Hon. Leo Housakos (Acting Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate. Senator Gold, yesterday, your predecessor right here in this chamber waxed poetic about the wonderful things and accomplishments of this new independent Senate and the policies that have been implemented here in regards to the new-found independence of the Senate. And I get it; you’re both very proud of the work your government has done, as all senators who have come before us through this august chamber are proud of the work this great institution has done. But one of the things that Senator Harder lauded about yesterday was the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments. Of course, that prompted me to think that there have been countless occasions in this chamber where we’ve asked the government to be forthright in regards to the activities of that board, and we’re still waiting for answers to those questions.

As you all know, that board is obligated to file reports in the spirit of transparency and accountability in regards to its financial obligations and its activities to taxpayers. Out of curiosity, I went back to the site, and I see that the last time there was any filing in regard to the Advisory Board for Senate Appointments was December 5, 2018. Even by the Trudeau Liberal government’s standards, you have to admit, government leader, that’s a little bit excessive. Three years is a little bit much when it comes to not being accountable.

My question is very simple: Why hasn’t this board filed public accountability reports, as they’re obligated to do? And in the last three years, has the government received any reports from this advisory board?

Senator Housakos: Senator Gold, we’ve been asking repeatedly in regards to the activity of the board and the fact that it has not been public and transparent, both in terms of expenses and the processes that they’ve been carrying out.

Leader, I’ll give your government this: I will give it full credit for consistency, because they consistently fail to provide transparency when we ask these simple questions. Yesterday, our colleague Senator Marshall asked again a simple, basic question where the public accounts come into effect: Where is the debt management project? Simple questions. She’s still waiting for answers. And today, I’m forced again, prodded by a speech by Senator Harder, to ask a simple question: Where are the reports of the Advisory Board for Senate Appointments? It has been three years and we’ve been asking repeatedly about this. So can we have a transparent, accountable question when it comes to the Advisory Board for Senate Appointments? When will they make it public?

Hon. Leo Housakos (Acting Leader of the Opposition): My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, while it may have been rolled out with the best of intentions, the CERB program was fraught with problems from the get-go. We’ve certainly heard all the stories of people receiving payments for which they didn’t qualify. Now, according to a report from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), we know that organized crime knowingly and actively defrauded the CERB program by filing multiple applications using stolen identities.

I think we can all appreciate how incredibly frustrating this must be for taxpayers, especially for Canadians who have to jump through hoops to qualify for various other programs from your government.

Senator Gold, what if anything is being done to recover these taxpayers’ dollars from criminal organizations? What is being done to ensure that criminals are punished for this defrauding of taxpayers’ funds?

Senator Housakos: Government leader, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, or FINTRAC, says that it does not know exactly how much CERB money went to organized crime. However, the Minister of National Revenue told the media that audits of CERB have been under way for some time.

Leader, according to the Canada Revenue Agency, how much CERB money did these audits show was fraudulently claimed by organized crime?