The West Block – Episode 34, Season 12 – National

THE WEST BLOCK

Episode 34, Season 12

Sunday, May 14, 2023

Host: Mercedes Stephenson

Guests:

Vincent Rigby, Former National Security Advisor

Ward Elcock, Former CSIS Director

Panel:

Naheed Nenshi, Former Calgary Mayor

Monte Solberg, Former Conservative Cabinet Minister

Janet Brown, Janet Brown Opinion Research

Location:

Ottawa, ON

Mercedes Stephenson: With foreign interference revelations swirling around Ottawa, is it time to rethink our approach to national security?

I’m Mercedes Stephenson. Welcome to The West Block.

A Chinese diplomat is expelled, but opposition MPs continue to push the prime minister for answers as to why his government didn’t act sooner.

Where are things coming off the rails and why? Two former top national security officials weigh in.

And with wildfires raging in Alberta, is it hurting or helping Danielle Smith and Rachel Notley in the race to become premier?

With pressing global security threats coming from Russia and China, many say it feels like we’re entering a new cold war. Experts are sounding the alarm over how prepared Canada is to deal with these modern day threats, saying the federal government’s reactive response to recent foreign interference allegations, and the confusion over who knew what, when, points to the urgent need to update Canada’s national security strategy.

The stakes escalated last week when the Liberal government expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei, who allegedly worked with Beijing to target Conservative MP Michael Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong. China retaliated by expelling a Canadian diplomat from Shanghai.

Joining me now to talk about Canada’s state of national security and intelligence is former CSIS director Ward Elcock and former national security advisor Vincent Rigby. Thank you both so much for joining us.

Vincent Rigby, Former National Security Advisor: A pleasure.

Ward Elcock, Former CSIS Director: A pleasure.

Mercedes Stephenson: Vincent, you were the national security advisor. You saw all of these threats. You’re aware of them. Who are the foreign actors who are in Canada? What kind of an intelligence picture are we facing, to paint to our viewers of what we need to be concerned about and our ability to not only protect ourselves but also spy on people who we might want to spy on?

Vincent Rigby, Former National…