Parliamentary Committee Notes: Speaking Notes for The Honourable Marco Mendicino Minister of Public Safety
Mr. Chair, Vice Chairs, Honourable Committee Members:
It’s my pleasure to join you today, as you undertake your study assessing Canada’s security posture in relation to Russia.
I’d like to begin with an acknowledgment of the shock I know we are all feeling about what’s happening in Ukraine.
No words can truly describe the horrors of war and devastation across the country, the desperation of those still alive, and those struggling in the face of brutal attacks.
On May 4th, I had the pleasure of meeting Ambassador-Designate of Ukraine to Canada, Ms. Yuliya Kovaliv, to hear her concerns and explore how we can further support her country.
We also spoke about the need to counter Russian disinformation and foreign influence.
Russia’s aggression in Ukraine will have deep and long-term geopolitical consequences, and it directly threatens the rules-based international order.
The situation has reinforced the fact that the international community is strongest when it acts together, in defense of our shared values.
It has also underlined that we are not immune from threats to our own security posture here in Canada.
Hostile activities by foreign state actors, like Russia, pose a serious risk to Canada’s national security.
Malicious cyber activity, including cyber attacks.
Threats to our critical infrastructure, like our borders, bridges and power stations.
The spread of mis- and dis-information.
Espionage and foreign interference.
Canada takes all of these threats very seriously.
And the public safety portfolio is well-equipped to deal with them, in peacetime or wartime, even given an increase in both the volume and complexity of threats in recent years.
Within the public safety portfolio, CSIS, the RCMP, the CBSA and Public Safety Canada all play important roles.
CSIS investigates threats, advises government, and, as necessary, may take measures to reduce threats to Canada’s security.
The RCMP is also an important player in Canada’s efforts to counter hostile activities by state actors.
It investigates criminal offences related to foreign interference, as well as cybercrime and allegations of war crimes.
The CBSA works around the clock to ensure our borders are safe from a variety of threats.
It also supports the Government’s commitment to provide eligible Ukrainian nationals with access to an expedited immigration process.
The CBSA will also play a key role in enforcing the legislation I announced last week to ban sanctioned Russians from entering Canada.
The CBSA works closely with CSIS and other partners to conduct security screenings, and to mobilize liaison officers overseas to support where needed.
And both the CBSA and RCMP play an important role in the sanctions framework, to ensure we hold those complicit in Russia’s invasion to account.
As members know, Canada has already introduced sanctions against 700 individuals and entities this year, and adopted measures targeting specific goods and sectors, all in close coordination with the international community.
Mr. Chair, I want to touch briefly on how we’re equipped to respond to some specific threats, namely those to our cyber security and critical infrastructure.
Malicious cyber activities that target the systems underpinning our critical infrastructure are a constant concern.
They impact businesses, individuals and all levels of government.
We’ve known for a long time that Russia has significant cyber capabilities, and a demonstrated history of using them irresponsibly.
Public Safety Canada works with other government departments and agencies, as well as international allies, to attribute malicious cyber activity to state or state-sponsored actors when it can, with confidence, link the malicious activity to a particular actor.
Canada and its allies have attributed malicious cyber activity to Russia in the past, including in 2018 for the development of the notPetya malware, which was used to indiscriminately attack critical financial, energy, government, and infrastructure sectors around the world.
Additionally, in 2021, Canada joined its allies in attributing the Solar Winds compromise to Russian state-sponsored actors, which involved malware being installed in an attempt to steal data and caused costly mitigation activities.
Public attributions bring attention to malicious state or state-sponsored actors’ lack of adherence to internationally agreed upon norms in cyberspace; they can also be used to support punitive measures.
In Canada, we’re fortunate to have the foundation laid by the National Cyber Security Strategy to help protect Canadians.
That has already led to the establishment of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security – a single, authoritative source for expert technical advice and support for Canada and Canadians.
The Centre provides public advisories, including on the Russian threat, and shares valuable cyber threat information with Canadian critical infrastructure owners and operators.
The Cyber Strategy has also led to the creation of the National Cybercrime Coordination Unit under the RCMP.
That unit coordinates police operations against cybercriminals, including internationally, and works closely with law enforcement partners to address borderless cybercrime threats.
Cybercrime events involving foreign state actors like Russia fall within the RCMP’s Federal Policing mandate, and can result in arrest, seizure of equipment, or disruption to criminal operations.
My Department, Public Safety Canada, also delivers programs focused on industrial control systems for critical infrastructure.
It works closely with stakeholders on training, testing response and recovery capabilities, and promoting security awareness.
And in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Government has enhanced engagements with critical infrastructure sectors.
In fact, just a few weeks ago, it held a multi-sector network meeting with critical infrastructure stakeholders, to discuss threats and mitigation measures for Canadian industry.
Mr. Chair, all of these efforts are bolstered by Budget 2022 funding of nearly $700 million over five years, to support how we fight cybercrime, and defend critical government and private sector systems, and increase our collective resilience.
We remain steadfastly committed to combatting foreign interference by any foreign state seeking to harm Canada.
We will continue to condemn Russia’s invasion.
And we will continue to partner with allies around the world, who share our commitment to peace, democracy and the rules-based international order.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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