Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, I rise today to commemorate the historic seventieth anniversary of the Battle of Hill 355 that took place from October 22 to 24, 1952, during the Korean War for the Royal Canadian Regiment, or RCR.

The 1st Battalion of the RCR became engaged in one of the hardest-fought battles in regimental history. Hill 355, christened by the Americans as “Little Gibraltar,” would become Canada’s second-bloodiest battle of the Korean War.

The 1RCR had been under fire for the better part of a month when, on October 22, the Chinese bombardment intensified, with a total of 44 and a half tons of artillery and mortar shells falling on Canadian positions.

During the first night, B Company’s position had been pummelled so hard that the area had become unrecognizable to the dazed and confused Canadian defenders. Whipping in the breeze, their regimental banner, ripped by shell fragments and grimy from dirt and dust, was their only assurance they were still at their position.

The battle would intensify with continued shelling, and wave after wave of Chinese assault troops pouring through smashed defensive lines and abandoned trenches. These savage attacks forced the remaining Canadians to break up into smaller groups, becoming surrounded and cut off from their comrades at various times throughout the night.

When the shelling ceased, it became apparent to the commanders that B Company had been ripped to shreds and was no longer a cohesive force. Slipping away, Hill 355 fell into Chinese hands, but that would last but a moment. Once the Canadians were off the hill, UN mortar and artillery batteries opened up on Hill 355 in coordination with assaults from D and E Companies.

At first, D Company was repulsed by the Chinese defenders, but they stood resolute in their resolve to win back what B Company had fought so hard to keep, and, by 03:31 hours, the hill had been restored to Canadian hands.

Since 1883, the Royal Canadian Regiment has made countless sacrifices, and lost many of its own over its 139 years of service. They fought in horrendous conditions, day and night, in foreign lands, and, despite the odds often placed against them, they persevered and never gave up.

Honourable senators, please join me in recognizing the seventieth anniversary of the Battle of Hill 355 for the RCR. Today and always, let us remember the bravery and the sacrifices of all veterans of the Korean War and other wars, and let us honour our brave men and women in uniform, from all regiments, who serve Canada with pride and distinction.

To our fallen heroes who never returned home — who paid the ultimate price of freedom with their lives — we vow to never forget. We will remember them.

The Hon. the Speaker: In my opinion, the nays have it.

I see two senators rising.

And two honourable senators having risen:

The Hon. the Speaker: Call in the senators.

(1600)

Motion negatived on the following division:

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

[Translation]

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

Hon. Robert Black: Honourable senators, I have risen in this chamber on many occasions to highlight the important role that 4-H Canada has played in my life. Today, I rise to highlight both November as 4-H Month and today as Show Your 4-H Colours Day.

Show Your 4-H Colours Day is 4-H’s biggest annual event here in Canada. Every year in early November, members and alumni alike don their 4-H green to come together to spread awareness about 4-H and support the positive impacts the 4‑H program is making here in Canada and abroad. The event also kicks off the month-long awareness campaign where youth members, volunteer leaders, alumni, 4-H friends and supporters demonstrate their pride in the good work of 4-H.

In celebration of Show Your 4-H Colours Day, landmarks from coast to coast to coast will be lighting up in green tonight — from Halifax City Hall in the east to the Shaw Centre here in Ottawa, and from the CN Tower in Toronto all the way out west to Port Coquitlam City Hall.

For over a century, 4-H clubs across this country have been some of the most highly respected youth development organizations in Canada and around the world. Their goal is to help young Canadians learn to do by doing in a safe, inclusive and fun environment. Today, the organization is responsible for 23,000 youth members aged 6 to 25 and 8,700 volunteers in 1,800 clubs across this country.

As an alumnus and lifelong supporter of 4-H, the annual Show Your 4-H Colours Day is a chance for me to share my respect, admiration for and commitment to the 4-H program in this chamber. As I have previously highlighted, I would not be sitting in this chamber today if it weren’t for the skills and experiences that I gained through this important leadership development program.

4-H has been an integral part of the Canadian community for over 100 years, with the simple mission of helping develop the potential of young people across this country to ensure they have the tools they need to become responsible, caring, contributing adults and community leaders.

I believe that the sense of community and interest in making our world a better place to support our youth is why this program continues to thrive and survive.

4-H members pledge their heads to clearer thinking, their hearts to greater loyalty, their hands to larger service and their health to better living for their club, their community, their country and their world. For me, part of what it means to be Canadian is embodied in this 4-H pledge.

Whether or not you are personally connected to this wonderful organization, I hope you will take the time today to celebrate Show Your 4-H Colours Day with me.

Thank you. Meegwetch.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Grace Kaazan of St. Francis Xavier High School and Manelia Kaazan, former Senate employee. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Wells.

On behalf of all honourable senators, I welcome you to the Senate of Canada.

Senator Gold: I was not belittling the question at all, nor do I have contempt for this chamber, as all colleagues know. It is the case, however, that I do not have the answer to your question. You can ask it tomorrow. If I have the answer tomorrow, I will be happy to provide it.

I do not have the answer and my previous answer, which you have mischaracterized — and if I was misunderstood, my apologies — was simply that —

The Hon. the Speaker: Order, please.

Senator Gold: I see no purpose in repeating the same answer that I gave yesterday. That was the thrust of my response. I look forward to your questions tomorrow.

[Translation]

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Sheshka Sioui Audette. She is the daughter of the Honourable Senator Audette.

On behalf of all honourable senators, I welcome you to the Senate of Canada.

Senator Mégie: Thank you for your answer, Senator Gold. I just wanted to add a detail: We have heard a lot about immigrant students who want to come to Canada. However, as soon as they fill out the forms, they automatically receive a rejection.

Are there any specific guidelines that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada could adopt to correct this problem and thereby reduce the growing gap between the francophone and anglophone populations?

Hon. Percy Mockler: Once again, I would like to talk about the Atlantic Loop. Honourable senators, the Atlantic provinces are concerned and need reassurance and support from the federal government regarding the Atlantic Loop. Our daily newspaper, the Acadie Nouvelle, printed an article today under the headline “The Atlantic Loop is running out of steam.”

One of Atlantic Canada’s English-language newspapers, the Telegraph Journal, out of New Brunswick, ran an editorial under the headline “Feds must save Loop projects.”

My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate, Senator Gold. Can you tell us how many meetings have taken place between federal government representatives and representatives of the Atlantic provinces since September 2022 regarding the Atlantic Loop in order to resolve the problem we are currently facing?

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu introduced Bill S-255, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (murder of an intimate partner, one’s own child or an intimate partner’s child).

(Bill read first time.)

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

Hon. Patrick Brazeau introduced Bill S-254, An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (warning label on alcoholic beverages).

(Bill read first time.)

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, when shall this bill be read the second time?

(On motion of Senator Boisvenu, bill placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading two days hence.)

Hon. Peter M. Boehm: Thank you very much, Senator Downe, for your question and your ongoing advocacy on what is clearly an important matter. I would also like to thank you for giving me the proverbial heads-up that you were going to ask the question.

Colleagues, I cannot and will not speak for the government. As you know, Parliament plays no role in negotiating free trade agreements or any other treaty for that matter. However, transparency from the government is important in these matters so Parliament can play its roles of reviewing implementation legislation and holding the government to account. Of course, the committee that I have the honour to chair has a mandate to examine treaties and international agreements. The last such study was on the bill to implement the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA, the new NAFTA, in 2020.

In response to your question on the agenda of the committee, over the next year, I anticipate a very busy schedule, especially after more than two years of pandemic restrictions. The committee will continue its major study on Canada’s foreign service — a fit-for-purpose examination — and elements of the foreign policy machinery within Global Affairs Canada. It will continue its comprehensive review of the provisions and operation of the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, otherwise known as the Sergei Magnitsky Law, and of the Special Economic Measures Act, a review mandated by section 16 of the Sergei Magnitsky Law five years after its entry into force. The committee will continue to regularly hold meetings on the situation in Ukraine.

Of course, there are other topics members have expressed the wish to study. The committee also had legislation referred to it just last week, this being Senator Ataullahjan’s Bill S-225, the cluster munitions investment prohibition act. There will likely be more legislation, and if history is any guide, the committee can expect parts of the 2023 budget implementation act in the spring as well.

Related to this specific issue, several members of the committee, including myself, have expressed an interest in studying the progress of existing free trade agreements, or FTAs, because while Canada is exceptionally good at negotiating FTAs, we do not do a very good job of implementing them once they are in force. As you know, on March 24 of this year, Canada and the United Kingdom launched negotiations toward a bilateral free trade agreement in order to replace the Continuity Agreement that is currently in force. I note that before this, when Global Affairs Canada held public consultations between March and April of 2021, Global Affairs Canada received 22 individual submissions and a petition by the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners with signatures representing 1,266 people, requesting that Canada seek to secure a commitment from the United Kingdom to provide annual pension increases to U.K. state pensioners living in Canada.

In my peripheral knowledge — which is rapidly fading over the past ten years — I do know that the issue was raised by the Harper government, probably after your letter to the late Minister Flaherty. It was also raised with the United Kingdom by the Trudeau government. But to the best of my knowledge, obviously, we do not have any results.

I will not commit to any committee studies on the floor of the Senate, obviously, until we can consult with both the steering committee —

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question, esteemed colleague. I don’t have the information you’re asking for, but I will try to find it and get back to you as soon as possible. That said, it is the position of the Government of Canada that connecting the electrical grids of the four Atlantic provinces and Quebec is key to eliminating our dependence on coal, creating new jobs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

All communities in Atlantic Canada will benefit from the Atlantic Loop, an initiative that is in the interest of all Canadians, who recognize the need for a clean energy transition. The government remains convinced that this is an excellent project for the Atlantic provinces and for Canada. As Mr. Wilkinson, the Minister of Natural Resources, said recently when he was talking about the problems and barriers we are seeing, this is just a bump in the road. The government remains committed and determined to see this project through.

[English]