Hon. Fabian Manning: Honourable senators, today I am pleased to present chapter 62 of “Telling Our Story.” The iconic Ford Mustang car was officially unveiled by Henry Ford II at the world’s fair in Flushing Meadows, New York, on April 17, 1964. That same day, the new and extremely popular car was also debuted in Ford showrooms across North America. Prior to the Mustang actually going on sale, and in order for all showrooms to have at least one Mustang for the official sales launch, Ford sent cars to its dealerships that were farthest away. The cars were intended strictly for display purposes.

George G.R. Parsons Ford in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, received the very first Mustang ever built: a white convertible with serial number 5F08F100001. The new, sporty‑looking vehicle that the Ford vice president and general manager Lee Iacocca had envisioned in the 1960s was finally a reality and was creating plenty of excitement.

Captain Stanley Tucker, an Eastern Provincial Airways pilot, was driving by the Ford dealership on April 14, just three days before the official launch, when he saw what he later called “a huge fuss” outside in the parking lot. He decided to go in and see for himself what the fuss was all about. When he saw the Mustang, he instantly fell in love with the car and wanted to buy it immediately. He approached salesman Harry Phillips and told him so.

Harry said there was nothing like the Ford Mustang on the market. It was a beautiful car, but told Captain Tucker that he could not sell the car for another two weeks. Phillips said that Tucker was determined to be the owner of the Ford Mustang convertible and said to the salesman, “I don’t care, I wants it.”

He had to have that car, so the two of them worked out an agreement. No one knows exactly what Tucker said to convince the dealership to sell him the car but they did, and for three days he was the only person in the world who owned a Ford Mustang.

Tucker purchased the car for $4,300 and sealed the deal just 72 hours before Henry Ford would officially unveil the Mustang. Captain Tucker agreed to let the dealership keep and display the car for a couple of weeks.

A few weeks following the sale, the St. John’s dealership received a call from Ford’s head office in Michigan looking for the car, because it was a pre-production model and was never meant to be sold. When they were told that the very first Mustang that they had built was sold and being driven around the roads in Newfoundland, Ford set out to get the car back. “Not so fast,” said Captain Tucker. He told Ford, “I’m sorry, you’ve cashed my cheque . . . and I’m very happy with it.” He refused to give the car back.

It took Ford two years and 10,000 miles later to negotiate with Tucker to get the car back. Tucker finally gave in to Ford and drove the car to Michigan. In exchange for the first Mustang ever built, Ford gave Captain Tucker a brand new 1966 “Silver Frost” model with all the bells and whistles, which happened to be the one-millionth Mustang to roll off the assembly line.

Lee Iacocca presented Tucker with the keys to his new car, and the original car was donated to the Henry Ford museum where it remains on display to this day, complete with its Newfoundland and Labrador licence plate.

Salesman Harry Phillips made a career of selling cars and retired in 1995, having never seen the Mustang he mistakenly sold in 1964 again. In 2019, 55 years after Phillips sold the car, his granddaughter Stephanie Mealey started a social media campaign titled “Send Harry to Henry.” Matt Anderson, curator of the Ford museum, discovered the social media campaign and made arrangements for the salesman, his daughter and his granddaughter to travel to Michigan and receive a VIP tour of the museum in addition to a tour of the Rouge plant where the iconic and historic Mustang was built. Harry Phillips had never had the opportunity to visit Detroit before, and was overwhelmed when he was able to see the car that he accidentally sold so many years ago.

Captain Tucker passed away in 2008 and never had the same opportunity as Harry Phillips, but, because of his perseverance in making sure he got to buy the first Mustang ever built, he unknowingly created another bit of history for Newfoundland and Labrador.

Hon. Fabian Manning: Honourable senators, I rise to speak on the very important question of privilege that has been raised by Senator Tannas today.

Let me begin by noting that I have served in the Senate for a considerable period of time — now in my fourteenth year. I have also had the privilege to serve as a member of Parliament for Newfoundland and Labrador and to serve in the provincial house of assembly. I have to say that, after nearly 30 years in politics, I have rarely witnessed a more blatant attempt by a member of the government to intimidate a witness appearing before a legislative committee or, more broadly, to potentially deter other witnesses from coming forward.

I believe that is what we are witnessing in this case. The facts that my colleague referenced are compelling, in my view. For one, my colleague has confirmed what the witness, Mr. Benzie, told our Senate Transportation and Communications Committee, which I am a member of. Mr. Benzie was very clear in stating that he felt personally attacked in the House of Commons Heritage Committee because of the views he had expressed before that same committee on Bill C-11 this past spring.

Mr. Benzie went on to state that the effect of this attack in the House of Commons Heritage Committee has led other digital creators to conclude that they too were being singled out in a manner that made it inadvisable for them to appear before any parliamentary committees that might be examining Bill C-11.

If one goes back and examines the exchange that took place between Mr. Benzie and Chris Bittle, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, I believe it is difficult not to conclude that Mr. Benzie was gratuitously attacked. I would like to quote from part of that exchange. At the May 30, 2022, meeting of the House Committee for Canadian Heritage where Mr. Benzie appeared, as soon as it was his turn to raise questions, Mr. Bittle began as follows:

Mr. Benzie, when you appeared before our committee a little while ago, a couple months ago, you were asked if you had received any money from tech companies. You denied that allegation. Today when you appeared you said, “we have received some funding from our industry partners, including platforms and private industry involved in the success of digital creators.”

Was that statement untrue when you testified before us the first time, Mr. Benzie?

After several attempts by Mr. Benzie to point out that what Mr. Bittle was alleging was misleading, Mr. Benzie was finally able to state the following about the allegation made by Mr. Bittle:

I have had conversations with your department, with the minister’s department, with Canadian Heritage, and I have been very open about the fact that we received some funding from our platform partners. . . . Eighty per cent of the revenue in Digital First Canada comes from Buffer Festival, which is our money.

Mr. Bittle responds to that very accusatorially with the demanding question “Which tech companies are you receiving money from?”

Mr. Benzie reiterated what he already apparently told the Department of Canadian Heritage: that he received funding specifically in relation to the Buffer Festival. Mr. Bittle feigns dissatisfaction with that answer and says, “This is really shocking to me.” He then immediately asked, “. . . were you lying to this committee when you first appeared?”

Colleagues, I submit that, for people who rarely interact with government or with a parliamentary committee, this level of hostility from a member of the government is clearly designed to have a chilling effect. However, what is more damning is the fact that Mr. Bittle follows up on these attacks by formally asking the Commissioner of Lobbying to launch an investigation into Digital First Canada, the very organization Mr. Benzie is the executive director of.

Mr. Benzie has since received written confirmation from the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying that he was not in any way in violation of the Lobbying Act, illustrating how groundless the accusation really was. Colleagues, we need to ask what the purpose was of Mr. Bittle’s actions.

One can only conclude that the action was designed not only to intimidate Mr. Benzie but also to deter other creators who might be thinking of presenting their views on Bill C-11 to a parliamentary committee. In my view, this was an attempt at intimidation, and if we permit it to go unchecked, it will be repeated. If this becomes systemic, then our parliamentary committees will cease to be an effective voice for the public. For that reason, we must hold those who attempt this blatant intimidation to full account.

Thank you.

Hon. Fabian Manning, pursuant to notice of September 29, 2022, moved:

That the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans be authorized to examine and report on Canada’s seal populations and their effect on Canada’s fisheries, including but not limited to:

(a)how Canada’s seal populations have been managed by the federal government thus far;

(b)the identification of the most appropriate and effective ways of managing seal populations going forward;

(c)how Canada determines research priorities and funding allocations for research related to seals, and any research and/or funding gaps; and

That the committee submit its final report to the Senate no later than December 31, 2023, and that the committee retain all powers necessary to publicize its findings for 180 days after the tabling of the final report.