection de notre démocratie.

Dans les semaines à venir, le rapporteur spécial indépendant sera chargé d'orienter le travail de l’OSSNR et du CPSNR et celui effectué dans les autres processus en place, notamment Élections Canada, en vue de cerner les lacunes dans notre système.

In the past few weeks, people have expressed many different views about the steps we could be taking to answer questions about foreign interference.

To me, it comes down to two things: that our democratic institutions are safe from foreign interference, and that Canadians have confidence that it is so.

This impartial, respected person will ensure transparency and also protection of our institutions,  members of our intelligence agencies, and all Canadians.

Some people have argued strongly that a public inquiry is the necessary next step.

Some have pointed out the flaws and challenges of a public inquiry.

That’s why we will ask the Independent Special Rapporteur, as one of the first tasks of their mandate, to provide the government with a recommendation as to what the appropriate next step be.

Whether it be an inquiry, an investigation, or a judicial review, and what the scope of that work may be.

And we will abide by their recommendation.

Immediate Actions

Comme je l'ai dit, on a fait beaucoup de travail, mais on sait qu’on peut continuer d’agir avec d’autres mesures dès maintenant pour protéger nos institutions, notre démocratie et les Canadiens contre l'ingérence étrangère.

That’s why I’ve tasked Minister Mendicino to launch, later this week, a consultation to guide how we will set up a new Foreign Influence Transparency Registry in Canada.

It’s very important we start with this consultation, because we have to be mindful of history any time we’re talking about registries of foreigners in our country.

I’ve also tasked Minister Mendicino to immediately establish a Counter Foreign Interference Coordinator in Public Safety Canada. This office will ensure we are taking on these issues across government in a coordinated way.

J'ai demandé au ministre Mendicino de lancer, plus tard cette semaine, une consultation pour guider la mise en place d'un nouveau registre de transparence de l'influence étrangère au Canada.

J'ai lui ai aussi demandé d'établir immédiatement, au sein de Sécurité publique Canada, un bureau national chargé de la coordination de la lutte contre l'ingérence étrangère. Ce bureau permettra de coordonner les efforts déployés dans l'ensemble du gouvernement pour s'attaquer à ces problèmes.

I’ve also tasked Minister LeBlanc and the Clerk of the Privy Council to review and bring forward a plan to implement any outstanding recommendations from NSICOP, the Rosenberg report – and any other reviews on these matters – in the next 30 days.

J'ai également chargé le ministre LeBlanc et la greffière du Conseil privé de présenter un plan pour la mise en œuvre de toutes les recommandations en suspens formulées par le CPSNR et dans le rapport Rosenberg ainsi que d'examiner ce plan et toute autre question connexe dans les 30 prochains jours.

And finally, today, I can announce that we’re investing $5.5 million to build capacity of civil society organizations to combat disinformation.

Because we know disinformation, often generated abroad, can be a real threat to our elections, and it’s a threat that the federal government can’t combat alone.

Conclusion

Je veux être très clair : toute attaque ou tentative d’attaque contre notre démocratie est inacceptable.

On va continuer de renforcer nos institutions afin de défendre leur intégrité.

We will always stand firm when it comes to defending our national security.

Just like we stood firm when we worked day and night to bring back the two Michaels after they were arbitrarily detained in China.

As Canadians, we all felt a collective sense of relief when they came home. But let’s remember that there were repeated calls from both Liberals and Conservatives to simply capitulate to the Chinese government and give in to their demands.

We didn’t.

We chose to stand strong and stand up for Canadian citizens and the rule of law.

That’s what a Primer Minister does, that’s responsible leadership.

Foreign interference is a complex landscape that should not be boiled down to soundbites and binary choices. And it certainly should not be about partisan politics.

As politicians, we work at building trust with people every day.

But it is also our duty to do everything we can so that Canadians can trust our institutions, now and into the future. Because our institutions will, and must, outlast every politician.

En tant que politiciens, on travaille chaque jour à établir des liens de confiance avec les gens.

Mais c’est aussi notre devoir de faire tout ce qui est en notre pouvoir pour susciter la confiance des Canadiens dans nos institutions, aujourd'hui et à l'avenir.

Our institutions are the foundations of our democracy. Even when they’re strong, even when they’re sturdy, if there’s a perception that they might not be: it needs to be addressed. And we all need to rise above partisanship to work together.

Canada is one of the most stable democracies in the world. It didn’t happen by accident, and it won’t continue without effort.

To all Canadians:

• This is an issue that we are constantly taking extremely seriously.
• And we will continue this work to uphold and strengthen your confidence in our democracy in Canada.

Thank you.