Senator Plett: Thank you very much for that question, and I think that you make a wonderful point. But I’m the critic of this bill so I have not given that any consideration. You would have to ask Senator Kutcher at an opportunity or maybe at committee. But I think that you make a very legitimate point in what you said, Senator Anderson, and that should be considered.

Senator Forest: I have a follow-up question. How do we distinguish between a slap out of love and a spanking? How do we define that?

[English]

Senator Woo: Would you take a question, Senator Downe?

Senator Downe: Yes, of course.

Senator Marshall: Our health care system is expensive, and our results are modest to poor.

Senator Plett: Certainly.

Senator Poirier: Yes, I will.

Senator Dupuis: Do we agree, you and I, that this question deserves to be studied by the Senate as legislator, since the Supreme Court itself noted that it couldn’t rule on the change to section 43, which is ultimately in the hands of parliamentarians?

[English]

Senator Omidvar: I don’t know that. That’s why I asked the question.

What role do provincial laws play in this?

Senator Plett: I’m not sure, Senator McPhedran, whether you heard any of my speech or not. In my speech, I said that a slap on the bum with the hand so it leaves no mark is not assault. So, no, you and I agree. We should not assault children. Absolutely. I don’t think spanking a child with two slaps on the bum — it cannot leave a mark or it’s assault — I do not believe that it is assault.

Senator Gold: Again, the Government of Canada appreciates the work that the Honourable David Johnston did, regrets the degree to which his integrity was impugned and —

Senator Plett:  — to the Prime Minister.

Senator Gold: Thank you for the questions. I’ll certainly add that to the inquiries I undertake to make.

Senator McPhedran: As a point of clarification, Senator Plett, how do we regulate this when you give a specific example about an acceptable limit of physical contact or physical punishment that happens in the privacy of a home or other location where the recipient of those two slaps, for example, has no power, no voice and no way of getting beyond that private situation?

Senator Plett: No, no, that’s fine.

Senator Plett: Point of order, Your Honour. This is not a question related to anything that I said here today. I would appreciate that, if Senator Simons has a question related to the speech, she asks it and does not go on a rant. If she wants to debate this bill later on, she can do that.

Senator Carignan: I would point out that the CPP Investment website clearly states the following:

Our accountability is ultimately to our stewards — the federal Finance Minister and the Finance Ministers of the participating provinces.

It also states that the “annual report is tabled in Parliament by the Federal Finance Minister.” We are Parliament, and your government is the Minister of Finance. I think Senator Gignac is absolutely right to make this proposal, and I think it’s unacceptable for a federal board to use tax havens.

Senator Simons: Senator Plett absolutely made reference to the two protests outside of schools. He clearly mentioned Blaine Higgs, who —

Senator Dupuis: Would Senator Plett agree to answer a supplementary question?

[English]

Senator Gold: I thank the senator for his suggestion. I will bring it to the minister’s attention.

That being said, I’d simply like to point out that the Canada Pension Plan and the public sector pension plans are subject to their own acts of Parliament, which have been amended many times by various Parliaments.

[English]

Senator Batters: Senator Omidvar, your Recommendation 2 talks about “targeting populations that are currently overrepresented in Canada’s suicide rates . . . . ” In that short list, your committee included “persons with mental illnesses.”

Senator Batters: Senator Omidvar, your Recommendation 2 talks about “targeting populations that are currently overrepresented in Canada’s suicide rates . . . . ” In that short list, your committee included “persons with mental illnesses.”

Senator Omidvar, another fact noted in that 2010 commercial I mentioned was that 90% of those who die by suicide have mental illness, so it’s not a subset of suicide deaths in Canada. This is nearly the entire group of suicide deaths in Canada.

Why did your committee include that in your targeted demographic list?

Senator Omidvar: Senator Batters, I understand what you’re saying. Mental health is likely an underlying cause for suicides, regardless of which population they are in. I take your point, but I believe the committee did recognize the importance of mental illness as a condition, and we’ve noted it in the recommendation.

If you have not found it to your satisfaction, in retrospect, I wish you had been called as a witness; that would have helped. Hopefully, the next time we study this matter, we will remember to do so.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator McCallum, seconded by the Honourable Senator LaBoucane-Benson:

That the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources be authorized to examine and report on the cumulative positive and negative impacts of resource extraction and development, and their effects on environmental, economic and social considerations, when and if the committee is formed; and

That the committee submit its final report no later than December 31, 2022.