Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: Honourable senators, it gives me great pleasure to rise today to recognize the bright Inuit leaders of tomorrow.

Today, I was fortunate to meet the participants in the Inuit Executive Career Development Program. This program was developed by the Government of Nunavut to increase Inuit leadership capacity. It supports Inuit career development and the advancement of individuals into senior management and executive positions.

The program started in September 2021 and 11 participants are currently enrolled. They are slated to finish the program in December 2023.

Over three years, this program will support Government of Nunavut employees through the completion of a Graduate Diploma in Leadership and Management from Athabasca University. The program provides wraparound supports such as study tours, access to subject-expert mentors and elders, and customized Inuktut language training.

It has been my honour and privilege to speak with these participants about the role of the Senate and, in particular, my role in advocating for Nunavummiut. We had candid discussions this morning about both the big challenges but also the tremendous opportunities in our territory.

Developing strong Inuit capacity at the executive level is crucial to realizing the dream we have for Nunavut. In government and across all industries, when we talk about Indigenous employment, it cannot just be focused on the entry or unskilled level. We need to ensure there is representation at the semi-skilled, skilled and managerial levels. We need to ensure we have Indigenous representation at the C-suite level. That is how long-term change and a shift in the status quo occur, and that is why I am so pleased to recognize and to have hosted this group here today.

Finally, honourable colleagues, I want to join in wishing you all a happy National Indigenous Peoples Day on this very special day — the longest day of the year and a day of glorious 24-hour daylight in most of Nunavut. I am delighted to be introducing these future leaders of Nunavut — most of whom, as you have probably noticed, are women — on this very important national day of celebration of Indigenous peoples.

[Editor’s Note: Senator Patterson (Nunavut) spoke in Inuktut.]

Thank you. Qujannamik.

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond introduced Bill S-270, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Agriculture and Agri‑Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations (live horses).

(Bill read first time.)

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Senator Greenwood’s son Reid Church and her granddaughter, Everly Church.

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 participants in the Government of Nunavut Inuit Executive Career Development Program. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Patterson (Nunavut).

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 participants in the Government of Nunavut Inuit Executive Career Development Program. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Patterson (Nunavut).

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

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond introduced Bill S-270, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations (live horses).

(Bill read first time.)

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for raising this again, Senator Plett. It is difficult to understand the pain that the families of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy must have felt. We continue to suffer with them as they are reliving the tragedy that befell them.

Positions that the government may have taken in the past in the face of litigation are not something that I’m in a position to comment upon. However, as the Representative of the Government of Canada in the Senate, I understand the preoccupation of those and I certainly will make inquiries to better understand the circumstances.

Hon. Éric Forest: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie concerning the Meeting of the Parliamentary Affairs Committee of the APF, held in Brussels, Belgium, from May 23 to 25, 2022.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question, senator.

I don’t have the information you requested. As you pointed out, when the government has information about the costs, it is publicly disclosed.

Therefore, I will make further inquiries to obtain a more definitive answer to your question.

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, the Standing Committee on National Defence is very concerned about security in the Arctic, as you know. In Senate Question Period, the minister responsible for the Canadian Coast Guard said that she would provide a cost estimate for the procurement of two Polar-class icebreakers.

However, in a response tabled yesterday, her department is refusing to make that information public. One of the excuses given is that your government has not yet signed a contract with either the Davie or Vancouver shipyards. However, the Trudeau government has released cost estimates for surface combatant ships, even though no contract has yet been signed.

Explain the logic to me, leader. Why has the government provided cost estimates for the construction of warships when it has no cost estimates for the Polar-class icebreakers?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Senator Gold, I will put on the record part of a Montreal Gazette article dated August 13, 2021. It concerns the court case brought by the families of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy to obtain information from the Parole Board of Canada and Correctional Service Canada as they prepared for Paul Bernardo’s parole hearings. It states:

As legal victor, the government wanted the families to pay its legal costs for fighting for the killer’s privacy — in a lump sum of $19,142.27.

Lawyers for the government argued the families weren’t pursuing public interest litigation but a personal pursuit: “Their personal motivation is to use the information sought to make statements to the parole board,” the government agreed.

I have a hard time even talking about this, leader. It is so shameful and so horrific that these families have been tortured by this government.

Leader, your government wanted these families to pay the government’s legal bills because it was personal to them. It was personal to them that their daughters had been tortured, raped and murdered.

The judge later reduced the amount. Seeking the amount of costs in the first place, leader, was wrong, was it not?

Hon. Éric Forest: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie concerning the Working Group on Reforming the APF Constitution, held in Paris, France, from November 3 to 4, 2022.

Hon. Éric Forest: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie concerning the Leadership Workshop for Francophone Women Parliamentarians, held in Paris, France, from December 12 to 16, 2022.

Hon. Éric Forest: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie concerning the Twenty-seventh United Nations Conference on Climate Change, held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from November 10 to 11, 2022.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your questions. I answered to the best of my ability yesterday, but I think Canadians also need to know that, despite the statements that you’ve made and the assertions implicit in it, both the Parole Board of Canada — which I served honourably, I hope, and certainly with great privilege, appointed by the previous government — and Correctional Service operate independently of the government. The Parole Board decisions are their own decisions. They’re not directed by the minister, nor should they be.

The Correctional Service’s decisions to evaluate risk and to decide whether or not to transfer an inmate from one facility to another are, again, decisions made based on criteria set out in the law and applied objectively, impartially and, more importantly, independently of the minister. Canadians need to understand that.

The suffering of the families of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy will be with them, tragically, for the rest of their lives. But it is also important that Canadians understand the democratic system under which we live and upon which we depend draws distinctions between what is and is not appropriate for government and politicians to direct.

[Translation]

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Preoccupation? “The preoccupation of those”?

Leader, in a delayed answer from the Department of Justice tabled last fall, the Parole Board said it was aware of the concern with respect to costs. Costs had not been collected, and the Parole Board was considering its position. The answer was tabled more than a year after the original court case ended, yet they were still “considering” it.

Costs never should have been sought. And you’re right, they continue to suffer. Why do they continue to suffer? Because now the government has decided — but they haven’t said it — that somehow it is okay to move this murderer to a medium-security institution. And they say they have no recourse.

Leader, contrary to what you said yesterday, Minister Mendicino has not explained what he meant by saying that “corrective steps” have been taken with the staff, but the buck stops with the minister.

Again, contrary to what you said yesterday, leader, I cannot find on what date Katie Telford knew about Paul Bernardo’s transfer. She testified before the House committee that nothing is ever kept from her boss, Prime Minister Trudeau.

Leader, Canadians want to know what happened here. What, leader, are the answers to my questions? What has Minister Mendicino done to take “corrective steps”? On what date did Katie Telford know? These are simple questions that require simple answers.

Hon. Éric Forest: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie concerning the Twenty‑seventh United Nations Conference on Climate Change, held in Sharm el‑Sheikh, Egypt, from November 10 to 11, 2022.

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

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

[English]