The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Odette Lord and Jean-Pierre Carlos. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Boisvenu.

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

Hon. Robert Black: Honourable senators, today I rise to speak about an increasingly concerning issue: the mental health of Canada’s farmers.

This has been a challenging few years for Canadians, but especially farmers and producers. Food insecurity is rising and inflation is pressuring families, flooding and drought have afflicted vital agricultural regions across the country and our economy has been battered in the post-COVID reality. But Canada’s farmers remain resilient. New funding programs and promising bills like Bill C-234 offer some relief to the sector.

Farmers have sustained Canadians both in the economy and by maintaining supply chains even in volatile times. I applaud the many farmers and producers who have remained adaptable and determined in the past years while managing and overcoming regulatory burdens, labour shortages and increasing financial and emotional costs. Farmers have been there for Canadians and the world, putting food on our tables three times a day.

There are, however, concerns that are presenting themselves. Despite continuing to overcome these challenges, farmers are facing greater strains that inevitably affect their mental health. A recent study in 2020 of over 1,100 Canadian producers found that 57% of farmers faced anxiety, 45% faced unhealthy levels of stress and 35% lived with depression.

There is hope, however, colleagues. Among other support organizations, new investments into the Canadian Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing will help that organization spread awareness of resources and multiply their availability within the agricultural community.

As we work to reduce the stigma, I applaud groups like this that work to support Canada’s producers, processors and farmers through some of the most turbulent and challenging times in their lives.

Farmers remain resilient and determined. They continue to feed Canada and the world and face ever-changing norms, and it’s important that we continue to support them as they do so. Whether that be by promoting and encouraging new programs, buying locally grown foods when and where possible, celebrating the twentieth annual Food Day Canada in August or advocating for their mental health, I hope that we as senators can continue to speak of their dedication to this country and the world here in the Red Chamber. Thank you, meegwetch.

[Translation]

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): My question today is, once again, for the Liberal Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Leader, at this time last week, Prime Minister Trudeau was pointing to and bragging about the $5 billion Stellantis battery plant project as an example of his government’s economic management.

What the Prime Minister knew but did not tell Canadians was that Stellantis and LG were threatening to scrap the project — as he was speaking — if they didn’t receive the subsidies similar to what his government gave Volkswagen, which would cost taxpayers up to $14 billion.

In the last few days, Stellantis and LG said they would begin implementing their contingency plan. Work on the site in Windsor has been shut down — a factory that is supposed to be operating in a year.

Leader, this whole affair is, indeed, a prime example of the Trudeau government’s incompetence. Why should Canadians trust anything that this government or this Prime Minister says when it comes to our economy and jobs?

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

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

[English]

Hon. Patti LaBoucane-Benson (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, a Charter Statement prepared by the Minister of Justice in relation to Bill S-12, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Sex Offender Information Registration Act and the International Transfer of Offenders Act, pursuant to the Department of Justice Act, R.S.C. 1985,c. J-2,sbs. 4.2(1).

[Translation]

The Hon. the Speaker informed the Senate that a message had been received from the House of Commons with Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts.

(Bill read first time.)

The Hon. the Speaker informed the Senate that a message had been received from the House of Commons with Bill C-45, An Act to amend the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, to make consequential amendments to other Acts, and to make a clarification relating to another Act.

(Bill read first time.)

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Michael Cholod, Executive Director of the Peace Coalition. He is the guest of the Honourable Senator Omidvar.

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

Hon. Lucie Moncion, Chair of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration, presented the following report:

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

The Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration has the honour to present its

EIGHTH REPORT

Your committee, which is authorized by the Rules of the Senate to consider financial and administrative matters, now reports that it has reviewed the Senate Administrative Rules to streamline the Senate’s intellectual property permissions process and recommends as follows:

1.That the Senate Administration Rules be amended, in Chapter 3:03 by adding the following after subsection 11(a):

(a) by way of fair dealing or any other statutory exception to the scope of intellectual property protection;

(b) if the commercial use is insignificant in nature; or

(c) with the consent of the Steering Committee.

2.That the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel be authorized to make any necessary technical, editorial, grammatical, or other required, non-substantive changes to the Senate Administrative Rules as a result of this amendment, including the updating of cross-references and the renumbering of provisions.

Respectfully submitted,

LUCIE MONCION

Chair

She said: Madam Speaker, my warmest congratulations.

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond introduced Bill S-264, An Act to establish International Tax Justice and Cooperation Day.

(Bill read first time.)

Senator Dalphond: Once again, I would add my congratulations to all of those that have already been extended.

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

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

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Michael Cholod, Executive Director of the Peace Coalition. He is the guest of the Honourable Senator Omidvar.

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

Hon. Patti LaBoucane-Benson (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, a copy of the commission appointing Maia Welbourne Deputy of the Governor General.

Hon. Patti LaBoucane-Benson (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, a Charter Statement prepared by the Minister of Justice in relation to Bill S-12, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Sex Offender Information Registration Act and the International Transfer of Offenders Act, pursuant to the Department of Justice Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. J-2, sbs. 4.2(1).

[Translation]

Hon. Peter M. Boehm: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the tenth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade entitled Strengthening Canada’s Autonomous Sanctions Architecture: Five-Year Legislative Review of the Sergei Magnitsky Law and the Special Economic Measures Act and I move that the report be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.

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

[Translation]

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

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

[English]

Hon. Marie-Françoise Mégie: Thank you for your response, Senator Gold. If I may make a suggestion: In response to the humanitarian emergency in Haiti, the United States has taken a unilateral approach with its H-1B1 visa in order to welcome Haitian nationals.

In light of this humanitarian emergency, what is stopping Canada from taking such an approach?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): As the government has stated, and as I have stated on behalf of the government, the RCMP has been and continues to actively investigate the allegations made with regard to the alleged illegal police stations in our country. The government does not direct the RCMP in its investigations.

The minister and I have been clear in our statements that the RCMP is continuing to investigate, and will take all necessary action to protect Canadians from foreign interference on our soil.

Hon. Leo Housakos: My question is for the government leader in the Senate.

Government leader, this weekend we had Justin Trudeau’s Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino admit in a televised interview that there are new, illegal Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, police stations operating in Canada and intimidating Canadian citizens. Of course, honourable senators, to no one’s surprise, he vowed that the RCMP will shut them down immediately. The problem, of course, government leader, is that only a few weeks ago he rose in the House of Commons and said publicly that they have already been shut down. Now we know through media information that there are two illegal CCP police stations that have been operating for years in our own city.

The question is as follows: When the minister rose in the House of Commons, was he just displaying his and the government’s complete and utter incompetence regarding foreign interference, or was it a question of misleading the Canadian public?

Here is my question more specifically so that there is no ambiguity: When will the Trudeau government and Minister Mendicino shut down, once and for all, these illegal CCP police stations — and, if not, why not?