Senator Martin: Yes, but on a week we should be celebrating small businesses, the Bank of Canada has announced the worst drop in business outlook since 2020. Many businesses expect slower sales growth as interest rates rise and demand slows. Many think a recession is likely within the year, and fewer businesses are planning to hire. With the central bank’s indicators falling, if the government is still determined to heap more taxes on small businesses, will they at least consider providing some relief by delaying these hikes until the economy improves?

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Dawson, seconded by the Honourable Senator Bovey, for the second reading of Bill C-11, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. I’ll have to make inquiries to find out the status of it, but it’s an important project. It’s one of the many ways in which we — as a country, this government and other governments who work with Indigenous communities sur le terrain, as we say in French — can make real, meaningful change for the well-being of this and future generations. Thank you.

Senator Housakos: Senator Woo, I know you’re more preoccupied with the machinations of leadership in this place. I’m preoccupied with democracy and making sure all stakeholders are heard.

I can assure you, as chair, that all Canadian stakeholders who want to express themselves freely on any side of the debate will have an opportunity to do so. If you feel otherwise and you want to put parameters or leadership wants to put parameters, of course, the committee is at the whim of this chamber.

Senator Gold: As I said, I’m going to make some inquiries, senator, and I’ll do my best to get an answer as quickly as I can.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. I don’t have the numbers you’re after, but I will do my best to get them. I will get back to you with a report and an answer to the question as soon as possible.

Senator Gold: The government is not ignoring this. The government’s expenditures on defence have been increasing and continue to increase well above the levels of the previous government — the rhetoric notwithstanding.

I shall remind colleagues of the increases in total defence dollars spent by the current government since 2015: $23.9 billion in 2015, $23.47 billion in 2016, $30.76 billion in 2017, $29 billion in 2018, $29.95 billion in 2019, $31.64 billion in 2020 and $33.67 billion in 2021.

[Translation]

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. I will add that to my list of questions for the government.

[English]

Some Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

Senator Wallin: Okay, I’ll do it another day.

[Translation]

The Hon. the Speaker: No, but you can ask a supplementary question of Senator Omidvar, or we can do it another day.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate) tabled the reply to Question No. 118, dated February 8, 2022, appearing on the Order Paper and Notice Paper in the name of the Honourable Senator Plett, regarding business fees — Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Senator Housakos: Senator Woo, it’s the chamber’s will to decide these things. Again, you’re making it sound like you’re asking some kind of question I have an answer to. Bring that up with your leadership group. As you know, they are the ones who determine the timeline. You’ve been here for a while. You have a lot of clout, it seems, with leadership in this chamber. I’m sure you will be able to get it done.

Senator Woo: I understand you would support holding additional hearings of the committee and perhaps having those meetings over our break week.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of our former colleague and friend, the Honourable Lillian Eva Dyck. She is accompanied by her son, Nathan.

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

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Deborah Bisnaire and Abigail Chelchowski, granddaughter and great-great-granddaughter of former senator Edgar Sydney Little, and Scott, Patricia and Kendra Allen. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Black.

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

Hon. Robert Black: Honourable senators, I rise today to highlight the work of the International Association of Programs for Agricultural Leadership, which is hosting its annual meeting here in the nation’s capital this week. I have had the pleasure of being previously associated with this group for over 12 years, and, while I am no longer a leadership director, I have remained connected with this important organization.

The International Association of Programs for Agricultural Leadership, otherwise known as IAPAL, was founded in 1987 in Arkansas and is a professional consortium of agricultural, rural and urban leadership program directors, but I would say it’s much more. It’s truly a family — a family of peers and of leaders — and I am honoured to have been involved with this program before being called to the Senate. I continue to be kept abreast of their work to this day.

The program was initially created for agricultural leadership programs in Canada, the U.S., Australia and Scotland, but IAPAL expanded their scope in 2017 to include Nuffield International. I am proud to say that IAPAL now celebrates 52 leadership programs with immense capacity for global interface. Their core mission is to provide a forum for leadership directors to share information, opportunities and challenges. Above all, it is a support network of the highest quality for all who are involved.

Over the course of this week’s events, they will award the Outstanding Leadership Program Director Award. I was honoured to receive this award in 2013 in New Orleans. Countless leaders of rural and agricultural organizations from all walks of life — from farm fields to research and innovation professionals to rural tourism and agricultural tourism experts — will have the opportunity to connect during their time in these leadership programs. They will learn valuable skills that they will take back to their communities to be well used.

Honourable senators, I would like to share a story about the 2014 IAPAL meeting in Kentucky that, in my opinion, truly showcases the support that IAPAL members offer to each other. It is especially timely to share this as we approach the anniversary of the shooting that took place on Parliament Hill which took the life of Corporal Nathan Cirillo.

While I was not yet appointed to this chamber, the events of October 22, 2014, shocked me just the same. After we learned of the tragic incident, members of my IAPAL family gathered around an Ontario colleague and me to relay their thoughts and prayers and to comfort us. Their acts of compassion and kindness make me emotional to this day — all the more now that I serve Canadians on Parliament Hill. I certainly tried to return that favour on January 6, 2021, with my U.S. colleagues. I know that, in good times and bad, IAPAL members are there for each other.

Thank you. Meegwetch.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

[Translation]

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the board of directors and leadership staff of the Canada Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Research Network. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Ravalia.

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

Senator MacDonald: Well, as you know, I’m not alone in these concerns. As I mentioned in the speech, Senator Simons raised the same concerns. Proposed sections 4.1 and 4.2 are contradictory. One suggests it’s going to be protected, and the next provision removes that protection. So what are we to make of it?

It doesn’t give me any confidence. Certainly, it doesn’t give the witnesses, who are very well versed in this stuff, any confidence. I think this stuff has to be better explained and better justified. That’s why I’m looking forward to it going to committee to see if we can get a handle on these particular provisions, because I don’t think they give Canadians the confidence that they deserve and need when it comes to free speech, freedom of expression and free access to information on the internet.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

(At 3:17 p.m., the Senate was continued until tomorrow at 2 p.m.)