Hon. Michael L. MacDonald: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group concerning the Council of State Governments 2022 (CSG) National Conference, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America, from December 7 to 10, 2022.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Thank you, Senator Gold. I hope it won’t take two years, but I appreciate you finding out.

Leader, this past January, the Trudeau government was fighting these families before the Federal Court of Appeal to keep Paul Bernardo’s corrections and parole files a secret. Last week, we learned that your government did nothing to stop him from being moved out of a maximum-security facility. In fact, it’s worse than that. Both the Prime Minister and Minister Mendicino pretended to be shocked and appalled when the jail transfer became public, and yet their staff, Senator Gold, knew for months that this transfer was coming up.

Leader, the minister has repeatedly said he’s taken corrective steps with his staff for allegedly not telling him about the transfer.

My first question, Senator Gold is this: What are those corrective steps? As well, Senator Gold, on what date did the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Katie Telford learn about Paul Bernardo being moved out of a maximum-security facility?

Hon. Michael L. MacDonald: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group concerning the Thirty-first Pacific NorthWest Economic Region Annual Summit, held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, from July 24 to 27, 2022.

Hon. David M. Wells: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association concerning the Fourth Part of the 2022 Ordinary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, held in Strasbourg, France, and Warsaw, Poland, from October 10 to 20, 2022.

[English]

Hon. Michael L. MacDonald: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group concerning the Congressional Visit, held in Washington, D.C., United States of America, from May 23 to 26, 2022.

Hon. Michael L. MacDonald: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group concerning the Seventy-sixth Annual Meeting of the Council of State Governments’ Southern Legislative Conference (SLC), held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States of America, from July 9 to 13, 2022.

Hon. Michael L. MacDonald: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group concerning the Congressional Visit, held in Washington, D.C., United States of America, from February 6 to 9, 2023.

[Translation]

Hon. Peter M. Boehm: Honourable senators, I give notice that, at the next sitting of the Senate, I will move:

That the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade be authorized to examine and report on Canada’s interests and engagement in Africa, and other related matters;

That the committee submit its final report no later than December 31, 2024;

That the committee have permission, notwithstanding usual practices, to deposit reports on this study with the Clerk of the Senate if the Senate is not then sitting, and that the reports be deemed to have been tabled in the Senate; and

That the committee retain all powers necessary to publicize its findings for 180 days after the tabling of the final report.

[English]

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I just want to remind you that all your cellphones should be on mute, the sound at zero or even the timers shut off, please. This is just a reminder. Thank you.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. I regret that the answer that was provided didn’t answer that. I’ll certainly follow up and endeavour to find out why and what the answer might be.

Hon. René Cormier: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the ParlAmericas concerning the Nineteenth Plenary Assembly and Fourteenth Gathering of ParlAmericas’ Parliamentary Network for Gender Equality, held in Bogotá, Colombia, from November 30 to December 2, 2022.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. I think the answers to both questions are already in the public domain. However, the important point to make in response to your question — and, again, to this troubling incident, especially for the families who were so tragically affected — is that it is neither the law nor the practice, nor should it be, that ministers direct Correctional Service Canada with regard to whether they transfer inmates from one facility to another or the inverse. As the minister said, he asked for a review, which is the appropriate limit of political involvement in these matters.

With regard to the challenges that have been acknowledged with the transmission of information, the minister has addressed that internally.

Hon. Michael L. MacDonald: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group concerning the Annual Meeting of the Council of State Governments (CSG) Western Legislative Conference, held in Boise, Idaho, United States of America, from July 19 to 22, 2022.

Hon. Michael L. MacDonald: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group concerning the Congressional Visit, held in Washington, D.C., United States of America, from September 12 to 15, 2022.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. Senator Marshall, if you can’t figure it out, I may have some difficulty.

The important point to underline here with regard to the numbers to which you referred is that this arrangement with Volkswagen and the monies that the government has agreed to provide are tied to the performance of that factory — the degree to which and the timing with which that production comes online.

In that regard, it may well be that, first, the amount of the funds is not necessarily fully known, which might explain that.

I’ll certainly bring your question to the attention of the minister.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, and thank you to our other colleagues who are tirelessly advocating on behalf of those in our country who are most in need.

The government has certainly heard and takes seriously the concern about possible clawbacks in these various areas.

I can assure my colleagues in this chamber that the government remains committed to working closely with the provinces and territories to harmonize the benefit, in this case the disability benefit, and to ensure that Canadians receive the assistance that they need. In that regard, I look forward, as we all do, to the debate on the message of Bill C-22, which I hope we will adopt today so that the Canada disability benefit can finally come into existence.

Hon. Stan Kutcher: Senator Gold, the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s recent fiscal analysis of Canada’s support for Volkswagen’s electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant estimated the government’s financial commitment to be $16.3 billion over the term of the agreement. This is for one plant that is being built on today’s technology, based on yesterday’s science. Who knows what the scientific and resultant technological advances will bring us to in 2027, when it is projected to be online?

This is the same government that cannot seem to find investments to bring trainees, who are the scientists that will create the economy of tomorrow, up to a living wage today. These are young people whose innovative minds drive the research, development and economic growth of Canada’s future. Without continued investigatory research, such manufacturing plants will become stagnant and redundant as quickly as our best and brightest head elsewhere.

Senator Gold, will the government commit to increasing the number and value of grants and fellowships programs through the Tri-Council for students in the fall economic update?

Hon. Elizabeth Marshall: My question is also for Senator Gold. My question relates to transparency, Senator Gold, because you and the government are always reminding us how transparent the government is.

Last week, the Parliamentary Budget Officer released his report on government support for the Volkswagen battery plant. He said that the agreement is going to cost around $16 billion over the life of the agreement, but the government says it’s going to cost around $13 billion, so I’ll work with the $13-billion figure.

The government has already said that the cost of the agreement has been fully accounted for, but I can’t find it in the government’s fiscal projections. I specifically asked the Parliamentary Budget Officer if he could tell me exactly where that money is, because $13 billion is a lot of money, and he couldn’t tell me.

I know that in the government’s fiscal projections, there are a lot of big numbers floating around with no details provided. However, the Parliamentary Budget Officer said there’s not enough information. He said you’ll never figure it out.

My question to you is this: Where in the fiscal projections are the $13 billion?

Hon. Kim Pate: My question is for the Government Representative. Senator Gold, The Globe and Mail recently exposed the existence of internal government memoranda revealing that, last winter, the CRA resumed a practice of clawing back vitally needed benefits such as the Canada Child Benefit from low-income Canadians.

The government did so with little notice while housing and food costs skyrocketed and while knowing that this would result in financial hardship.

Revelations such as these heighten the skepticism of many, especially in the current context where the government says they will try to negotiate no clawbacks of the Canada disability benefit.

What commitment can you offer persons in poverty who receive benefits from the government now, whether it be the CERB — the Canada Emergency Response Benefit — the Canada Child Benefit, the Guaranteed Income Supplement or, in the future, the Canada disability benefit, that other forms of such guaranteed livable income will be received by the people who deserve them and are eligible for them and that they will receive every penny of the benefit regardless of the threat from federal, provincial and territorial governments, insurance companies or other clawbacks?