Skip to main content

Politicians must be promptly advised of cyberthreats, Conservative MP tells inquiry

Liberal MP John McKay, chair of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, waits for the start of a meeting in Ottawa on Monday, July 15, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang Liberal MP John McKay, chair of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, waits for the start of a meeting in Ottawa on Monday, July 15, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Share
OTTAWA -

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis told a federal inquiry Tuesday that parliamentarians who were targeted by Chinese hackers could have taken immediate protective steps if they had been informed sooner.

It emerged earlier this year that in 2021 some MPs and senators faced cyberattacks from the hackers because of their involvement with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which pushes for accountability from Beijing.

In 2022, U.S. authorities apparently informed the Canadian government of the attacks, and it in turn advised parliamentary IT officials -- but not individual MPs.

Genuis, a Canadian co-chair of the inter-parliamentary alliance, told a federal commission of inquiry on foreign interference Tuesday that it remains mysterious to him why he wasn't informed about the attacks sooner.

Liberal MP John McKay, also a Canadian co-chair of the alliance, said there should be a clear protocol for advising parliamentarians of cyberthreats.

Several weeks of public inquiry hearings will focus on the capacity of federal agencies to detect, deter and counter foreign meddling.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

IN DEPTH

Opinion

opinion

opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Local Spotlight

Video shows meteor streaking across Ontario

Videos of a meteor streaking across the skies of southern Ontario have surfaced and small bits of the outer space rock may have made it to land, one astronomy professor says.

Stay Connected