Trudeau’s public safety minister says legislation against Chinese spies must be ‘culturally sensitive’
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‘To deal with threats to national security, we need agencies to be inclusive, diverse and culturally sensitive,’ Marco Mendicino said.
(LifeSiteNews) – At a time of increased international tensions considering the Chinese surveillance of North America via a balloon, Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said any laws passed that deal with targeting foreign spies must be “inclusive” and done in a “culturally sensitive” manner.
“To deal with threats to national security, we need agencies to be inclusive, diverse and culturally sensitive,” Mendicino said on Monday night, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
Mendicino said the reason for “inclusive” intelligence agencies is that “Canadians can have trust and confidence that as we are taking actions to mitigate against threats to national security, they believe we are consistently going to act in the national interest.”
The comments by Mendicino were made during a House of Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations.
They also come at a time of increased tension with the Communist Chinese government after reports surfaced last week that a purported Chinese surveillance balloon flew unimpeded over parts of Canada, and then over the United States before it was taken out by the U.S. military.
Critics blasted the fact the balloon was allowed to fly impeded until it was more or less over the ocean.
Mendicino said Monday that “there is a real threat of foreign interference” in Canada but would not mention China by name.
For some time now, Canadian legislators have been trying to pass a law that would mandate a foreign agent registry.
Mendicino was asked about such a registry and said that it would need to be “diligent and thoughtful and inclusive when it comes to bringing all Canadians along.”
Last July, LifeSiteNews reported that an analysis conducted by a federal research unit showed the CCP may have tried to influence the outcome of the Canadian 2021 federal election, with other reports indicating the 2019 election may also have been subject to CCP meddling.