Senator Housakos: The fact remains that protocol and security, especially when a world leader is addressing Parliament, fall under the jurisdiction of the government, and not Parliament. That is a fact.

This is not a partisan issue. It’s about an incompetent Prime Minister who gets up in the House of Commons, and calls the child of a Holocaust survivor — MP Lantsman — a Nazi. The same Prime Minister proclaimed that Canadian taxpayers and Canadian truckers protesting here in Ottawa are Nazis. That’s our problem.

You want to call it partisan; I call it justice. When you’re the Prime Minister of Canada — and the buck stops with the leader of this country — and you are proclaiming Canadians and parliamentarians as Nazis, but for the first real Nazi who walks up Parliament Hill, you roll out the red carpet, put him up in the gallery and give him a standing ovation, I take exception to that, and that has nothing to do with partisan politics.

My question remains: What will your government and the Prime Minister do to take mitigating steps to ensure this never reoccurs?

Hon. Leo Housakos: My question is for the government leader.

Government leader, you’re spreading misinformation on this floor. I was the Speaker at the time with Speaker Scheer when we negotiated the MOU for the security structure in Parliament. I can assure you that guidance is given to our security forces on the Hill by the two Speakers of the chambers, but all security is controlled operationally by the head of security — which is the RCMP — and they report directly to the minister and the executive branch of government. That’s how it works. Anytime we bring guests on Parliament Hill, they are vetted, and they are only allowed once the government and the RCMP give authorization for those guests to be vetted.

This Prime Minister is more than willing to apologize for prime ministers and governments from 40 years ago, or 100 years ago, but he never assumed responsibility for this fiasco — which embarrassed Canada internationally and embarrassed Parliament, and hurt the souls and hearts of Ukrainians, Jews and Poles across the country. When will the Prime Minister assume responsibility, and can you tell us exactly what mitigating steps he will be taking for this fiasco to never reoccur?

Hon. Leo Housakos: Would Senator Moncion take a question?

I assume there was a subcommittee that reviewed these policies. Which subcommittee was it, senator?

Senator Moncion: It’s the subcommittee that reviews all policies — well, it depends on the matter. This one was the Subcommittee on Senate Estimates and Committee Budgets, under the budgets. We looked at the whole policy, and we tweaked it because most of the policies in the Senate now have been reviewed. Some of them are 10 or 15 years old. This was an older one, so we streamlined and looked at this. The Subcommittee on Senate Estimates and Committee Budgets was the committee that looked at it.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator McPhedran, seconded by the Honourable Senator White, for the second reading of Bill S-201, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and the Regulation Adapting the Canada Elections Act for the Purposes of a Referendum (voting age).

Hon. Leo Housakos: Honourable senators, I note that this item is at day 15 and I’m not ready to speak at this time. Therefore, with leave of the Senate and notwithstanding rule 4-15(3), I move the adjournment of the debate for the balance of my time.