The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Brigadier-General Roger Scott, Colonel (Retired) Gisele Fontaine, Lieutenant-Colonel Carolyn Blanchard and Lieutenant-Commander Kristi Velthuizen. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Patterson (Ontario).

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

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the Sidiqi Family, Mahmudah Sahar, Yadullah Yasa, and Robert and Mary Fowler. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Boehm.

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

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Chief Mike McKenzie, Chief of the Innu community Uashat mak Mani‑Utenam and Jean-Claude Therrien Pinette, Chief of Staff for Chief McKenzie. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Audette.

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

Hon. Leo Housakos: Honourable senators, late this month, from May 21 to 30, the Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly will convene, and, once again, it will do so without the participation of Taiwan.

Once again, I’m appealing to Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly and her government to call for the inclusion of Taiwan in this international forum.

Time and time again, Taiwan has shown its commitment to global public humanitarianism. Days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Taiwan sent 27 tonnes of medical supplies to Poland for Ukrainian refugees, followed by another 650 tonnes of additional supplies shortly thereafter. Taiwan medical professionals have reached out to disadvantaged communities around the world to fight health inequities. Since the 1950s, they’ve provided medical aid and technical services to various African countries to help maintain maternal and child health. In 2022, participating hospitals saw newborn deaths drop from 234 to 189.

Taiwan continues to show its commitment to global public health. Over the past 20 years, the Taiwan International Healthcare Training Center has provided continuing education to more than 2,000 health care professionals from 77 countries. During the worst global health crisis of our lifetime, Taiwan stood at the ready to contribute wherever and whenever possible. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan was one of the first countries to send valuable life-saving personal protective equipment to Canada. We must not forget that.

Unfortunately, Taiwan continues to be excluded from participation in the World Health Assembly, or WHA, and other fora and mechanisms of the World Health Organization. This exclusion is to the detriment of the international community as we are not taking into consideration Taiwan’s success in responding to COVID-19.

It is also to the detriment of the 23.5 million people living in Taiwan, whose welfare must also be taken into consideration. Furthermore, as a like-minded democracy, Canada has every reason to support Taiwan’s inclusion in future WHA functions where Taiwan can be a valuable partner to jointly help improve global health.

Taiwan has proven itself to be an indispensable member of the international community and brings immeasurable value to vitally important global efforts such as the fight against COVID-19.

Canada has before us an opportunity to show moral and meaningful leadership on the global stage. We must act now to close gaps in the international system that jeopardize health, safety, security, prosperity and sustainability created by Taiwan’s exclusion from international fora like the WHA76.

Thank you, colleagues.

Hon. Rosa Galvez, Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources, presented the following report:

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

The Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources has the honour to present its

FOURTH REPORT

Your committee, which was authorized by the Senate on Thursday, February 24, 2022 to study emerging issues related to the committee’s mandate, now presents its interim report entitled HYDROGEN: A Viable Option for a Net‑Zero Canada in 2050?

Respectfully submitted,

ROSA GALVEZ

Chair

(For text of report, see today’s Journals of the Senate, p. 1503.)

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, when shall this report be taken into consideration?

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

[Translation]

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Nora and Marie-Claire Harmsworth. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Woo.

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

Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, I give notice that, at the next sitting of the Senate, I will move:

That, notwithstanding rule 3-1(1), when the Senate sits on Thursday, May 11, 2023, it sit at 1:30 p.m.

[English]

Hon. Marilou McPhedran introduced Bill S-261, An Act respecting non-disclosure agreements.

(Bill read first time.)

Hon. Ratna Omidvar introduced Bill S-262, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (Oath of Citizenship).

(Bill read first time.)

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, when shall this report be taken into consideration?

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

[Translation]

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan introduced Bill S-263, An Act respecting the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking.

(Bill read first time.)

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, when shall this bill be read the third time?

(On motion of Senator Gold, bill placed on the Orders of the Day for third reading at the next sitting of the Senate.)

[English]

Hon. Percy Mockler, Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance, presented the following report:

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance has the honour to present its

ELEVENTH REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill C-46, An Act to amend the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act and the Income Tax Act, has, in obedience to the order of reference of May 3, 2023, examined the said bill and now reports the same without amendment.

Respectfully submitted,

PERCY MOCKLER

Chair

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, when shall this bill be read the second time?

(On motion of Senator Ataullahjan, bill placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading two days hence.)

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): My question, of course, is again for the Liberal government leader in the Senate.

The Prime Minister claimed last week that CSIS never told anyone two years ago that an agent in Beijing’s Toronto consulate had targeted MP Michael Chong and his family in Hong Kong.

Leader, you said the Prime Minister’s words should be taken as true, when, in fact, his very words were false. There is a word for people who make false statements. The truth is that CSIS sent its July 2021 report to multiple government departments, as well as the Prime Minister’s own National Security Advisor, leader. This was confirmed to Mr. Chong by the current National Security Advisor. This directly contradicts what the Prime Minister told Canadians.

The Prime Minister will not come clean about what he knows about Beijing’s interference, and when he does say something, it’s false, leader, untrue. How can Canadians trust anything that this Prime Minister has to say about Beijing’s interference?

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, when shall this bill be read the third time?

(On motion of Senator Gold, bill placed on the Orders of the Day for third reading at the next sitting of the Senate.)

[English]

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Nora and Marie‑Claire Harmsworth. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Woo.

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

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question, senator. The Prime Minister was clear, as was the foreign minister, that they became aware of the specifics from The Globe and Mail article.

When the Prime Minister made his remarks with regard to CSIS to which you referred, at that juncture he had not been made aware that in fact the information, it now appears, was sent to someone occupying the position, albeit on a temporary basis, of the National Security Advisor — not the current incumbent but someone who was there over the summer period. That was made clear and corrected soon thereafter.

The fact is this government continues to act properly, prudently and responsibly with regard to the serious threats of foreign interference and the allegations that have been made through the leaked CSIS documents to The Globe and Mail, and it will continue to do so in the best interests of Canadians.