Hon. Renée Dupuis: Would Senator Tannas take another question?

[English]

Hon. Renée Dupuis: I will speak, Mr. Speaker.

The amendment put forward by Senator White poses the same problem that we see with almost every amendment that is brought forward when we do not have the chance to examine the impact. People complain about the bill coming to us at the last minute and not having time to study it properly. This amendment seeks to respond in part to the concern raised by many members of the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs to the effect that some provisions of the Criminal Code are not being applied to incidents of violence against health care workers or people who are trying to access health care facilities.

I think the problem created by the non-enforcement or poor or inadequate enforcement of Criminal Code provisions to date in the context of COVID-19 is a different problem that cannot be solved. If Senator White’s amendment is adopted, there is no guarantee it will be enforced. I think this is a useless argument. The amendment introduces an element that makes a more restrictive interpretation by the courts more likely and, even if it were adopted, it would not address the lack of enforcement of the legislation as it now stands or of the amended version if this bill passes.

[English]

Senator Dupuis: My question has two parts. Here is the first. I agree with everything you said except for the last sentence. You said in your first sentence that your group came under some significant pressure yesterday, and you even talked about intimidation. Those were your words. You said you did not agree with that and that you even heard the word “shame.” I also heard that word and I think that it is unparliamentary and unacceptable.

My question for you is this: How should we interpret the last sentence of your speech today? You said that this bill brings significant changes to the Labour Code and the Criminal Code, but you ended by saying, “this is a shame.” How should we interpret that, when you just complained about the use of that word at the beginning of your speech?

I completely agree with you, but aren’t you yourself applying pressure and intimidation by using those terms?

[English]

Senator Dupuis: Here’s the second part of my question. You talked about how the usual procedure wasn’t followed. I agree. In the context of our work, shouldn’t we mention the fact that we are agreeing to limit committee work because our representatives, be they facilitators or leaders, agreed on a course of action that the government is forcing us to adopt or at least trying to force us to adopt? Shouldn’t that aspect be part of the work that you said was a good idea?

[English]