“This bill does not stop foreign money from going to outside political groups. Why did the government leave those loopholes open so foreign money can still influence our elections?”

“Mr. Speaker, the government had an opportunity with this bill to close significant loopholes with respect to foreign money flowing into registered third parties. The bill would fail to close those loopholes. Why did the government refuse to close those loopholes? Why would this bill, if it goes forward, allow for foreign money to continue to be funnelled into third parties to influence Canadian elections?”

“This bill bans knowingly false or misleading election information. I worry it could lead to official language that hides the truth. What protections would the member support to make sure the bill only targets real deception?”

“Mr. Speaker, as the parliamentary secretary explained in her very clear speech, Bill C-25 would create new rules around knowingly false or misleading election information. I have been doing some reading because the Prime Minister is a fan of Václav Havel. I learned that his first full-length play that was ever publicly performed is quite relevant to this debate. It is entitled The Garden Party. It warns us about systems where official language becomes so polished and circular that people stop asking what is actually true, and people become sort of fluent in a kind of nonsense. I am wondering if the member could elaborate on the exact guardrails that she would support to make sure the bill targets deception and—”

• Little substance
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  Question or comment in debate

  Signal 36 of 100

  Much of this statement went to praise, blame, greetings, routine procedure or general stories rather than reasons, requests or specific points.

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“The Liberals knew about foreign interference in their own candidate contests. Why does this bill do nothing to stop foreign interference in party nominations?”

“Mr. Speaker, here we have on display peak Liberal hypocrisy. Only the member for Winnipeg North can spend his entire speech complaining about wasting time instead of actually doing something besides wasting time and addressing Bill C‑25. There were issues around foreign interference that the Liberals knew about in one of their ridings, where Han Dong was chosen as a Liberal candidate. It was noted in the Hogue commission. Why is there nothing in Bill C‑25 that would address the foreign interference in so many Liberal nominations?”