Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Minister, I’m sure we’ve all heard the saying, “There is no end to what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.” On May 3, 2022, minister, your parliamentary secretary told the other place that the NDP-Liberal government did not support a proposal in Conservative MP Kyle Seeback’s private member’s bill — Bill C-242 — to allow super visa applicants to purchase private health insurance from foreign companies. She told the House it would be risky and too complex.

A week ago, minister, your government completely changed its tune, and you, minister, issued a press release which passed off two of the three proposals put forward by MP Seeback on Bill C-242 as your own.

Minister, why didn’t you show any respect for your House of Commons colleague by simply acknowledging his work? Why did you pass off Mr. Seeback’s proposals as your own?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, I also rise today and wish to pay tribute to the Honourable Yoine Goldstein. Born in Montreal, Yoine Goldstein strongly believed in the importance of giving back to his community. His lifelong actions demonstrated his dedication and devotion to public service.

Prior to being appointed by the Right Honourable Paul Martin, Yoine Goldstein was a lawyer and an academic. He was a managing partner of Goldstein, Flanz & Fishman law firm, where he specialized in insolvency, bankruptcy and commercial litigation.

He was very active in the academic world. As a matter of fact, his name appears on the list of Canadian legal scholars. His expertise was well known and was recognized with many awards that figure in his name, such as the Lord Reading Law Society Human Rights Award, and the Lord Reading Law Society Service Award.

Yoine Goldstein gave lectures for more than a quarter of a decade at the Faculty of Law at the Université de Montréal. But law was just one of his many ways of giving back. He was also very active in Montreal’s Jewish community. We have heard about it already today. He served as the President of the Federation CJA, which aims to collect funds and ensures the money is used in a multitude of local and national programs. Senator Gold also knows this organization well.

Senator Goldstein served in the Senate from August 2005 to May 2009, so our paths never crossed in this chamber. I was appointed just a few months after Senator Goldstein retired. Although his tenure was not very long, he certainly made valuable contributions as the Deputy Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce.

Colleagues, I also wish to conclude with a quote, and this quote is from Jonathan Kay of the National Post from October 2013:

. . . Yoine Goldstein is a model: He came to the Senate with all sorts of experience as a legal expert, and from day one he used that expertise to craft legislative initiatives governing complex areas of law that few other senators could master.

On behalf of the opposition in the Senate, I wish to express my deepest sympathies to his wife, Elaine, to his children, Doron and Dahna and to all his family and friends. Your loved one’s dedication to this chamber will not be forgotten. Thank you for sharing your husband, father and grandfather with all of Canada. May God richly bless you.

Senator Plett: On May 3, your parliamentary secretary also told the House that increasing the length of a super visa from two years to five years, as Mr. Seeback’s bill proposed, would undermine the system and contradict the spirit of the super visa. She said that the NDP-Liberal government supported increasing the stay to three years and not five.

A week ago, again, your government’s concerns about the five-year extension disappeared and you, again, minister, claimed this idea as your own.

Minister, you’ve been condemned for the delays in helping thousands of Afghans and their families come to Canada. Passport Canada is a complete and total mess. Isn’t that why you passed off Kyle Seeback’s ideas as your own — because you need some positive news to cover for your many failures?

When it comes to Afghanistan, we now have more than 15,500 refugees who have landed. When it comes to our response to Ukraine, there are tens of thousands of people already in Canada. When it comes to our permanent residency, we have now welcomed 200,000 new permanent residents who were already here a month and a half faster than any year on record. We are pumping out work permits at more than double the pace of last year.

With great respect, senator, there are many successes to point to. I would chalk up the changes to the super visa as one of them, but I would not claim it as my own; it has been the result of collaboration amongst different parties in the House of Commons. I think that is something we should all celebrate.