The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?

Some Hon. Senators: Agreed.

An Hon. Senator: On division.

(Motion agreed to and bill read second time, on division.)

(Response to question raised by the Honourable Brian Francis on April 5, 2022)

The Government of Canada has supported the sector through the $28 million Surplus Potato Management Response plan. Business risk management programs such as AgriInsurance, AgriStability, and AgriInvest also remain available to potato producers to manage business risks. A producer with an AgriInvest account may also draw upon funds to support a transition to other crops.

As an additional tool to enhance compliance restrictions and reduce the risk of spreading potato wart, Prince Edward Island producers who are required to dispose of their seed potatoes may be eligible for compensation under the Potato Wart Compensation Regulations if they meet the eligibility criteria provided in the regulations. A grower can submit their compensation application once disposal of potatoes is verified.

Details on the compensation application process for seed potato growers were shared at a meeting held by the Government of Canada on April 22, 2022. The Government of Canada is scheduled to meet with P.E.I. growers on June 16, 2022, to further discuss this topic.

(Response to question raised by the Honourable Stan Kutcher on April 26, 2022)

The federal health portfolio, in collaboration with various partners, is addressing the issue of post-COVID-19 conditions through investments in research and surveillance, sharing of the latest scientific evidence and the development of information and guidelines to support affected health professionals and Canadians.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is collaborating with paediatricians across Canada and with the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS), who works closely with various countries through the International Network of Paediatric Surveillance Units on a surveillance study of post-COVID-19 conditions. PHAC is also collaborating with the United Kingdom National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to share evidence and preferred practices, and with impacted Canadians to inform the development of evidence-based guidelines and tools. Through Budget 2022, PHAC committed approximately $17 million in the development of these tools for health professionals and citizens. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has invested over $410 million to fund targeted short- and long-term research studies on post-COVID-19 conditions that span biomedical, clinical, health systems and services and population health topics.

Additionally, the federal government will be part of discussions regarding international cooperation in addressing this issue at the G7 Science Ministers meeting in June 2022.

(Response to question raised by the Honourable Mary Coyle on May 10, 2022)

Infrastructure Canada (INFC) is committed to continuous improvement of all of its infrastructure programs and tools, including the Climate Lens.

INFC is developing a detailed action plan for implementation of its responses to the recommendations in the commissioner’s report. INFC is continuing to improve the Climate Lens by integrating climate considerations directly into project applications, enhancing its review process of climate outcomes, and developing user-friendly guidance for applicants, including sector-specific guidance.

These actions will start as soon as this summer, with the publication of sector-specific guidance and documentation of the internal review process in more detail.

As new programs are developed, INFC will continue to integrate clear requirements to provide information on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and resilience outcomes in the program application process.

The commissioner’s report highlighted some very positive progress that has been made under the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) Program. This includes the integration of clear requirements to provide information on GHG emissions and resilience outcomes, and the requirement to use a standardized tool to estimate energy savings and GHG emissions reductions.

The Hon. the Speaker: All those senators in the chamber who are opposed to the motion will please say, “nay.”

The Hon. the Speaker: I’m sorry, Senator Galvez, it is now six o’clock. I apologize, but I have to interrupt you.

Pursuant to rule 3-3(1), I’m required to leave the chair and suspend until eight o’clock unless it’s agreed that we not suspend. If you wish the sitting to be suspended, please say “suspend.”

The Hon. the Speaker: Senator Kutcher, will you take a question?

Senator Kutcher: Absolutely.

The Hon. the Speaker: I see two senators rising. Do we have agreement on a bell?

The Hon. the Speaker: In my opinion, the “nays” have it.

And two honourable senators having risen:

Hon. Peter M. Boehm: I do have a question, Your Honour.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. As I may have answered on a previous occasion, senators may recall that the government, in fact, laid the foundation in this area, as in many others, by accepting an interim recommendation from former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour to begin referring the investigation and prosecution of Criminal Code sexual offences from the military justice system to the civilian one.

Since Minister Anand received and accepted the recommendation to refer sexual offences from the military justice system to the civilian system in the fall, the government has made substantial and substantive progress in such referrals.

As Ms. Arbour outlines in a report — and this is my understanding of the facts on the ground — there have been some challenges with certain jurisdictions. To this end, Minister Anand is writing, again, to provincial and territorial partners about the path forward and to start the process of establishing a formal, intergovernmental table to build a durable transfer process that will better serve the Canadian Armed Forces now and in the future, and, of course, serve the interests of justice for those who are victims of alleged assault.

Senator Lankin: Thank you for all your work on this. I applaud anyone who takes on sponsoring the budget implementation act. I do share the opinion that was just offered about omnibus legislation, but I am also aware that in a minority Parliament time is always at a premium.

I want to come back to the question about clean drinking water in First Nations. I’m sure it was the way I heard this, and I was concerned when I heard you say that the government was working to help First Nations to, for example, learn about the environment and the connection with clean water — I know you agree with me that government has much to learn from First Nations on that point — but when you went on and talked about a few other things, I see that as capacity building. For some communities that is a requirement, and the resources to do that have to be there. For ongoing sustainability of the systems — maintenance upgrades, new technology et cetera — the resources have to be there.

Would you just deconstruct for me the budget provisions themselves and how they will enable these last 30-odd more difficult cases to be resolved in short order?

Senator Moncion: Thank you for the question. It’s a good question. By repealing the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, it gives more powers to the First Nations to take ownership and to have more freedom to work within their communities to resolve the water problems. I think it is more in that aspect, and the government keeps working with the communities to find solutions.

Being from the North, I will give you the example of the reserve in Kashechewan, which is in northern Ontario, and which has been a difficult situation to resolve because of the yearly debacle of the river and the water system that is not viable because of the location. When you are in Ottawa, you don’t necessarily know all about what is going on in a community and when the government is working with the First Nation.

I understand when you talk about capacity building, and I think the water solution is a larger one than just putting in a system and hoping that the system is going to work. It is capacity and community building. It is working with First Nations, giving them the freedom to work and find solutions and working with government.

I want to apologize to my First Nations colleagues because I might not be answering this question in the best way, but I’m doing my best to try.

Hon. Frances Lankin: Senator Moncion, would you accept another question?

Senator Moncion: With pleasure.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, today we pay tribute to three more of our dedicated Senate pages who will be leaving us this summer.

Nonso Morah is honoured to have had the opportunity to represent the province of Alberta within the Senate Page Program this year. She is looking forward to starting her second year at the University of Ottawa, studying Conflict Studies and Human Rights in both official languages, with a minor in Creative Writing. Nonso looks forward to pursuing new challenges and working in the service of her community. She says she will forever cherish her time as a page and is grateful to all who contributed to making it such an incredible experience.

On behalf of all senators, thank you, Nonso, for your dedication.

Senator Housakos: Senator Gold, the RCMP has been very clear in their claims in this investigation. The only people refuting them are the government talking points that you are spewing here today.

If your government really wants us to believe that you are putting the interests of Canadians — in particular, the families of victims in Nova Scotia — ahead of the Trudeau government’s political interests, you would have already agreed to the emergency debate on the accusations revealed yesterday regarding the RCMP commissioner. Instead, your government has moved to have Parliament remain at half efficiency for yet another year as a response.

Senator Gold, I know you came to this place in the spirit of independence. I know you have an open mind, and somehow now you have found yourself as a member of Privy Council representing a government that has proven to be hyperpartisan.

Don’t you think the people of Nova Scotia deserve better? Don’t you think the victims’ families deserve answers to these important questions?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, my next question again is for the government leader. Leader, La Presse reported yesterday that Minister Sajjan, the Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, sought an exemption from having to go through security in our airports. This exemption, leader, is reserved for the Prime Minister of Canada and his immediate family, the Governor General of Canada and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Leader, after Transport Canada initially refused Minister Sajjan’s request, he tried again and was successful. Your government has apparently given him a partial exemption from airport security measures that countless other Canadians — you and I — have to go through.

Could you tell us why? How many other Trudeau cabinet ministers are now going to ask for the same exemption?

Hon. Sabi Marwah: Honourable senators, it is not often that a Canadian institution is ranked as best in the world, yet that just happened when Newsweek magazine named the Hospital for Sick Children, or SickKids, as it is commonly referred to, as the top pediatric health centre globally.

The Hospital for Sick Children is Canada’s most research-intensive hospital and the largest centre dedicated to improving children’s health in this country. It is also a hospital of firsts — first in discoveries, first-of-its-kind treatments and first in innovations.

About 18 months ago, SickKids performed another first. A young girl named Ellie with a rare genetic condition had persistent self-injurious behaviour that was causing her significant harm. Her doctors at SickKids used deep brain stimulation to almost eliminate those behaviours, and today, Ellie is thriving.

The past two years of COVID have tested the hospital in new and profound ways. SickKids played a key role in COVID child vaccination efforts in Ontario. It supported adult-care hospital partners by accepting adult patients for the first time in its history. It implemented PCR school-testing programs, advised governments and assisted community on COVID matters and accelerated its virtual care offerings to ensure its children continued to receive the care they needed.

Despite COVID, SickKids continued its pioneering work on precision child health, which will shift it from a one-size-fits-all approach to medicine to health care that is individualized to each patient’s unique needs.

A mental health strategy was developed that will help SickKids achieve unprecedented outcomes in children and youth mental health through collaborations, innovations and partnerships. It could not have come at a better time, given the mental health impacts on children and youth. An organization-wide equity, diversity and inclusion strategy, or EDI strategy, was launched that provides a path of critical inclusion of diverse people and communities across SickKids care, research and education initiatives so that everyone can feel acknowledged, valued and respected.

Colleagues, the Newsweek ranking is a testament to the extraordinary nurses, doctors, researchers and staff of SickKids who have shown continual resilience, innovation, commitment and a willingness to go above and beyond to carry out their mission while keeping patients, families and staff safe.

I know this first-hand because I had the privilege to serve on their board of trustees for a decade.

Congratulations to SickKids on being named the top children’s hospital in the world, and thank you for all you do for children and families across Canada and around the world. Thank you.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

[Translation]

Hon. Tony Loffreda: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Once again, Senator Gold, my question is on minority rights. They are so important, not only in Quebec, but across Canada. Today, I want to address Bill 21 which infringes on the civil liberties of Quebecers. Many religious and ethnic communities in Quebec continue to feel their rights have been eroded. As you know, the law is currently being challenged before the provincial courts.

Last December, in an answer to a question from Senator Omidvar, you said:

. . . The Government of Canada remains committed to following the litigation closely and will take whatever decisions are deemed appropriate at the appropriate time.

Senator Gold, some might argue the appropriate time was a long time ago. When will the government take a strong stand on this bill and start defending the rights of minorities in our province? What is your definition of the appropriate time?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, as we approach Canada Day and the end of the parliamentary session, I want to take the opportunity to say a few words about our great country.

As Canadians, we are blessed to live in one of the freest and safest nations on Earth. We have much to be proud of and grateful for. As a beacon of hope, democracy, opportunity and liberty, Canada has attracted millions of people from around the world, who came here to make this country their home. Every year, hundreds of thousands of newcomers are welcome with open arms to join our growing Canadian family and way of life.

This Canadian way of life is one that is rooted in a distinct set of values: prosperity, security, hard work, opportunity, free enterprise, human rights, community and compassion, to just name a few. But the most foundational principle of this great country is, without a doubt, freedom, for without freedom, none of the other things I just mentioned would be possible.

The last few years have been difficult for everyone. Faced with challenging times brought on by a pandemic, Canadians have been divided, isolated and often pushed to the limit. Governments have repeatedly tried to restrict our freedom, yet I believe the adversity we have faced will only strengthen our resilience and make us an even better country. In spite of governments’ best efforts to divide us and turn us against each other, I believe Canadians will emerge more united than ever — with one another, their families, their friends and fellow Canadians.

Our governments have also tried to use the pandemic as a means of getting rid of proper accountability and diminishing the role of parliamentary oversight. That needs to end. The hybrid Parliament needs to end. Canadians expect us to ensure proper parliamentary oversight, which is our role and our duty to them.

As Canadians, we must never forget that the freedoms we enjoy every day cannot be taken for granted nor are they free; our freedoms came at a very costly price, paid for by men and women far braver than any of us, who sacrificed themselves in the fight against tyranny so that future generations could be free. It now falls upon us to guard that freedom and protect it for those who will follow us.

Canada is a great country worth celebrating, and it is my hope that we will do just that, not just this upcoming Canada Day but every day. Thank you.