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, 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. 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.

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?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. The auto industry is crucial to the Canadian economy and to the hundreds of thousands of Canadian workers who work in this sector. That’s why this government — and especially Minister Champagne — has worked tirelessly to secure the future of Canada’s auto industry.

With regard to the Stellantis plant issue, the government is in negotiations, and continues to negotiate, in good faith with our partners. Its top priority is to obtain the best deal for all Canadians.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. I will bring your suggestion to the attention of the minister.

[English]

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question and for emphasizing how important this issue is to our economy and society.

The government knows that Canada is looking for quick and effective solutions to meet the demand for qualified and talented foreign workers. In Budget 2022, the government allocated $385.7 million to speed up the entry of temporary foreign workers into Canada so that they can fill critical labour market vacancies.

Under Bill C-19, the government made changes to the Express Entry program in order to select the highest-ranking candidates from the pool. It also temporarily lifted the 20-hour-per-week cap on the number of hours that eligible post-secondary students are allowed to work on campus while in school.

As for the matter of Haiti, I will undertake to inform the minister responsible of your suggestion and concerns.