Senator Carignan: One of the recommendations was that the Government of Canada amend the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act to explicitly mandate managers and supervisors in federal departments and agencies with a duty to protect and support employees who made a disclosure, any person that helped the employees, as well as witnesses and people mistaken for whistle-blowers. Has this been done, to your knowledge?

Hon Senators: Agreed.

(Notice of motion withdrawn.)

(At 3:31 p.m., the Senate was continued until tomorrow at 2 p.m.)

Hon. Dennis Dawson: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie concerning the Bureau Meeting and Forty-seventh Annual Session, held in Kigali, Rwanda, from July 5 to 9, 2022.

Hon. Dennis Dawson: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie concerning the Symposium of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie on Contested Democracies, held in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, from September 15 to 16, 2022.

[English]

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Ataullahjan, seconded by the Honourable Senator Plett, for the second reading of Bill S-225, An Act to amend the Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act (investments).

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Ms. Carole Drolet and Mr. Claude Texier. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Dagenais.

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

Hon. Claude Carignan: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. Yesterday, I asked you a question about the outrageous witch hunt the federal government is waging against public servants to find out who dared to speak out against its decision to appoint a unilingual anglophone American as the Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Museum of History.

The government searched public servants’ emails and telephone records. No stone was left unturned. That is unacceptable in a democratic, law-based society like Canada. In 2017, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates tabled a report entitled Strengthening the Protection of the Public Interest within the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act. The committee made 35 recommendations to protect public servants who disclose wrongdoing. Essentially, these recommendations sought to strengthen public servants’ ability to speak out against the misuse of public funds or public assets and questionable practices. In light of the federal government’s witch hunt against its public servants, I would like to know what your government has done to follow up on the 2017 report on whistle-blowers.

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Justin Trudeau’s government has been rethinking its national defence priorities. The government has earmarked $8 billion in the current budget for modernizing the military. Despite that, we will not reach the 2% that our NATO partners are demanding. According to several experts, this delay is very worrisome in terms of modernizing our military equipment, especially for our navy and air force.

Why has the Trudeau government waited for a military conflict to break out in Europe in order to finally take care of the Canadian Armed Forces?

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Alanis Obomsawin. She is the guest of the Honourable Senator Francis.

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

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): The report and recommendations are very important. I don’t have a specific answer as to what follow-up has been done, but I will try to find out.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Louise Bernice Halfe — Sky Dancer, our ninth Parliamentary Poet Laureate. She is accompanied by family and friends, and Dr. Heather Lank, Parliamentary Librarian and former Principal Clerk of the Senate.

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

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. Canadians should have confidence in the processes that the Emergencies Act has put into place. The situation, as we all experienced it here, was fluid. Information was being processed in real time and answers were given in good faith throughout the process. I’m confident that will be the conclusion that will be reached as well by the commission.

Hon. Pamela Wallin: My question is for the Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications.

In your speech yesterday, Senator Housakos, you raised many of the concerns that witnesses have been outlining throughout our hearings. The testimony of the current Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, or CRTC, chair in which he explained his stated view that he will force streaming services to alter their algorithms to promote or censor user-generated content has been key to this debate. Have you, or you along with the steering committee, considered the importance of having the new chair testify to clarify his or her views before we complete our study or vote, as this person will be key in implementing and interpreting Bill C-11?

Senator Plett: Well, I wish we could all be as confident. Surely, Senator Gold, you must agree that the information divulged by CSIS and the Prime Minister’s public comments are serious contradictions and they are on a collision course.

Senator Gold, two of the most powerful offices are saying two different things. They cannot both be right. Keeping Canadians’ trust in their institutions cannot be taken for granted, Senator Gold. Such paradoxical versions of the truth will have a devastating effect on the already eroded confidence of the citizens of our country.

Senator Gold, does your government not understand the serious impediment of diminishing public confidence on issues of national security and the use of the Emergencies Act? Where did the 50% number of foreign funds advanced by the Prime Minister come from?

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Is leave granted, honourable senators?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for highlighting a part of our history that unfortunately is not that well known. The effects of this problem are still felt today.

The government is committed to supporting the Canadian survivors of thalidomide to help them live out their days in dignity. The Canadian Thalidomide Survivors Support Program, or CTSSP, uses a three-step medical assessment process based on probability and international best practices.

People who consider themselves to be survivors of thalidomide are encouraged to submit an application to the CTSSP before the deadline on June 3, 2024. Applicants who are missing information or whose application has been denied at one of the three steps of the assessment process can submit additional information to the program administrator in support of their application. Pursuant to a Federal Court decision in August 2022, all applicants whose application was previously denied can now seek reconsideration.

I also want to point out that in 2017, the government changed the program to make it more flexible and to make it easier to demonstrate proof. Before 2017, claimants had to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that their disability had been caused by their mother’s use of thalidomide. Today, thanks to the government, claimants must submit concrete evidence to demonstrate that their disability was likely caused by thalidomide.

Once again, as a result of an August 2022 Federal Court decision, all previously denied applicants may now apply for reconsideration.

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question. I do not have the answer, but I will ask the government and try to get an answer as soon as possible.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Senator Gold, I want to follow up on my questions from yesterday on the extravagant $400,000 invoice that Canadian taxpayers are having to pay for hotel rooms in London for Canada’s delegation to Her late Majesty the Queen’s funeral.

Senator Gold, yesterday you defended the cost of a $6,000‑per‑night hotel room in London — I think you said hotel rooms in London are expensive — while also claiming you didn’t have enough information about the number of people and the length of their stay.

Senator Gold, Brian Lilley had an article in the Toronto Sun a few days ago. I’m surprised you had not been informed of this, as you represent the government in this chamber.

Global Affairs indicated through an access to information request that the Canadian delegation stayed at one of the top luxury hotels in Central London. Canadians are on the hook for rooms as of September 11, with the bulk of the delegation arriving on September 16 and staying until September 19 or 20.

Canada’s official delegation was led by the Governor General and her husband; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife; and it included diplomats, top bureaucrats, former prime ministers and governors general and celebrities.

Senator Gold, will you continue to defend this undefendable invoice not only to this chamber but to Canadian taxpayers?

Hon. Marty Deacon: Honourable senators, it is an honour to rise today to celebrate Dr. Rohinton Medhora’s incredible decade of leadership as President of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, or CIGI, in Waterloo. Dr. Medhora retired from this role on September 2, 2022.

CIGI is located in Waterloo and is a fantastic hub of innovation and global thinking.

Through Dr. Medhora’s leadership, CIGI’s research has evolved from its early focus on broad concepts, such as international relations and global economy, to a crosscut of topics related to big data, platform governance, digital standards, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

Jim Balsillie, CIGI’s founder and chair of the board of directors, stated:

Rohinton has been an extraordinary leader for CIGI, who has ably guided the organization through its second decade to its current status as a go-to think tank at the intersection of technology and governance.

Personally, I have enjoyed meeting with Dr. Medhora on numerous occasions. He has helped me, and others, synthesize several global challenges, with his knack for building trust and his willingness to give his time to others in order to share his wisdom.

Under Dr. Medhora’s leadership, CIGI is now ranked thirtieth worldwide among more than 8,000 think tanks. It also holds the distinction of ranking twelfth globally in the category of science and technology policy.

As a result of CIGI surging in these global rankings, our peers, internationally, are beginning to recognize that Canadian think tanks have much to offer on the international stage. The backroom work, programming and foundation building — via the work of Dr. Medhora in making this happen — cannot be overstated.

CIGI recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary, which means that Dr. Medhora has guided this institution for half its existence, and he leaves it in excellent shape to succeed in the future, as it is left in the capable hands of the new president, Paul Samson, who lives in Ottawa.

We are excited about CIGI’s relevance and growth, and, despite all of his contributions, I suspect the best from Dr. Medhora is yet to come. He is far from done.

Thank you, Dr. Medhora, for your incredible leadership and contributions locally and globally. Thank you. Meegwetch.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. As I said yesterday, I think it was totally appropriate for the Governor General and her husband to lead a diverse and proper delegation to pay tribute to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. I have every confidence that the measures taken to take care of that delegation were appropriate under the circumstances.