Senator Martin: A National Bank of Canada report from earlier this month showed the average mortgage payments as a percentage of income in Canada are just under 61%. In Toronto, it’s 82.8%, and in Vancouver, it’s a whopping 94.9%. Again, this report came before the Bank of Canada increased rates to the highest level in 22 years. Canadians were already carrying the highest household debt in the G7. Now, many families are facing a crisis, as their mortgage payments could increase by up to 40%.

Leader, that number is not a partisan talking point. It’s taken from the Bank of Canada report released in May. How can you possibly say the Trudeau government’s economic strategy is a success, as you recently claimed?

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of our brave veterans of the Korean War and to all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice with their lives.

June 25, 2023, will mark the seventy-third anniversary of the breakout of the Korean War. Nearly 27,000 brave, young Canadians selflessly volunteered to serve their country and fight for the freedom of South Korea from communist tyranny. Today, these courageous men and women are in their late 80s and 90s. Some, who are also World War II veterans, are more than 100 years of age. We recently lost one such hero and beloved friend, Joseph Quinn, who was 102.

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of getting to meet and hear the stories of so many of our Korean War veterans, and I am truly honoured to know them. I have seen the pain in their eyes when they speak about what they experienced during the war: the deafening sounds of gunshots, explosions, screams and then silence; the friends they made and those whom they lost in battle; the beautiful children and desperate families living in despair and poverty — memories of the Korean War that they will never forget and that we could never truly comprehend.

Our veterans left their homes to defend a country and a people whom they didn’t know, but they understood the universal values of peace, democracy and human rights, and that is what they fought for. Their Herculean efforts and the ultimate sacrifices that the Canadians made on the Korean Peninsula surpass any amount of gratitude we can express in words.

We stand on the shoulders of those whose service and sacrifice have given us the very freedoms we enjoy and take for granted today. We live in freedom, but freedom is not free. Many paid the price for our freedom with their lives.

July 27, 2023, will mark the historic seventieth anniversary of the Korean War armistice and the conclusion of the seventieth anniversary of the Korean War years which began on June 25, three years ago. This weekend in Ottawa, I have the honour of hosting, along with Veterans Affairs Canada, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and the Canadian War Museum, a special veterans’ weekend in honour of this milestone year. Veterans from across Canada will gather in Ottawa for this special commemoration.

Honourable senators, as time goes on, our veterans age and pass. Therefore, we must do our part now to remember and honour them.

We will remember them.

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): My question is for the government leader in the Senate. Shortly after Minister Freeland delivered a budget full of inflationary spending, the inflation rate went up again. In its April report, Statistics Canada said Canadians paid over 28% more in mortgage interest costs that month, year over year. The International Monetary Fund, IMF, says Canada has the highest risk of mortgage defaults among advanced economies. This warning was delivered before the Bank of Canada raised the benchmark rate again, to 4.75%.

On Tuesday, our banking regulator told the banks to put aside more money in their “rainy-day funds” to cover defaults amid high household debt and high interest rates.

Leader, why doesn’t the Trudeau government recognize that spending fuels higher inflation and interest rates, which are sending mortgage payments sky-high?

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, I rise to speak at third reading of Bill C-51, An Act to give effect to the self-government treaty recognizing the Whitecap Dakota Nation/Wapaha Ska Dakota Oyate and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.

First, I want to send my best wishes and hopes for a speedy recovery to Chief Darcy Bear, who suffered a medical emergency at committee last night. I was encouraged to hear that Chief Bear, though hospitalized overnight, seems to be doing well.

It was a frightening moment for all concerned, I’m sure, and a reminder to all of us that life is delicate and time is precious. It also pleases me to know that the committee kept its wits last night and finished the necessary work on Bill C-51, a landmark piece of legislation that is long overdue and that Chief Bear has been so instrumental in bringing to fruition.

As he said in his opening remarks last night, “it has been a long journey,” and indeed it has, tracing in many ways all the way back to the War of 1812, more than two centuries ago.

As I mentioned the other night and as Minister Miller acknowledged in his remarks to the committee, the specific process leading to the treaty and this bill began in 2009 under the Harper government. Minister Miller, echoing the words of Chief Bear, said that too has been a long process, but to their credit the Whitecap Dakota First Nation used that time to work steadily and relentlessly toward this moment.

As Chief Bear said:

. . . as far as self-government goes, Whitecap First Nation has been, over time, had our own election code, our own First Nation land management code and our own membership code. We eliminated about 35% of the Indian Act already.

That was before the self-government treaty that this bill will bring into law, a law that will add a very important element that has long been missing and is long overdue.

Again, I can do no better than to quote Chief Bear:

. . . when we looked at changing it to a self-government treaty, that was when we talked about the acknowledgment of the Whitecap Dakota people as Aboriginal peoples of Canada.

Honourable senators, I am sure you have heard me and other senators complain in the past that this government too often expects us to rush bills through. Bill C-51 is a bill that we only got this week, but we cannot ignore that it has been two centuries in the making and we cannot ignore that with this bill we are righting an historic wrong, and in doing so we have the chance to make history. Thank you.

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, I rise to speak at third reading of Bill C-51, An Act to give effect to the self-government treaty recognizing the Whitecap Dakota Nation / Wapaha Ska Dakota Oyate and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.

First, I want to send my best wishes and hopes for a speedy recovery to Chief Darcy Bear, who suffered a medical emergency at committee last night. I was encouraged to hear that Chief Bear, though hospitalized overnight, seems to be doing well.

It was a frightening moment for all concerned, I’m sure, and a reminder to all of us that life is delicate and time is precious. It also pleases me to know that the committee kept its wits last night and finished the necessary work on Bill C-51, a landmark piece of legislation that is long overdue and that Chief Bear has been so instrumental in bringing to fruition.

As he said in his opening remarks last night, “it has been a long journey,” and indeed it has, tracing in many ways all the way back to the War of 1812, more than two centuries ago.

As I mentioned the other night and as Minister Miller acknowledged in his remarks to the committee, the specific process leading to the treaty and this bill began in 2009 under the Harper government. Minister Miller, echoing the words of Chief Bear, said that too has been a long process, but to their credit the Whitecap Dakota First Nation used that time to work steadily and relentlessly toward this moment.

As Chief Bear said:

. . . as far as self-government goes, Whitecap First Nation has been, over time, had our own election code, our own First Nation land management code and our own membership code. We eliminated about 35% of the Indian Act already.

That was before the self-government treaty that this bill will bring into law, a law that will add a very important element that has long been missing and is long overdue.

Again, I can do no better than to quote Chief Bear:

. . . when we looked at changing it to a self-government treaty, that was when we talked about the acknowledgment of the Whitecap Dakota people as Aboriginal peoples of Canada.

Honourable senators, I am sure you have heard me and other senators complain in the past that this government too often expects us to rush bills through. Bill C-51 is a bill that we only got this week, but we cannot ignore that it has been two centuries in the making and we cannot ignore that with this bill we are righting an historic wrong, and in doing so we have the chance to make history. Thank you.