Hon. Scott Tannas: Senator Gold, thank you for your speech. As Senator Plett has mentioned, it is a relatively rare occasion. Our research bureau, I think, tallied it at somewhere around 20 pre-studies that had been nonfinancial in the last 32 years, of governments of all stripes and majorities and minorities, et cetera.

I agree, there are times when we should consider this, and this may, indeed, be one of them.

My understanding is this bill hasn’t even had a committee meeting yet in the House of Commons. It strikes me as almost a little too keen of us, a bit of apple-polishing to be running ahead of even the House of Commons and their committee meetings. Is that right? Am I clear that the committee has not yet met or seen witnesses on Bill C-11? If that is the case, would you suggest maybe we ought to wait until they’ve at least started their study and had a few witnesses so we can see where the direction is?

Senator Gold: I find that I’m having to repeat myself all too often. In my speech, I cited several examples of studies carried out in previous Parliaments, including when your government was in power. We conducted several pre-studies that went well beyond budget issues. I maintain that I have a very good understanding of the Senate’s role. What we have before us is a motion to grant us the time and the opportunity to use the tools at our disposal, according to our rules, and to do our job. With that, I rest on my statement.

(At 4 p.m., pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on May 5, 2022, the Senate adjourned until 2 p.m., tomorrow.)

Hon. Frances Lankin: Senator Gold, thank you for your speech. I found it interesting. I look forward to hearing the other speeches, because I have my own analysis of what is behind the opposition to this. I won’t share it so as not to provoke people, and although I’m a bit bewildered, I will listen carefully.

I personally support this and believe that we should undertake the pre-study. It is a very controversial bill with a lot of supporters and a lot of detractors, so there is much to learn and refresh our minds on.

My question to you is: When the pre-study is finished, if the bill hasn’t arrived, and it arrives late, the preoccupation of the Senate as of late has been to talk to you about insufficient time to deal with bills. For me, a pre-study helps that situation, but it doesn’t alleviate the potential problem. I’m looking for some assurances from you that if the committee feels amendments and other things in the House of Commons mean that we have to dig back into some of these items, and we require the time to do it, will we be faced with rushing in order to get it done before the summer recess?