Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): I am advised that the minister is often required to travel with classified material and equipment between Ottawa and his residence in British Columbia. To ensure that classified materials and equipment are not viewed by officials without the appropriate security clearance, officials are granted this exemption — it’s a partial exemption — to the search of security-sensitive materials and for those materials only. The minister and his personal belongings still go through security — which often includes secondary screening — on all domestic flights, like any other Canadian.

I have no other information with regard to any other requests for exemptions.

Hon. Paula Simons: Would the senator take another question?

Senator Moncion: Of course I will.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Sierra Quinn Mckinney and Jodee Mckinney. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Simons.

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

Senator Gold: Senator Housakos, thank you for your question. I stand by the answer. Your premises are not accepted or correct. The commissioner was clear in her statement. Minister Blair was clear in his statement, and that is the appropriate answer to that which you have asked.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Dr. Vlastimil Dlab, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Helena Dlab, and Nancy Cruz. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Deacon (Nova Scotia).

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

Hon. Brian Francis: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the sixth report (interim) of the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples entitled Not Enough: All Words and No Action on MMIWG and I move that the report be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.

(On motion of Senator Francis, report placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.)

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the first report (interim) of the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying, which deals with the review of the provisions of the Criminal Code relating to medical assistance in dying and their application, including but not limited to issues relating to mature minors, advance requests, mental illness, the state of palliative care in Canada and the protection of Canadians with disabilities, entitled Medical assistance in dying and mental disorder as the sole underlying condition: an interim report and I move that the report be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.

(On motion of Senator Martin, report placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.)

The Hon. the Speaker: The sitting is suspended until 8 p.m. Senator Galvez, you will have the balance of your time when we return.

(The sitting of the Senate was suspended.)

(The sitting of the Senate was resumed.)

(2000)

Senator Gold: I know all Canadians, this government and members of the opposition are heartbroken over the tragedy that happened in Nova Scotia. I stand by my answers to your question. I am saddened by the use of the tragedy that befell the victims in the way that you have presented your commentary and question.

The fact is the government respects the independence of the RCMP. The minister was clear that there was no interference. The commissioner was clear that there was no interference. That is the position of the government.

It is the position of the government that respects not only the RCMP, but respects the integrity of the inquiry that is going on and, most of all, respects and honours the memory of those who lost their lives in Nova Scotia.

Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: Honourable senators, my question is to the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Senator Gold, in the question and answer document you sent to all senators late last night on Bill C-28, the government pointed out that, in the absence of a preamble, the courts will lean on “the parliamentary record” to learn the purpose of the bill. I would take that one step further to say that parliamentary proceedings have also been used as courts weigh any challenges to a law.

Senator Gold, do you not then feel it would be prudent to ensure that we have someone on the record other than the government to assure us that this bill will properly address the very narrow gap left by the Supreme Court of Canada decision and does not, in fact, create more loopholes?

The Hon. the Speaker: All those senators in the chamber who are in favour of the motion will please say, “yea.”

Hon. Denise Batters: Senator Cotter, I may well have misunderstood you, so I wanted to ask you about something. At one point in your speech, you seemed to indicate that when these particular bills — the bills that bring forward these mandatory minimums that were in place and which this particular bill seeks to remove — first came into place, parliamentarians may not have taken enough time to study them. In the sentencing aspect — I can’t speak for the House of Commons, and I’ve only been here nine and a half years — I can tell you that during the time the Harper government was in place and during my time at the Senate Legal Committee, we brought forward many of those mandatory minimums and we absolutely, every single time, devoted diligent study to those particular mandatory minimums.

Is that what you were referring to? When you say “parliamentarians,” of course that refers not only to the House of Commons but also to the Senate, and our Senate Legal Committee always does diligent study.

Senator Marshall: Yes.

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Leave is not granted.

[Translation]

Senator Gold: Thank you for the question, senator. It’s an important one. I don’t know the number of cases. I do know the investigation into serious allegations of crime sometimes takes time. That may or may not be a factor underlying the statistics of which, unfortunately, I’m ignorant, nor do I know specifically, but I will inquire, as to what discretion, if any, there may be in the hands of civilian police officers faced with an allegation.

Again, procedurally and within normal practices, there are certain thresholds that may need to be reached before next steps are taken, from allegations to gathering of evidence, to the determination that a charge would be justified in being laid. I’ll make those inquiries, senator, and hope to get back to you.

Senator Gold: I’m going to be careful in my response, senator. I would perhaps invite you to speak to your colleague to your left as to what the understanding was of the process that was agreed to as reflected in the motion. I would further encourage you to listen to my speech with an open mind and to recognize that the government took into account the views of many stakeholders, only one of whom seems to have been mentioned at length here.

Senator Gold: As for your questions, I will submit a request for information to the government and get back to you with an answer.

[English]

Senator Carignan: This government has found a new way to deal with lineups at passport offices.

This morning, at the Guy-Favreau Complex, they handed out 73 tickets to the first 73 people in line, so the lineup was reduced by simply kicking everyone else out of the line, which stretched to over 400 people. Consequently, Canadians, citizens who had been waiting for hours, and in some cases days, were kicked out.

This government does not take action and tends to make excuses or apologize. Now that it has made enough excuses, will it soon apologize to the people who are waiting and establish some way to offer compensation to those who missed their vacations or trips because they didn’t get their passports on time?

The Hon. the Speaker: The vote will take place at 8:36 p.m. Call in the senators.

(2030)

Motion in amendment of the Honourable Senator McCallum negatived on the following division:

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Gold, P.C., seconded by the Honourable Senator Gagné, for the second reading of Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Danielle and Michael Allen. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Plett.

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